Aqua Clara: water purification in Kenya
The Aqua Clara water purification project helps people in rural Kenya gain access to safe water by making affordable household water filters that avoid the need to boil water.
Fewer than half of Kenyans have access to safe drinking water, collecting water from open rivers, streams and other unsafe sources, leading to regular outbreaks of cholera and other water-borne diseases. People are encouraged to boil water before drinking, which is usually done by burning unsustainable sources of biomass like wood or charcoal, reducing forest cover and causing carbon emissions.
We are working with Aqua Clara International to bring affordable filters to communities in Kenya, eliminating the need to boil. Aqua Clara goes beyond providing technology for safe water provision, taking a holistic approach. They work with communities to ensure filters keep customers safe, through training users to check and maintain filters and educating communities on the importance of washing hands, fruits and vegetables in safe water.
The filters provide safe water, improving health, saving lives, cutting carbon emissions and protecting local forests.
- Adaptable design to meet both urban and rural needs
- Goes beyond the filter to train communities in water hygiene
- Creating skilled job opportunities in local production and distribution
Delivering towards the Global Goals
No poverty
Good health and well-being
Quality education
Clean water and sanitation
Decent work and economic growth
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Climate action
CASE STUDY
40-year-old Naomi Moraa Magena was unsure of the benefits of the Aqua Clara Filters. Previously, despite her boiling water, she got ill so she decided to give it a try, having been approached by her Aqua Clara Community Development Entrepreneur through her microfinance group. Through a loan with the group Naomi paid for the filter and since then she’s been free of water borne disease! Not only that, she saves herself close to 300 Kenyan Shillings a month (approx 3% of the average monthly income) on fuel that she used to use for boiling water.
Naomi is now an advocate for the filter and encourages all the family to carry filtered water wherever they go.

What the carbon finance delivers
Funds are also used to aid in the development of the local supply chain, allowing for faster growth and training. This helps to ensure the longevity of the project and to allow the expansion into new areas. For example, one client funded the project’s expansion into the Kericho region to provide safe drinking water to tea-growing communities in their supply chain.
The costs of monitoring and verifying the impact of the programme is also covered by the carbon finance.
