1 Million Liters of Safe Drinking Water in Mexico

Dear GlobalGiving Supporters,

This year’s rainy season has been extraordinary in Central Mexico. From May through August, our watershed surpassed average rainfall every single month, with more than 500 millimeters of accumulated rain compared to the usual 450. That means our roughly 1,600 rainwater harvesting systems filled up faster than ever before—now overflowing and providing safe water for thousands of families. Thanks to you, these systems are turning every drop into life-changing impact.

Communities Taking the Lead

San Pedro de la Sierra
In May, we delivered 25 ceramic water filters—the heart of every rainwater harvesting system, ensuring collected rain is safe to drink—along with workshops on their use. Excitement has grown ever since. Families and community leaders asked for more, and through our multipliers program, they’re now taking the lead themselves. In July and August, San Pedro residents began running their own training sessions, supported by our team. Seventeen new families are preparing to build systems later this season. Amistad Canada is helping make this possible, but we still need additional funds to reach every family.

Pájaro Bobo
When this community first came to us, they hoped for a Groundwater Treatment System (GTS) to help clean water reach their entire community of roughly 100 families. But due to their well’s low capacity, that wasn’t feasible. Instead, we pivoted together toward rainwater harvesting. As I write this, local residents are in the middle of a week-long capacity training to build large ferrocement tanks. Nine (9) families are putting in the extra work to construct these massive 12,000-liter systems, while 23 more are installing 5,000-liter prefabricated tank rainwater systems. Their determination is inspiring, and rainwater will soon transform daily life in Pájaro Bobo.

SECOPA Partnership
Working alongside SECOPA, we’ve built 50 new systems across seven (7) communities this year—each supported by community multipliers trained through our program. We’re now evaluating the results of each installed system to improve the model and prepare for even more installations ahead this year yet, hoping that all families who want to participate this year will be able to take advantage of this incredibly rainy season. 

San Diego de la Unión Municipale Partnership
Our partnership here is stronger than ever. In July, Mayor Juan Carlos Castillo made headlines when he declared at a press conference: “When we open the tap, we are poisoning ourselves.” His words reflect the reality of groundwater contamination across the municipality. Together, we’re responding by building 140 rainwater systems together in 2025, combining municipal funding, support from the Río Arronte Foundation, individual donors, and Caminos de Agua’s technical and social leadership. The first 50 systems are already under construction.

Safe Water for Every Drop

Every rainwater system we build includes a ceramic water filter—the critical element that makes rainwater safe for drinking. This year alone, we’ve delivered 391 filters alongside training workshops, to nearly 60 different rural communities, ensuring that families not only capture the rain but can drink it safely for years to come.

Gratitude and Next Steps

None of this would be possible without our partners SECOPA, CUVAPAS, Salvemos al Río Laja, and our growing network of community multipliers. We are deeply grateful to funders like the Gonzalo Río Arronte Foundation, the San Diego Municipal Government, the Community Church of San Miguel, and Amistad Canada.

But most importantly, we thank you—our individual supporters. While large grants can provide a lot of support, they often only cover materials for a preset number of families. It’s your generosity that fills the critical gaps, allowing us to respond quickly to communities like San Pedro and Vivienda de Abajo who were not a part of one of these larger projects. This ensures that every family has the opportunity to turn rain into safe water.

With your continued support, we’ll keep building, training, and empowering communities to transform rain into resilience.

With deep gratitude,
Dylan Terrell