Off to Mexico!

We are very proud to announce that our project proposal for Mexico has been awarded for the Partners for Water program from Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO)!
In this project, together with the urbanism firm BD+P and the Mexican consultancy firm Centro, we will assess how we can help Mexican cities and water users to tackle water scarcity and urban flooding with our rainwater reuse solutions. A few weeks ago, Karina and Joshua went on a site visit. In this interview, Karina tells you more about the project.

Hi Karina! Can you tell us more about the goal of the project?

The goal of this project is to assess how we can help Mexican cities and water users to tackle water scarcity and urban flooding with our rainwater reuse solutions.

In this project, we have partnered up with the urbanism firm BD+P, who has extensive experience and network in Mexico, and with the Mexican consultancy Centro, specialised in public-private collaboration and with knowledge on the institutional and regulatory context of the water sector.

Why Mexico?

As a country with +125 million inhabitants, water management and supply are big challenges for Mexican cities. Heavy rainfall causes frequently flooding, with millions in damage annually. In contrast, Mexico faces enormous water shortages. The impact on the economy, liveability and water availability in cities is huge. We believe that our nature-based rainwater reuse systems can offer an efficient and scalable solution for sustainable water management and supply in Mexico.

You just came back from a site visit. What lessons did you learn?

Mexico is very different than the Dutch context. We went there specially to learn from their problems and understand their needs. We have learned that, due to the large deficit of the municipal water supply, every Mexican needs to take care of their water supply by trucking in water. So they pay far more than what we do for water.

Why did you apply for the Partners for Water subsidy?

The Partners for Water grant helps Dutch entrepreneurs in the water sector to bring knowledge and innovation abroad. As a startup company, it's a great support to reduce risks associated to going international. In this way, it makes it possible as a young company to explore international opportunities.

Can you tell us what you are most excited about?

I am excited about contributing to tackle water scarcity at a huge scale and making real impact with our solutions. In this way, Mexico offers a great growth potential to our company.

Any other things you would like to share?

👉🏽 Oaxaca is suffering a 60% deficit in its water supply, and therefore actively looking for alternative water sources. At the same time, they are currently wasting precious rainwater down the drain.

👉🏽 Groundwater is the main source for the water supply in Oaxaca. Overexploitation and contamination of the aquifers are the main risks to secure water availability.

👉🏽 Trucked-in water accounts for approximately 1/3 of the water supply , for households but also for large water users. With all the negative environmental impact of this practice: energy, gas emissions, traffic, etc.

👉🏽 Households pay an average of 5 per m3 of trucked-in water, which is not drinking quality. That's 5x more than what we pay in NL for high quality tap water.

Thanks, Karina!

Interested about this project?
Please get in touch with Karina, she would love to tell you more.