MSH-Peru and Inclam Join Forces to Bring Clean Water to Peru’s Most Remote Areas

August 18, 2017—A partnership between MSH affiliate MSH-Peru, Spanish water engineering company Inclam, and Peruvian authorities, titled Water is Health, has brought safe drinking water to thousands of people across Peru’s indigenous communities without access to water or whose water sources have been contaminated.

Launched in 2014, Water is Health brought 65 portable water treatment plants across several indigenous communities in Peru’s Northeastern region of Loreto, in the Amazon forest. Inclam built and installed water treatment systems and MSH-Peru coached residents on safe collection, storage, and use of clean water, as well as handwashing and proper human waste disposal.

Water is Health’s final report highlights project achievements between 2014 and 2017, which include:

• We have supplied a total of 20,606 people spread over 4,000 families, of which 3,100 have children under 5 years old
• Construction of 65 water treatment plants and 124 warehouses and open space, with technology training and social projects for indigenous communities
• An initial health evaluation of these communities indicated that 64% of children under five suffered from acute diarrheal diseases. By the end of the project, that number fell to 23% due to access and training around adequate collection, storage, and use of water as well as handwashing and proper disposal of human waste.