Meet the Entrepreneurs
Ecofiltro November 2013
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CONTACT INFORMATION
ecofiltro
A sustainable and affordable clean water solution for people at the Base of the Pyramid
Guatemala City, Guatemala +13 79558555
pwilson@ecofiltro.com
www.ecofiltro.com
Philip Wilson, Founder, Guatemala
CHALLENGE Currently, one million families live without access to potable water in Guatemala. In rural areas, people usually have to boil water to make it drinkable, but it is not a satisfactory solution and intestinal infection rates remain high. This practice also contributes significantly to deforestation and carbon emissions as people usually use wood for the process. In urban areas, the use of bottled water has been widely adopted, and while it means an increase in household expenses, it also implies a number of impacts on the environment linked to waste and transportation.
IDEA Ecofiltro’s main idea is to produce a filter from locally sourced materials that can clean contaminated water. The solution was founded by Fernando Mazariegos in Guatemala in the early 1980s. It is a filter composed of clay, sawdust, and colloidal silver which allows water filtration while at the same time trapping bacteria and other contaminants in the micro channels inside the walls of the filter. While removing all turbidity and smell from the water and maintaining a cool temperature, the clay filter solution makes it widely culturally accepted: families that begin to use it remain faithful to the product as the taste is fresher and reminds them of the clay jugs that have been used for centuries to store water. Moreover, the innovation can contribute to drastically reducing waste, as Ecofiltro reduces the consumption of bottled water.
BUSINESS MODEL Ecofiltro is a social business whose mission is to provide clean water in an affordable and sustainable manner to the one million families in Guatemala that currently live without access to potable water. The company measures its success by being profitable, achieving a high social impact in rural communities, and reducing the environmental cost of providing clean water. Today, Ecofiltro is the lowest-cost water purifier in the market for developing countries. It sources all of its materials and labor locally and creates no waste during the production process. The income model is based on low monthly payment plans offered to families (each one pays between one and two dollars per month for the filter) which covers production costs. Ecofiltro has become the water utility for the population living at the Base of the Pyramid while achieving economic sustainability.
“ECOFILTRO IS THE LOWEST-COST WATER PURIFIER IN THE MARKET FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.”
“THE MAIN IDEA WAS TO PRODUCE A FILTER FROM LOCALLY SOURCED MATERIALS THAT COULD CLEAN CONTAMINATED WATER.”
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