Tatha Water

Clean Water.
Dignified Sanitation.
For Life.

The Amazon has a water emergency.

28.4 million people live in the Brazilian Amazon. Rural communities are dispersed along the 6,600km of rivers, and most rural households have neither water nor toilets.

Diarrhoea due to water-borne disease is a key cause of infant mortality. Skin diseases and intestinal worms are common. The crisis is immediate. In some areas the river is completely dry.

People in the Amazon need water.

And they need it now.

Want to save the Amazon? Then we need to protect its people.

The survival of the Amazon is survival for humanity. The Amazon constitutes 40% of the world’s remaining rainforest. It hosts over 3 million different species, and more fish species than any other river system. The biodiversity of the Amazon is crucial for global survival.

But the Amazon is under threat. Deforestation is rampant. Logging, mining, and industrialisation result in the loss of hundreds of thousands square miles of forest every year.

The rural communities in the Amazon are our last line of defence. If they are forced to migrate to the cities, the Amazon is lost. They need water to survive. But they also need water to stay.

This is why we will never give up on our mission. Because while our dream is to solve the water crisis, this is not our mission. Our mission is to protect the Amazon. And to protect the Amazon, we need to protect its people.

The communities we work with are at the frontlines in the fight against deforestation. They are the Amazon’s defenders. But without water, families are slowly losing hope.

Water means health. It means livelihoods. But it also means hope. It means rural families living in the Amazon have a future. Clean water means we can save the Amazon. Together.

Sustainable, Accessible Solutions

  • A small section of a wooden house with white PVC pipes running along the wall, and a large black water storage tank on a wooden platform. There are green leaves from a nearby plant in the foreground, casting shadows on the wooden wall.

    Rainwater Harvesting

    Since 2012 we have worked with families living along the river to design and install rainwater harvesting systems suitable for isolated, flood-prone land. After three design phases our latest system produces completely clean water.

    After 10 years, our systems are still providing clean water for 200+ people. Our recent modelling simulations show that our systems can meet water demand throughout the Brazilian Amazon region.

  • Ecological Toilets

    Most households living along the river either have no toilets or toilets that increase environmental pollution. Lack of sanitation increases risks of disease and sexual violence for women and girls.

    We have designed toilets suitable for flood-prone land. The toilets prevent environmental pollution, turning pollutant into product through composting. There is no smell, so toilets are built next to or inside houses, reducing risk of sexual violence.

Find out more here
Group of people gathered outdoors in a lush, green tropical setting, engaging in an activity involving soil or plants.

Engineering.
Science.
Relationships

This is what sets Tatha apart.

Because we know that we can’t solve the problem alone. We need local knowledge. We need local ownership. And we need local trust.

Every system is built in partnership with the people who will be using them. We work collectively to ensure each system is adapted to the specific environmental challenge presented by each region, each neighbourhood, and each household.

Together, we can solve this crisis.

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