Engineering, Innovation, and Impact in the Amazon
For decades, families in the remote community of San Roque, Peru, used contaminated water from the Amazon River which caused deadly illnesses. Living deep in the Amazon rainforest, they had no other option.
Water Mission believes every person is worth serving, even those in hard-to-reach places like San Roque. Getting safe water flowing here required technical and logistical expertise to address geographical and supply chain limitations.
Our team transported 65,000 pounds of supplies and equipment. Each shipment took days to reach San Roque, and precise timing was crucial. Cement, pipes, solar panels, and other shipments could only be transported during the rainy season when the river was high. Construction could only happen during the dry season.
With intentional project planning and timing, Water Mission engineers designed and built a floating pump house. Located on a lake nearly a mile away from town, this unique pump house must rise and fall with the dramatic, 13-foot changes to the water level between the dry and rainy seasons. We built an enclosure to house four storage tanks, a filtration system, and chemical dosing systems for disinfecting water and making it safe to consume. Since San Roque lacked an existing power grid, we also built a solar array to power the safe water system.
Thanks to talented engineers and caring partners, safe water is now flowing to residents of San Roque. The whole community is experiencing its transformative impact.
Water Builds Health
Yurma was born in San Roque and is now raising her three young children here.
“When I was growing up, there was never safe water. A lot of little kids died from water diseases,” she told us. “[Once I grew up] and my own children had parasites from the bad water, it broke my heart to see my children suffering.”
Now, safe water is flowing in San Roque, and Yurma is the system operator.
“I am very proud to be part of the safe water project. It has brought change for my family and for my community. I want everyone to have treated water like me.”
Water Builds Education
Doris has big dreams of going to college and becoming a teacher. But consuming river water often made her too sick to go to school.
“I worried that I wouldn’t learn to read,” she says. “I cried and cried because I wanted to go to school, but I couldn’t because I [kept getting] sick.”
Now, Doris’ family uses clean, safe water. She’s healthy and excelling in school. Her dreams of learning and teaching the next generation are within reach.
“I used to live a sad life and went through very hard times. I thank God that He took care of me. My Father God used good people to put this water project in San Roque. God saw our needs. That is why He sent us safe water; because He loves us and wants to see us healthy, happy, and strong.”
Water Builds Faith
Pastor Gerson volunteered to lead God is Love Church in San Roque when the previous pastor’s health was failing. He said, “I wanted to serve out of love for God and for my brothers and sisters.”
He also serves as San Roque’s Safe Water Committee president and says that the partnership between Water Mission and God is Love Church is strong.
“Together, Water Mission and the church reflect God’s love. We help [people] to the best of our abilities…without discriminating against anyone. Because we treat people kindly, [they] look to the church in times of trouble and sadness and ask us to pray with them. Thank God that the safe water project came to San Roque.”