eWATERservices is a private water operator providing 24/7 access to clean water in sub-Saharan Africa
Using smart technology and local operational excellence, we finance install and maintain water systems for a minimum of 10 years using local professional teams
Total Litres Dispensed
Number of People Served
We install and maintain water systems and don’t walk away
Professional, paid local maintenance teams
Consumers purchase eWATER credit through mobile money
We track every litre dispensed and every dollar spent to ensure we serve our customers sustainably
This is not charity
This is a viable long term solution
Simple Benefits
24/7 water, 95% of the time, for 10 years minimum
100% revenue collection efficiency, transparent and accountable
Smart Maintenance Teams make repairs quickly and we replace all parts necessary- the pipes, the pump, the solar panels and all other water system components
eWATER is fully responsible for everything: installing the system and keeping it going forever
eWATERservices is a water company providing affordable, accessible and sustainable water for the long term
+ How much does it cost per person?
Customers pay as little as $8 per person per year for clean water, ensuring they value the water, driving ownership.
+ Can people afford to pay for clean water?
Yes. Currently every household in Sub-Saharan Africa has at least one mobile phone and the economic burden of walking long distances or paying unregulated vendors is $38 per month per person. [https://water.org/our-impact/where-we-work/kenya/]
+ Where does the money go?
eWATER puts the money back into the local economy. We are committed to creating a dynamic, skilled workforce of customer service operators, water engineers and water technicians that work in a performance management private model based on efficiency, use of technology and customer service.
+ How do people access water
Water credit is exchanged for litres of water at the Smart Tap. All you need to do is place your tag onto the Smart Tap, water comes out and you only pay for what you use.
+ How do people buy eWATER credit?
Customers buy water credit using mobile money, or cash. Or customers can buy credit for a relative's Smart Tag directly.
How it works
For the customer
Four Ways to Pay
+ App
Smart phone users can buy credit through the eWATERpay app and top up tags directly.
+ Mobile Money
Pay by text using a regular phone and pick up credit by touching your tag onto the Smart Tap.
+ Remote payment
Credit can be sent/received through digital payment services such as PayPal or mobile money. In this way, people can buy water for their families, and donors can pay for water for health care clinics and schools.
+ Cash
Pay by cash to an approved vendor or water seller who transfers credit directly to a registered tag.
The eWATER tag
Load your eWATER tag with credit from an approved vendor using cash or mobile money.
Collect water
Simply tap the tag on the Smart Tap to collect the pre-paid water.
What we do
eWATER Smart Taps
When tags are placed on the eWATER Smart Taps, credit is deducted as the water flows.
Revenue generated from this simple tap-and-pay method is used for maintenance of the Smart Taps and expansion of our sustainable operations.
Live, secure mobile payments system
The dispensers communicate seamlessly with our unique cloud-based payments software providing real time management of payments and water usage.
All water usage and operations data are collected through live monitoring of the entire water system.
Maintenance and rapid response times
Our remote technical monitoring software identifies operational and performance issues in the water systems.
It detects low flow rates, faults and operational issues with the dispenser to enable a rapid response from our Smart Maintenance Teams.
Reliable technology
Our technology works in the most rural areas with poor data connectivity, using super low bandwidth mobile connections so that everyone, everywhere can buy credit.
Outstanding Contribution to SDGs
AWARDS
2023 Project Innovation: Kenya Water and Sanitation International Conference
2022 Creating Resilient & Sustainable Communities Award, Sustainability Consulting Awards
2019 UK Tech Awards Innovation & Sustainability
2019 NFC for Good Winners
2018 Global Mobile Award (GLOMO) Outstanding Mobile Contribution to the United Nations SDG’s
2018 Financial Times/IFC Transformational Business: Achieving Sustainable Impact through Technology and Finance
2017 Winners of RELX Group Environmental Sustainability Prize
Why eWATERservices?
We believe that the long term solution to the water crisis in Africa is sustainable water management.
Through our innovative technology, we track and account for revenue from water collection and reinvest it in maintaining our systems and installing more clean water dispensers across Africa.
We are making change. We are making safe water universal for all.
“Outstanding mobile contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals”
— Global Mobile Award 2018 winners
Increased water consumption
By providing accessible and reliable water we can increase water consumption to reach the WHO aspiration of 20 litres per person per day, improving health for young and old alike.
Ending deaths from waterborne diseases
842 000 people are estimated to die each year from diarrhoea as a result of unsafe water. Many are children. We can end that.
More female independence
Women and girls collect water in 80% of Sub-Saharan Africa households. With less far to walk, more time can be spent in education and work, giving women more financial freedom.
Better physical wellbeing
Women suffer less spinal pain from carrying heavy loads and are less vulnerable to human and animal attacks at remote, distant taps.
24/7 access to clean, safe and drinkable water
One of the greatest causes of poverty in Africa is the lack of access to clean drinking water. We are changing that.
Affordable water
Water costs as little as $10 per year. To put this into perspective, people pay on average $100 per year for kerosene and $30 for mobile phones per year.
Sustainable water management
Our technology enables us to remotely detect problems early and take measures to fix them quickly so that customers are not forced to return to contaminated water sources.
Easy to buy
Customers purchase pay as you go credit from local shop keepers. Anyone with a basic phone and mobile money can buy credit for others too.
Reliable technology
We monitor live data from each of our dispensers, but even with an intermittent 2G connection, no data is lost as the technology works offline too.
Reducing water wastage
No drop is wasted. Because our customers pay for their water, they value it and don't waste it. Also, our efficient system only dispenses the precise amount of water paid for, so there are no leakages.
Reducing plastic
Customers refill and reuse receptacles at our Smart Taps.
Where we work
Tanzania
We have nearly 700 Smart Taps in Singida, Dodoma, Manyara and Tabora supporting thousands of families living in rural and peri urban areas across the country.
The Gambia
Since 2016 we have operated more than 100 Smart Taps in 9 rural and remote villages across this unique part of West Africa. eWATERGambia is now a financially sustainable water business.
Kenya
Since 2023, working in Tharaka Nithi and two other counties, eWATERservices is committed to serving 1 million people by 2028 in Kenya, using the full service private delivery model
“We have one eWATERservices card for the dispensary and we use around 12 buckets of water a day. We use money from the government to pay for water. The system is working well, we are really happy with it. We have no problems accessing clean and safe water.”
— Dr. Yohana Mathias,
Medical Professional
Endanchan Dispensary, Tanzania
News
Our thought leadership in the news
Sarah McMath, eWATER Senior Advisor, lessons on water consumption
March 13th, 2023
World Bank, Tanzanian Economic Report, (eWATER on the discussion panel)
February 13th, 2023
August 2nd, 2022
A Day in the Life: Geofrey Mbabaye
March 28th, 2022
Africa 2030: en route to a future with clean water and sanitation
February 2022
Pre-paid water meters: Can the technology fund itself and increase access?
August 10th, 2021
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About Us
We are an agile, committed and entrepreneurial team, who share an ethos of solving one of humanity’s greatest challenges:
the sustainable provision of water across Africa.
Meet the Founders
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Alison is the Founder and CEO of eWATERservices.
Alison set up eWATERservices after becoming frustrated at the failing water programs she was evaluating whilst travelling across Africa and SE Asia in her role as Environmental Economist for DFID, World Bank, JBIC and various NGO’s. Within these jobs, Alison specialised in the analysis of large-scale data sets to develop robust, objective opinions on both government and private sector investments.
Combining her experience in this field with her co-founder’s technological genius, eWATER was founded in 2015 to solve the global water crisis caused by water systems being installed with no plan for cost recovery and maintenance, leading to massive failure of all new water schemes in Africa. Under her leadership the business has proven to be a global market disrupter for the delivery of clean water to very low income communities. With over a billion litres of clean water delivered to very low income households via 1,000 eWATER Smart Taps and eWATER’s professional management programme.
Alison is a graduate of Cambridge University and UCL, and has an interest in politics, having served as Councillor for Stoke On Trent for 4 years. She is also Chair of the British Ceramics Biennial.
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Rob is the Founder and Chief Technical Officer of eWATERservices.Rob founded the company with a technological vision to solve the problem of unsustainable water systems in developing countries. He uses the latest technologies to ensure that people can pay for their water in a cost effect way, and use the latest IOT to monitor water systems to make them easier and more cost effective to manage.
Rob gained a degree in scientific instrumentation and computer science and has worked for IBM and Philips Scientific, later founding and growing several high technology companies; VideoWeb to Genesys conferencing, now Intercall of West Corp), and digital printing technologies (postanywhere.com now DigitalToPrint.com).
Rob uses his vision within eWATER, providing technological solutions to ensure water systems are installed, managed and maintained in the most cost-effective way possible. He has a deep understanding of blockchain and payment technology, big data, IOT, microelectronics, sensors and Internet technologies.
Rob has a keen interest in sustainable solutions; living off-grid, managing solar, wind and water-pumping solutions for his own life. He is a keen sailor, having semi-circumnavigated the world in 2002 with his young family for 4 years.
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![Financial Controller, Tanzania]()
Patricia Kimath
Financial Controller, Tanzania
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Jessica Otoo
Administrator and Technical Support, Ghana
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Elisha Omega
Regional Business Development Manager, East Africa
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George Mureithi
Regional Finance & Administration Manager (East Africa)
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Alieu L.N. Colley
Country Manager, The Gambia
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Alison Wedgwood
Founder and CEO
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Rob Hygate
Founder and CTO
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Sarah McMath
Senior Advisor
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Rory Nightingale
Country Manager, Tanzania
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Oscar Balongo
Regional Programme Manager (East Africa)
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Geofrey Mbabaye
Installation Lead, Tanzania
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Athuman Changan Dawa
Project Support Lead, Tanzania
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James Kay
COO
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Hussein Ally Massomo
Maintenance Lead, Tanzania
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Ian Evans
Technical Manager, UK
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Susan Haworth
Head of Finance
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Mariama (Sibo) Mballow
L2 Operations Manager, The Gambia
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Victoria Beach
Head of Operations (East Africa)
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Hans Panga
Support Technician, Tanzania
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Iain Ballard
Lead Developer
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Bryn Dukes
Software Developer, UK
eWATERservices 2021 ebook catalogue.
Designed to enable offline sharing, we have created this short ebook to outline our mission, values, services and impact.
