Clean Water Is Changing Everything
Abundant Water 2024–25 Program Summary: Timor-Leste, Laos & the Philippines
“Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.”
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Seventy one percent of the Earth's surface is covered in water, but only a fraction - 3.5% - is fresh enough to drink. For developing countries, creating a reliable supply of drinking water is a huge developmental challenge but one of the prerequisites for self-reliance. Because clean water saves lives. It strengthens entire communities. It reduces the incidence of disease, decreases health costs and has the potential to lift people out of poverty. Transforming communities to a future where fresh water is abundant, safe and reliable, availed to everyone is the most powerful, cost-effective public health development that can be achieved.
The mission of Abundant Water is to partner and empower local people in designing and developing sustainable and scalable clean drinking water solutions. Despite funding shifts and regional challenges in 2024–25, it has widened its impact across Timor-Leste, Laos and on the southern Philippine island of Bohol. In the areas where the projects are active public support is growing. The organisation continues to develop more community partnerships, reach even more schools, and train many new local vendors.
“From little things, big things grow”
Bohol, Philippines
In some schools on Bohol tap water is not trusted. It can be contaminated, weakening immune systems in students, reducing attendance rates. In some places diarrhoea and dysentery have become so prevalent that local teachers on their own initiative, purchase packaged drinking water for the kids financed from their own pockets. This year marked a greater proactive approach by Abundant Water in the school-based clean water program on Bohol Island. With support from the Reece Foundation, the initial rollout across 12 schools expanded to another 15, ensuring that remote mountain and island schools now have reliable access to safe drinking water, reducing the financial burden for swathes of teachers.
New partnerships—including with the Women’s Union of Tagbilaran—helped train the first cohort of local vendors, offering an opportunity for women to earn a modest income, provide for their families and to take part in improving local health.
Vaclav Rabas, Abundant Water’s Project Manager in the Philippines and Laos stands with teachers at a local school on the island of Bohol
2024–25 Impact (Bohol, Philippines):
266 filters distributed
27 schools reached, benefiting 5,202 students and 292 teachers
15 local vendors trainees
“Pure water is the world’s first and foremost medicine”
Laos
A grant from the Embassy of the Czech Republic enabled the installation of filters across schools and health centres in Luang Prabang Province. Collaboration with Econox and its Plastic Free Laos initiative introduced new training in sustainability and plastic reduction.
These partnerships helped strengthen local networks and increase community ownership of clean water solutions.
Deputy Head of Mission at the Czech Embassy in Bangkok, Michal Švéda holding a filter piece at a local School in the Luang Prabang Province in Laos
2024–25 Impact (Laos):
100 filters delivered
9 schools supported (1,964 students and 149 teachers)
5 health centres equipped
6 new vendors trained
“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water”
Timor-Leste
In a year marked by major cuts in the development sector, Abundant Water’s social business model enabled operations to continue without interruption. Vendor support, customer service training, and community-led advertising contributed to a 38% increase in replacement filter sales—a key indicator of the program’s sustainability.
With renewed funding from the US Embassy in Dili, the project expanded to Cova Lima, where recycled-plastic tables manufactured locally and made from plastic waste processed in Dili by Caltech were presented as a package, along with the school filters. Abundant Water employed members from Don Bosco Vocational Training Centre and Feto Enginhera to design and build 31 tables. Some members of the school communities were so impressed they wanted to learn more about how they could buy the tables for use in their own homes. This success has encouraged Abundant Water to incorporate recycled materials into even more future projects. It may ensure an even greater and lasting impact in Timor-Leste.
Other partnerships with Mercy Corps, Balibo Women’s Group, and Educating the Future has broadened clean water access across pre-schools, kindergartens and primary schools. Increasing interest from schools across Timor-Leste positions the program for strong growth in the coming year.
Chris Draper, Abundant Water’s Project Manager in Timor-Leste with local vendor Juliao after he purchased 300 replacement filters for distribution.
2024–25 Impact (Timor-Leste):
1,375 household filters distributed
8,250 beneficiaries
40 school filters across 11 schools, supporting 2,116 students and teachers
5 vendors trained
“When the well is dry, we know the value of water.”
Across All Programs
Efforts this year focused on:
Expanding clean water access to remote and vulnerable communities
Building strong local vendor networks
Empowering women and youth through training and leadership opportunities
Advancing environmentally sustainable practices, including plastic waste reduction
Strengthening community ownership for long-term impact
Abundant Water’s progress in 2024–25 highlights the power of locally driven solutions, resilient partnerships, and sustainable models that continue to thrive even in challenging environments.
Abundant Water, an Australian volunteer-led organisation, is taking action, now. Our work is already making a tangible difference in Timor-Leste, the Philippines, and Laos. But we need your help to go further, faster. Even the smallest contribution can mean clean water, better health, and renewed hope for families in need.
Act now - Because clean water can’t wait