Water Business in a Box
Business Model & Strategy Development, Approaches to Increase Efficiency or Investor Match-making…
These are the typical buzz words used when people talk of supporting WASH enterprises. But what does that actually mean and how can water supply enterprises with more advanced operations best be supported?
Cewas designed a Business-in-a-Box programme focused on replicable social business models to upgrade water points and extend piped water supply in rural areas of Uganda. In a year-long programme 5 enterprises are supported in refining their scaling strategies by combining technical assistance, such as developing tailored financial models, with opportunities to connect with peers and funders.
During the Field Assessment in fall of 2024, the ‘Business in a Box’ team and entrepreneurs visited each others water supply systems and analysed four key areas that are key to scaling their service delivery: management & internal processes, operations & maintenance, marketing & sales, financial model. These join assessments facilitate the sharing of experiences and solutions and lead to insightful discoveries:
While visiting one of Ugandan Water Project 's water systems, the teams observed a water vendor who repeatedly filled several jerry cans of water. He explained that he gladly pays for the water since the automated ATM allows him to fill his eight jerry cans in the time it previously took to fill one, enabling him to efficiently resell water to construction sites and farms for pesticide dilution. His business not only supports his livelihood but also helps cover the operating costs of the public water system through regular consumption. UWP is now embarking on a more systematic cooperation with water vendors across several systems to increase water sales and achieve cost coverage.
Within the hills of Kasese
In Uganda, within the hills of Kasese, a team of water entrepreneurs at IRRISOL Engineering Limited brought life back to an old, unused water system. A 50m3 storage tank that had been sitting idle now serves as a central piece of a gravity-fed water system that serves 22,450 people. Irrisol fully financed and already recovered the CapEx investment to setup the system. Water flows to standpipes and homes of the surrounding communities, but there are still challenges - demand for water is growing, and income from standpipes isn’t always reliable.
So, what’s their plan? As Irrisol expands its mini-grid portfolio through repayable financing, it recognises the need for more effective sales processes and operational efficiency. The BinBox programme supports IRRISOL Engineering Limited to pilot customer acquisition strategies and technical solutions, such as prepaid meters, leak detection sensors, and mWater, to optimise operations, enhance marketing, and improve profitability.
A Different Story in Luuka: Putting Households First
In Luuka District, Water Mission is setting up SWIG as a new service utility that changes the way water is delivered. These efforts focus on connecting water directly to households using prepaid meters. The idea is simple: bring water closer to people’s homes, where it increases convenience and leverages benefits for drinking water and beyond.
Their approach? Install 600 prepaid meters to serve more families, including through shared connections. Working through shared connections means that SWIG achieves a higher market penetration, benefitting large shares of the community through convenience, time savings, dignity, and opportunities to improve their lives.
Solar-Powered Progress: Water Compass in Sembabule
In Kyatuba, Sembabule, solar power is running water pumps and flowing new ideas! With support from the district government, Water Compass built a solar-powered water system that now serves 1,270 people. Water payments are affordable and easy, thanks to Susteq ATMs that charge just 100 UGX per 20 litres.
What’s their bigger dream? Water Compass aims to test and validate private connections for households and businesses as a key driver of water system revenue through targeted interventions at selected existing systems. Building on these experiences, Water Compass plans to expand by incorporating schemes capable of selling substantial water volumes and leveraging economies of scale to maximise their impact.
How can you put the Safe in Rural Water Supply?
In Kitgum, Water Access Consulting ’s Pii Maleng Water Kiosk, utilising advanced treatment technologies to provide the community with safe and affordable drinking water. This initiative is supported by a collaboration with the National Water and Sewerage Corporation, which supplies raw water to Water Access Consulting ’s system. To further expand its services throughout 2025, WAC plans to rehabilitate a high-yield borehole and increase the number of kiosks, aiming to reduce costs through centralised operations and enhance community access to clean water.
Female Health and Hygiene
Learn about one of the most underserved yet challenging markets for WASH businesses.
The latest Cewas’ Ecosystem Study on Female Health & Hygiene in Kenya, Uganda and Ghana reveals:
Enterprises in the current ‘Female Health and Hygiene Accelerator’ are working in exactly these business environments analysed in the ecosystem study. Their innovations are not only related to products, but the entire value chain, with a focus on new production, distribution and financing models. GET YOUR COPY! ??
Real Stories, Real Impact - From Enterprises
What does it take to provide clean, reliable water access?
With 75 water utilities across 18 counties, Rural Water Management Solutions Kenya is delivering clean, reliable water to thousands ?of people in rural areas in Kenya. But they’re not stopping there - within three years, Rural Water Management Solutions Kenya aims to reach 500,000 people!
What’s their business model? How are they scaling this rapidly while maintaining quality?
Watch the video to uncover the innovations, challenges, and lives transformed!
Who is transforming agriculture in Iraq?Over the past 3 years and as part of the Water and Energy for Food scaling programme, Cewas has been working with more than 20 agri- solution start-ups and SME in Iraq
Green Shovel is one of these Innovators, who are gradually reshaping the agricultural sector, providing smart technologies that increase agricultural production, reduce water and energy use, and protect the environment. ?Since 2021 the company has saved 123 million litres of water annually, reducing CO? emissions by 84 tonnes and helped 53% of its end users increase their incomes.
Spotlight - Programmes in Action
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For more news and information visit: cewas.org
Founder, CEO, Mentor, Innovator, Change-maker, Young Water fellow, +1global fund awardee, East African springboard fellow, Member UWASNET, Youth4Climate change, Global Youth Biodiversity Network and Catalyst 2030
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