Cwater - focusfestival.eu

Give back through action sports

This is Cwater

Who are we & Our Mission

We are Wildert Mestdagh and Yenno Tellier, two young founders in our twenties, driven to make a difference through the sports we love. This motivation led to the creation of NPO CWATER, a water purification project focused on providing access to safe drinking water in remote areas.

We intentionally chose to work with Rainman portable watermakers. These units offer a high output compared to other solutions on the market. Each unit produces up to 140 liters of clean drinking water per hour, we currently operate three units.

We selected portable systems because transporting water in these regions is extremely difficult, often nearly impossible, for the local population. By bringing the purification directly to the communities, we create a sustainable and practical solution where it is needed most.

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our past

What have we done to build CWATER

problem solving

2000 Clean waterjugs

The first step was an in-depth search for the right materials and technical knowledge. We properly researched different systems, learned how they operate, and tested what would work best in remote conditions.

Next, we focused on financial support. Through sponsors and self-organized events, we raised the funds needed to purchase all essential equipment. This included generators, watermakers, filters, buckets, filter cloths, large water storage tanks, sun protection, storage room and a 4×4 jeep (which we already owned).

After obtaining the equipment, we built and trained a local team. Step by step, we explained every part of the process and transferred responsibility to ensure the project could run independently and sustainably.

During this phase, we quickly encountered a major challenge: the local population had no way to store the purified water. To solve this, we partnered with the FOCUS Festival to find sponsors for 2,000 clean water jerrycans. These were purchased in Antsirabe, more than 800 km from our location, as they were unavailable elsewhere.

The jerrycans were transported by a large truck to Toliara, then redistributed into three smaller 4×4 vehicles. For the final stretch, they were transported by pirogues and manually carried to the village of Tsiandamba.

our achievements

What About those yellow waterjugs

Donations for local people

15 Head partners

We wanted to find a creative way to raise funds for the CWATER project. That’s why we collaborated with the FOCUS Festival.

We came up with the idea of using water jugs to create the FOCUS Festival logo as a large land art installation. In this way, we didn’t use materials just for visual impact. Everything we used had a real purposeand could later be donated to local communities to help them store clean drinking water.

By doing this, we stayed close to the local community and respected their way of life, while also supporting them in a practical and meaningful way.

The FOCUS Festival played a key role, as it allowed us to offer a complete support package for people who wanted to contribute. There were two ways to support the Water Jug Project:

Option 1 – Crowdfunding
People could symbolically sponsor one water jug. Through this, we raised €2,000.

Option 2 – Company support
Companies could purchase a promotion package for €700 and receive visibility on Instagram, the website, and in the FOCUS art book. In this way, companies helped support the entire CWATER project.

our approach

How Project cwater works

Capacity of monthly purification

15.000l/ month

Objective: to deploy the team to Tsiandamba on a monthly basis, specifically during the last three days of each month (27th, 28th, and 29th). In addition, an extended deployment is planned from November 1st to 7th during the Focus Festival. During each mission, we consistently purify enough water to fully meet the village’s drinking water demand.

First, our team travels monthly from Antsirabe to Toliara by bus. This journey takes about 25 hours. We work with a team that lives in Antsirabe because we trust them and can fully rely on them. In Antsirabe, we have ourstorage facility, where we maintain the equipment and gather as a team.

From Toliara, the team continues to the village of Tsiandamba. This last part of the trip is about 3 hours off-road. Once they arrive, they start setting up the system.

The setup includes:

2 generators (8 KVA each)
3 portable Rainman watermakers
Water jugs from the local community
Two types of water tanks for seawater

This is how the process works: Our team with the help of local people collect seawater in buckets from the ocean. The water is first poured into a large water tank, where the biggest sand particles are removed. Then the water goes into a smaller tank with a filter cloth on top. This filter stops smaller sand and coral pieces.

From this tank, the water is pumped into the Rainman machine. Inside the machine, the water first passes through a filter. After that, it is pushed through a special system at high pressure (about 50 bar). This system separates the water into:

very salty water (wastewater, without harmful chemicals)
Clean drinking water “Cwater”

This proces is called reverse osmosis RO.

The clean water is used to fill the 20l yellow water jugs. Because we use three machines, we can purify about 420 liters of drinking water per hour. Once the jugs are full, they are given to the village president. He gives them to the village leaders, who then distribute the water to the local people.