Gravity Water
Gravity Water turns rain into safe water for schools in need around the world.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
As of 2018, an estimated 844 million people lacked access to clean, safe drinking water around the world, with an estimated 842,000 deaths a year caused by diarrheal diseases from contaminated drinking water. These figures are due to a lack of access to fresh water (water availability) and the impact of water pollution in local water sources (water quality); currently, an estimated two billion people around the world use a drinking water source contaminated with feces. Over 75% of people in developing countries live within the tropics and subtropics, where rain events are frequent and occur anywhere from 6 months to the entire year. Though these communities have access to an abundant supply of fresh water from rain, they lack access to safe drinking water due to pathogens and other forms of water pollution in their local water sources.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Nepal Initiative
The Global Water Crisis affects every region of the globe and is the leading cause of childhood illness and death around the world. Gravity Water works to mitigate this risk by installing rainwater harvesting and filtration systems at public schools, ensuring all children have access to safe drinking water, regardless of age, gender, religion, or socioeconomic background.
Vietnam Initiative
The Global Water Crisis affects every region of the globe and is the leading cause of childhood illness and death around the world. Gravity Water works to mitigate this risk by installing rainwater harvesting and filtration systems at public schools, ensuring all children have access to safe drinking water, regardless of age, gender, religion, or socioeconomic background.
Where we work
Awards
Social Innovation Award 2023
Classy Awards
Affiliations & memberships
Cohort - Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship 2021
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of people with improved water access
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Ethnic and racial groups, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Gravity Water calculates this metric by the total number of students and/or community members with daily clean water access from all active projects. Stats based on monthly check-in reports.
Number of communities provided clean water
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Ethnic and racial groups, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Gravity Water calculates this metric by the number of communities that are actively using Gravity Water systems daily. Stats are based on monthly check-in reports.
Number of water projects built
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Ethnic and racial groups, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Gravity Water calculates this metric by the number of new Gravity Water systems that are built each year and does not include past systems that are also currently in use.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Gravity Water's vision is to provide schools in developing countries with access to safe drinking water that can be sustainably and locally sourced and managed throughout the future. Through combining a low-tech approach and a community-based management model, Gravity Water aims to provide communities around the world with the necessary knowledge on how to create U.S. EPA-rated safe drinking water that is 100% energy-independent and developed through the use of locally sourced materials and skillsets.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Gravity Water is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works exclusively on converting rainwater to drinking water through combining rainwater harvesting, elevated storage, and gravity-fed filtration, providing communities in developing countries with a source of safe drinking water that is on site, self-sustaining, long-term, and 100% energy independent. Gravity Water Systems provide a localized source of clean drinking water that has a lifespan of decades and is 100% energy independent, allowing it to be set up in rural and undeveloped areas. Gravity Water’s mission is to help eliminate waterborne illness and death in developing nations through providing a reliable and localized source of clean drinking water that can be managed, maintained, and implemented by community members in developing countries.
Gravity Water achieves this through connecting pathways of sustainable funding platforms to on-the-ground projects in developing countries. Gravity Water's sustainable funding platform includes, but is not limited to, business partnerships, individual monthly memberships, granting agency sponsorships, and the Gravity Water Youth Initiative, which works with public schools in the U.S. to host educational fundraiser campaigns to sponsor clean water systems for schools in developing countries.
Gravity Water translates funding into impact through the development of the Local Management Program (LMP) model, which the Organization applies in every country Gravity Water work's within. The LMP works through the training of a local national of the country on how to plan, manage, implement, and maintain Gravity Water projects; unlike "well installations" and other approaches to clean water access, Gravity Water's low-tech approach can be easily translated to local skill sets, without the dependency on high-skill trades or materials. After the completion of training, this individual holds the "National Director" position with Gravity Water, which is a salary-based position. Through the LMP model, Gravity Water can carry out its program services 100% through local hands and management, creating empowerment, ownership, and livelihood opportunities.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Through the combination of Gravity Water's Local Management Program model and the low-tech, affordable, and quick installation process of Gravity Water systems, Gravity Water has a remarkable capacity to scale the Organization's impact. Here are the following aspects that make Gravity Water projects scalable and capable of significant impact:
AFFORDABILITY: Gravity Water Systems can provide the same amount of individuals a reliable source of *filtered* EPA-rated safe drinking water for roughly 10%-25% of the cost of a deep well that lacks filtration and is heavily dependent on energy and pumping technology.
INSTALLATION TIME: Gravity Water Systems can be built in as little as one day, using local materials and skill sets (no heavy machinery). Most Gravity Water systems have an average installation time of 72 hours.
MAINTENANCE AND LONGEVITY: Gravity Water Systems have a remarkable multi-decadal lifespan, given the low-tech approach of Gravity Water's systems. Since the systems don't require energy or pumps, which are the most common part of a water system to break, maintenance is minimal. All that is needed is the replacement of locally-sourced filters, which can be found in the majority of developing countries and cost roughly $20-$30 USD/year for a school of 500 students (~$0.05 USD per student per year).
LOCAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM: Through Gravity Water's Local Management Program, Gravity Water Systems can be installed year-round, without the dependency of the physical presence of Gravity Water U.S.-based staff. This allows multiple projects to be constructed and developed around the world at the same time. Based on Gravity Water's current LMP in Nepal and Vietnam, Gravity Water can build 50+ systems per year (25,000+ children covered), 100% through local hands.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since 2016, Gravity Water has provided approximately 30,500 students and community members with a permanent source of safe drinking water in Nepal, Vietnam, Puerto Rico, Indonesia, and Costa Rica. In addition, Gravity Water has developed national educational programs in the U.S. and has provided local career and livelihood opportunities for communities in developing countries
Accolades and Achievements:
2023 - Gravity Water won the SOCIAL INNOVATION CLASSY AWARD. 10 winners were chosen from 50 Non-Profit Finalists.
2021 - Fellow of the MILLER CENTER CLIMATE RESILIENCE ASIA PACIFIC ACCELERATOR - Gravity Water was selected out of over 80 Social Enterprises as one of the most promising start-ups to address water, food, and energy challenges in the Asia Pacific region.
MIT SOLVE FINALIST - Gravity Water was selected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) SOLVE Challenge as one of 15 solutions out of >1,000 applicants from around the world as one of the most promising solutions to developing sustainable water sources in urban communities.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHASING GENIUS FINALIST (Runner Up) - Gravity Water was selected as one of 15 solutions out of over 3,000 entries from around the world as one of the most promising ideas to solve the Global Water Crisis.
2017 STAFF CHOICE AWARD - THE HEART SERIES - Gravity Water was selected out of over 200 social impact businesses and organizations in the Los Angeles-based conference for the Staff Choice Award (Award presented by Invisible Children).
2018 NON-PROFIT OF THE YEAR - THE NEXTIES - Gravity Water was selected out of over 1,500 non-profits in Santa Cruz County, California, for the 2018 Non-Profit of the Year.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Gravity Water
Board of directorsas of 01/23/2024
Davi Vargas
Davi Vargas
Greg Baker
Sanjiv Sanghvi
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 06/23/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.