Safe Water Projects.
Ensuring vulnerable communities have access to clean water and reducing CO₂ emissions through innovative WASH carbon financing.
Why Safe Water is needed in Madagascar.
Madagascar is one of the world's poorest countries, and one of the few consistently getting poorer. The UN World Food Programme has described Madagascar as facing "the world's first climate change famine," with tens of thousands of people already suffering catastrophic levels of hunger and food insecurity after four years without adequate rain.
"This is unprecedented. These people have done nothing to contribute to climate change. They don't burn fossil fuels — and yet they are bearing the brunt of climate change." Shelly Thakral, UN World Food Programme
In Madagascar, only 36% of the rural population has access to at least basic drinking water services, and only 9% to improved water sources — the eighth-lowest ranking in the world. Most families use unsafe water from rivers, causing water-borne disease, especially diarrhoea, which contributes to malnutrition and stunting and exacerbates the effects of drought and poverty.
SaniTap's Safe Water carbon project is restoring access to safe drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people across rural, low-income communities. We do this by rehabilitating non-functioning rural wells and handpumps and maintaining them for a decade or more.
How safe water prevents CO₂ emissions.
In the absence of affordable treatment alternatives, contaminated water must be boiled — which requires firewood collected from natural forests. This emits CO₂ and contributes to deforestation. Restoring safe drinking water access prevents these avoidable emissions.
SaniTap's Safe Water project generates traceable, high-quality carbon credits by providing direct access to safe drinking water. There are over 10,000 water wells in Madagascar; around 40% are completely non-functioning, and another 45% are significantly damaged and require maintenance. These wells and handpumps were constructed by aid and development organisations but have fallen into disrepair due to absent technical repair skills, lack of organisational capacity or spare parts, poverty, or extreme climate events such as cyclones and drought.
SaniTap has identified those wells that will have the greatest impact when restored — with detailed condition, geolocation, maintenance/repair required, households served, community elders, make, usage, and failure-mode data. This depth of knowledge enables fast, effective restoration of safe drinking water access for hundreds of thousands of people.
Beyond carbon: full impact.
In addition to reducing CO₂ emissions, SaniTap's Safe Water projects deliver substantial social, environmental, and economic co-benefits. The project contributes to six UN Sustainable Development Goals: 1 — No Poverty · 2 — Zero Hunger · 3 — Good Health · 6 — Clean Water and Sanitation · 13 — Climate Action · 15 — Life on Land.
Gold Standard verified.
SaniTap's Safe Water project is developed under the Gold Standard methodology for Emission Reductions from Safe Drinking Water Supply (ERSDWS v1.0).
By restoring and maintaining access to safe water sources, the project eliminates the need for households to boil water using biomass fuels — generating measurable and conservatively calculated emissions reductions. The resulting Verified Emission Reductions (VERs) are issued under the Gold Standard for Global Goals following independent third-party validation and verification.
SaniTap's credits are developed to the optional higher-level gender-responsive certification, with proactive gender analysis and targeted actions to advance gender equality and women's empowerment. Credits are also aligned with the ICVCM Core Carbon Principles, ensuring each credit represents a real, verified, and high-quality emissions reduction supported by strong social co-benefits and rigorous oversight.
Project partners and stakeholders.
SaniTap seeks constructive feedback so any project we develop benefits from the views, perspectives, and experience of all interested stakeholders — without exclusion. In the early stages of every project we engage affected stakeholders and discuss potential environmental, social, and economic impacts. Stakeholder consultation is a process, not a single event — feedback channels remain open throughout the project lifetime.
Buy safe water credits.
Verifiable, high-integrity credits backed by long-term water-point rehabilitation and maintenance in rural Madagascar.