More than 35,000 people in 17 departments of Colombia will have access to safe water in 2023 thanks to the Aquavida program of the Grupo Argos Foundation

• The Grupo Argos Foundation, in coordination with the businesses of the Grupo Empresarial Argos, will deliver 8,000 water filters during the second half of the year to contribute to the water security of rural communities.
• According to the impact evaluations, the filters reduce 100% of bacteria in the water, reduce between COP 40,000 and COP 90,000 the monthly family expenses associated with the consumption of the vital resource and reduce diseases related to consumption by 59%. of untreated water.
• Aquavida is the Grupo Argos Foundation program that seeks to contribute to the water security of the most vulnerable territories in Colombia and contribute to improving the quality of life of the communities.
• By the end of 2023, this program will have benefited nearly 70,000 people, 35,000 of them this year alone, thanks to a consolidated investment of more than COP 2,500 million.

In line with the commitment to contribute to water security in Colombia, the Grupo Argos Foundation, through its Aquavida program, will deliver 8,000 water filters that will benefit more than 35,000 people living in rural areas of the departments of Antioquia, Atlántico, Bolívar, Boyacá, Cauca, César, Chocó, Córdoba, Cundinamarca, La Guajira, Meta, Quindío, Risaralda, Santander, Sucre, Valle del Cauca and Tolima.

This program is carried out jointly with Cementos Argos, Celsia and Odinsa and includes holding workshops on the conservation and use of water, the efficient management of filters and good health and hygiene practices.

“It fills us with joy to announce the delivery of 8,000 water solutions that we know will have a high impact on improving the quality of life of thousands of families in the country and that allows us to contribute to closing the gap in access to safe water in the areas rural areas of the country, where close to 60% of the communities do not have this resource”.

María Camila Villegas – Executive Director of the Grupo Argos Foundation

For the development of Aquavida, the Grupo Argos Foundation has a team of specialists and different allies in the communities to carry out follow-up visits and impact evaluations after the solutions are delivered. The last study carried out in 2022, indicated that the use of filters allows eliminating 100% of the presence of bacteria in the water and reducing, between COP 40,000 and COP 90,000 in monthly family expenses associated with the consumption of this resource. Likewise, there is a 59% reduction in diseases related to the consumption of untreated water.

Aquavida: three years of work delivering drinking water solutions

Based on a comprehensive methodology that makes it possible to identify the needs for water, sanitation and hygiene in the territories and the state of families, educational centers and their water quality, since 2020 the Grupo Argos Foundation has delivered 7,300 water solutions that benefit more than 34,600 people in 15 departments of Colombia.

Aquavida has a portfolio that includes clay filters, water trees (structures that make this resource drinkable in large quantities, housing up to 1,500 liters), and ekomuros (a system that captures rainwater and cleans the water).