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CAWST's Evolution

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In the Beginning...

CAWST was founded in 2001. But long before that, one of CAWST's founders and current President & CEO, Camille Dow Baker, was moved to put aside her 20-year history as an executive in the oil and gas industry and study environmental design at the University of Calgary. There, she met Dr. David Manz, the inventor of a simple device for household water treatment called the BioSand Filter. Camille and David co-founded CAWST to answer the question, "How can we get proven technologies in the hands of the millions that need safe water?"

Since Then...

CAWST has taken a different approach to the problem of water and sanitation for the poor. Instead of starting with technology solutions, CAWST starts with education and training to build local capacity.

Lessons Learned

  1. Lack of knowledge is the root cause of water borne disease. Knowledge about water needs to be common knowledge.

  2. Providing training and training programs for all the organizations involved in the delivery of a household water treatment program is a catalyst for effective, sustainable, replicable and scaleable service delivery to the poor. We need to build the capacity of local institutions to provide continuous services.

  3. Funders have a large influence over program success. Funders need to fund organizations, not projects; software as well as hardware.

How Times Have Changed

CAWST has grown into the kind of organization that Camille originally envisioned. As of June 2009, CAWST has engaged a network of over 310 active organizations which have impacted 3,070,000 people with improved water in 58 countries. CAWST is proving that this unique approach to development works.

CAWST is far from a single-technology organization. Our research and curriculum development teams have expanded our expertise in an array of water and sanitation technologies. Our International Services team has delivered this curriculum to project implementers, product manufacturers and community health promoters--all of the roles necessary for a community-based water and sanitation program. The curriculum includes modules on everything from project planning to manufacturing and community health education..