The East Meets West Clean Water and Sanitation Program provides the people of Vietnam with one of life's most basic necessities: access to safe, clean water for rural communities.

The program will soon be expanded to help those communities by co-financing the construction of sanitary household latrines, and by promoting good sanitation habits such as frequent handwashing with soap. This will help to significantly reduce the incidence of diarrhea, especially in young children, who are the most vulnerable group.

Access to clean water and good environmental sanitation (including not only latrines and handwashing, but also proper disposal of household wastewater and solid waste) can significantly reduce the incidence of many common diseases,  as well as contributing to long-term economic growth and well-being. As such, it is one of the most important of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) to help improve the quality of life in the developing world. EMW has made the Clean Water and Sanitation program one of its top priorities in Vietnam.

The water projects built by East Meets West are models of community sustainability. They are financially sustainable. Water recipients pay for all the water they use and the fees cover all costs associated with managing the projects. They are also sustainable in that the community owns and manages the system, with two Water Managers from the community hired and trained by EMW.

Be part of the next five years of the EMW Water Program. Work with us to bring clean water and improved sanitation to needy communities in Vietnam. We are about to launch a major expansion of this program, with the goal of bringing the gift of water to over 400,000 people in central Vietnam.

Program History

By 2008, EMW has built over 115 water systems in Vietnam. The total number of beneficiaries enjoying access to clean water supplied by an EMW water system is over 150,000 people.

Key Objectives

• Improve the quality of life and health for people in Vietnam through access to clean water.
• Provide clean drinking water to the largest number of beneficiaries at the lowest cost per person.
• Implement a Hygiene and Sanitation Program (for building family latrines and enhancing personal hygiene such as more frequent handwashing with soap) as a adjunct activity to maximize the positive health impacts of all future water systems.
• Reduce child mortality rates due to access to clean water and and improved sanitation.
• Free up more time for women and children to pursue education and work by eliminating the heavy burden of fetching water from a distant source.
• Build more partnerships with local authorities and international agencies to share lessons learned about design, management, operation and maintenance, and financing to provide better quality and more cost-effective water systems.
• Update older EMW water systems with with the most cost-effective technology (for example, for water treatment) and materials;
• Expand training opportunities for local Water Managers in maintenance, safe water handling, financial management, and village hygiene and sanitation.
• Expand the EMW water program geographically throughout all of Vietnam.

Cost Effectiveness

The projects done by the EMW are efficient and effective. It only costs $20 in up-front costs to bring clean water to a person in Vietnam for many years to come. All community beneficiaries are required to share the cost by making contributions of cash (to pay for their house connection and water meter) and in-kind labor (for digging and back-filling all of the pipeline trenches).  This willingness to pay, which helps to ensure long term financial sustainability, is part of the reason why EMW projects have a very high success rate. Nearly every water project built by EMW in the past ten years is still in operation.

• A donation of $25 will supply one person in Vietnam a lifetime of clean water.

For More Information

For more information about the EMW Clean Water and Sanitation Program, contact info@eastmeetswest.org or call 1-800-561-3378.

PHOTO BY DAVID ALLEN