Thanks to you, we're on our way! Your financial support has meant real change for real people living in difficult conditions. With nearly 100 rainwater collection systems installed, providing domestic water for about 800 residents, we've expanded our reach in 2023 and are set to significantly scale our impact in 2024. Our end-of-year aim is to raise $35,000 to maintain progress in early 2024 and offset some of the capital costs of our injection mold.
In 2024, we will further scale our work in highly visible communities and work with new partners to provide a foundation for exponential impact in the coming years. To that end, we've invested significant resources in the fabrication of an Injection Mold to mass produce our patented gutter clips - a key ingredient to our systems and success on the ground.
From installing catchment systems to leading community workshops, our work has prompted community members, leaders, and local businesses across these neighborhoods to witness opportunities for an improved quality of life, economic advancement, and reduced flooding.
A Terra Firma neighborhood-scale demonstration project to show the effectiveness of rainwater collection systems.
The Challenge
Since our inception in 2021, we have worked towards meaningful change for millions of people in the Central African city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. We re-imagined the simple concept of rainwater harvesting to help address catastrophic flooding while providing an opportunity for a domestic at-home water supply and all the economic and social possibilities that come with it.
In Central Africa, cities are simultaneously suffering from limited water supplies and unimaginable urban flooding and erosion from monsoon rains that fall between September and May each year. Combine sandy soils with explosive population growth in cities lacking drainage systems, add climate change’s multiplier on monsoon rainfall intensities, and you have a recipe for flooding that is washing away the very ground these cities are built upon. Ironically, while water is everywhere during these storms, few homes have running water to cook, clean, and bathe. Water must be collected and transported from community wells or purchased for delivery multiple times per week.
Basic activities of daily life become a struggle when roads and utilities wash away.
Our Solution and Progress
With the rainy season well under way, we are happy to report that we will meet 2023's goal and complete our 100th collection system in early January. We have been fine tuning our process along the way and are now working in 10 different neighborhoods of Kinshasa to create that ‘social proof’ where residents can see and experience the benefits of capturing monsoon rains for domestic uses. The storage tanks range in size from 1300 to 2400 gallons. For a typical home in this climate, this translates to almost 9 months of domestic water and eliminates most of the daily/weekly trips to purchase and haul water from distant sources.
Terra Firma Rainwater Collective works closely with our on-the-ground nonprofit partner (CEEDD) in Kinshasa. The in-country staff of our Kinshasa team is dedicated to coordinating all project activities from neighborhood site selection to final construction. We now employ three full-time teams to build these systems, and have made a concerted effort to find and train young people who need a trade that provides living wages. This includes recruiting team members through churches, orphanages and other nonprofits.
Since the beginning, our commitment is to the families and communities in need of fresh water and to those living with the threat of losing their home every time it rains. Each season we learn a little more and put that to use, making our systems accessible to those who need them most. Most importantly, we can see the difference we are making in people’s lives.
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Installation of Terra Firma roof clips, gutters and storage tank to catch monsoon rains.
A new water storage tank in Kinshasa.
Looking Forward - Scaling our Solutions
The common roofing material in many developing countries, including Congo, is corrugated metal panels. Construction quality and techniques often don't make it easy to attach a gutter. This has limited people's ability to catch and store rainwater at any meaningful scale.
To address this issue, we developed and patented a thermoplastic clip that attaches directly to the metal roof panels and provides a hanger arm to hold a gutter. It is simple, affordable, and adjustable to roofs of any pitch. After two years of prototyping with 3-D prints, our partners gave the thumbs up - it was time to create an injection mold to cheaply mass produce the parts.
With the guidance of Suncast in Chicago, we solicited bids and commissioned an injection mold through CO WIN Plastics and Metal Company in Shenzhen, China. After production and shipping of the first 1,000 clips, the mold is on a boat back to Chicago for final inspection and larger production runs. In a little over 2 years, we have gone from concept to concept, to 3-D printed prototypes, to local testing and feedback, to an injection mold. We are now able to produce these clips for less than a dollar compared to our prototype 3-D printed clips that cost forty times that amount. The next step is working with African construction material suppliers to sell our clips, hopefully creating another revenue stream to financially sustain rainwater collection on the ground.
Who knew an injection mold for plastics was so complicated? These two pieces slide together to form the mold.
Check out the short video of an injection mold in action!
2024 and Beyond - Our Future
In 2024, the goal of our expanded phase is to complete installations at another 150 demonstration sites while developing awareness and distribution channels around our innovative roof clip. We are scaling at a pace that's just right for perfecting our processes, ensuring success for our in-country team, and amplifying our impact on the ground.
With each new system installed, we are shifting community values about rainwater collection systems. Our goal is for this city of millions to consider our solutions to be an integral component of any roof. We firmly believe that the best way to treat the next gulley is to prevent it from forming in the first place. We will continue to elevate concerns about groundwater pollution from the practice of filling eroding gullies with domestic and industrial garbage. There are currently around 600 of these impromptu landfills in Kinshasa alone, so we have developed a partnership with the University of Kinshasa to evaluate the long-term impacts to drinking water supplies from this short-term 'solution'. And we continue to work with UNOPS, World Bank, US Forest Service International Programs, and other global organizations to further our message and our reach.
We need you!
In an era of climate uncertainty, it’s hard to know how to make a real difference or how our individual and seemingly small efforts amount to real, meaningful change in the world, especially in developing countries where resources are scarce. The cost of a complete rainwater catchment system at a typical home in Kinshasa ranges from $700 - $900, a significant investment for these residents. Yet when we join our resources, our collective offering and impact is immense.
Terra Firma Rainwater Collective is making a measurable difference in the present lives and future opportunities of many, and with your help, the impact will continue growing. Please consider supporting this important work of transforming rainwater into opportunity.
Mark, Erica, Roger & Mary
Terra Firma Rainwater Collective
1363 Rock Court
Carbondale, CO 81623
PS: We are a working board, so all our funds go directly to work on the ground in Africa. If you have questions or would like more information, please reach out. We always look forward to sharing more details about our activities!
