Safe Drinking Water Projects: What are they, and how are they progressing in carbon markets?

Safe Drinking Water (SDW) projects are emerging as a carbon project type that addresses both the global water crisis and climate change simultaneously. 

Two billion people globally lack access to safe drinking water - a basic human right - creating a crisis that disproportionately affects communities in low- and middle-income countries. This water access challenge intersects directly with climate change, as the water sector accounts for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions - significantly more than, for example, the airline industry's ~2%. 

These emissions stem from energy-intensive treatment processes, wastewater decomposition, and the destruction of carbon-storing wetlands.

By providing communities with low-emission water treatment technologies, SDW projects aim to reduce emissions while expanding access to clean water. It creates a compelling project type where climate action meets public health.

Market potential

SDW projects work by avoiding the need for households to boil water for purification, which typically requires burning biomass like firewood. 

This approach not only reduces direct emissions from fuel combustion but also helps preserve forests and biomass that would otherwise be harvested for fuel.

While the market is still developing, demand for water-linked climate impact is rising rapidly. SDW credit issuance surged in 2023, backed by emerging disclosure frameworks like Science Based Targets Network (SBTN). Over 1,000 water-related projects can now be found in carbon project registries, with SDW representing a significant and growing portion.

One of the reasons is that the co-benefits are particularly compelling. Unlike projects that focus solely on emissions reduction, SDW projects deliver immediate, tangible benefits to communities while contributing to global climate goals. 

Understanding safe drinking water project types

SDW projects operate through two main delivery models. 

Community-level projects implement centralized systems that treat water at the source and serve large populations through infrastructure like boreholes and piped water networks. 

These projects typically achieve scale by providing safe water supply that eliminates the need for household-level boiling across entire communities.

Household and institutional-level projects take a different approach, installing point-of-use treatment technologies like filters in individual homes, schools, and clinics. 

These projects treat water where it's consumed and rely on widespread adoption to generate emissions reductions. 

Both approaches share the same fundamental principle: replacing high-emission water purification methods with low-emission alternatives.

Geographically, most SDW projects are concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria leading in terms of project volume. This distribution reflects both the acute water access needs in these regions and the prevalence of biomass burning for water purification.

Projects are increasingly expanding to Asia and Latin America, particularly in low-middle income countries including India, Nepal, and Cambodia.

Assessing safe drinking water projects: What’s important?

Carbon accounting

Carbon accounting in SDW projects presents unique challenges. Unlike projects where emissions can be directly measured, SDW projects rely heavily on estimations and assumptions about baseline fuel use, stove efficiency, and behavioral patterns. This creates inherent uncertainty about carbon sequestration claims.

The concept of "suppressed demand" introduces additional complexity and risk. Many projects, for example, assume that households would boil all their water if they had sufficient fuel access, even when this behavior isn't observed in practice. Credits issued based on this hypothetical fuel use can lead to over-crediting if the assumptions don't reflect actual community behaviors.

Additionality

Additionality assessments are generally more straightforward for SDW projects, especially in low-income regions where clean water infrastructure is limited. Most projects clearly rely on carbon finance to happen or scale, as evidenced by the lack of existing water infrastructure and limited alternative funding sources. 

However, buyers should still evaluate existing policies, other funding sources, and whether similar technologies are already common practice in the project region.

Permanence

Permanence risks are relatively low since SDW projects avoid rather than store carbon. No buffer pool is required under current methodologies, and the avoided fuel use implies preserved biomass. However, country and delivery risks still matter, as project continuity depends on ongoing maintenance, community engagement, and implementer capacity.

Co-benefits

Co-benefits represent one of the strongest value propositions for SDW projects, delivering tangible community gains alongside climate impact. These projects typically generate improved health outcomes and reduced disease burden by providing access to clean water, while creating time and cost savings for households that no longer need to collect fuel or spend time boiling water. 

Gender equality benefits often emerge as women and girls, who traditionally bear responsibility for water collection and household water management, gain time for education and economic activities. Many projects also create local jobs and training opportunities in installation, maintenance, and community education. Indirectly, SDW projects can contribute to biodiversity protection by reducing forest pressure from firewood collection, though this benefit depends heavily on local fuel sourcing patterns and forest management practices.

What are we doing to improve trust in this field?

Our platform data and analysis about individual SDW projects helps you assess project quality and make informed investment decisions. We've developed methodological approaches to address the unique challenges of SDW projects, including the reliance on estimated baselines, the complexity of behavioral adoption patterns, and the need to verify both emissions reductions and water quality outcomes.

Now available on the Sylvera platform, our Safe Drinking Water Estimated Ratings provide a faster pathway to quality project assessment. Estimated Ratings help you quickly triage opportunities across the growing SDW market, identifying projects with stronger methodological foundations and lower over-crediting risks.

We recognize that building trust in this emerging market requires addressing the fundamental data gaps and methodological uncertainties that characterize many SDW projects, and our Estimated Ratings provide the quality signals needed to distinguish between higher and lower integrity opportunities.

Take the next step with Safe Drinking Water projects

The SDW market represents a compelling opportunity to support both climate goals and sustainable development outcomes. The intersection of water access and climate finance creates unique opportunities for impact investment, but success requires sophisticated evaluation of project quality and risk factors.

Through Sylvera's platform, you can explore and quickly assess project quality, and connect with project developers to secure credit volumes while supporting meaningful climate and development outcomes.

Want to learn more about how Sylvera can help you navigate the SDW market? Request a free demo to see our platform and Estimated Ratings in action.