#RainForAll Water sustainability for

www.islaurbana.org/english

PRESS KIT CONTENT

WATER CRISIS 1 BENEFITS OF RAINWATER HARVESTING 3 ISLA URBANA PROJECT AND TEAM 5 ISLA URBANA´S RAINWATER HARVESTING SYSTEM 7

OUR PROGRESS 9 RECOGNITION 10

“The amount of rainwater that falls would be enough to guarantee a supply for the entire population.” Antonio Gutiérrez Marco

Director of Conagua, Mexico’s Water Authority, 2010. THE WATER CRISIS

If we succeed in providing a sustainable solution to Mexico’s water problem, we can accomplish anything.

According to the United Nations the world faces a water deficit of 40% by 2030. More than 10 million Mexicans do not have access to water services.

The water crisis in Mexico represents one of the major risks in the prosperity and future stability of Mexican citizens. As the situation worsens throughout Mexico, the social injustice in the distribution of this vital source becomes more evident. It’s time to consider true alternatives in creating a new water culture as we continue to be more self-sustaining.

If we can provide a sustainable solution to the water problem in Mexico, we can do anything.

Women are often in charge of collecting water; putting them In water scarce neighborhoods, families often have to spend in danger when traveling long distances while also keeping time and up to 20% of their income to buy water while them from progressing economically and educationally. municipalities rack up costs subsidizing water trucks in Additionally, they struggle with mental stress and related $ communities where there is no connection to the water grid. health issues from carrying heavy water containers daily. 1 Where cities have exponential growth, pressure THE WATER CRISIS over traditional water sources grows.

Mexico City for example, is ranked third on the list of major world cities facing extreme water stress. While nestled in a valley of more than 2,200 meters above sea level, it presents an unusual challenge as well as an amazing opportunity as to how adaptation and ingenuity can provide a permanent solution to a chronic problem.

Mexico City is plagued by a profoundly unsustainable system that is depleting its local water reserves while pumping water from further and further distances each time. The Lerma-Cutzamala system which provides 30% of Mexico City’s water, consumes more energy in bringing water from surrounding states than what’s needed to illuminate the entire City of (Population: 5.8 million). Additionally, the overexploitation of aquifers, where the city supplies 70% of its water, has caused the city to sink 9 meters in the last century.

The capital suffers from water shortages in 36% of its homes and each year more houses are subject to cuts in Mexico City before the water supply. However, the crisis in the Valley of Mexico is not due to a genuine lack of water. Every year, torrential rains fall on the city, turning streets into rivers, saturating drains, and flooding entire colonies, a phenomenon that reminds us that the basin was once covered by great lakes.

In Mexico City there is a natural abundance of water but it is poorly managed.

The main problem is that the city’s relationship with the resource and its natural cycle has been lost.

We send rain down our drains while simultaneously seeking to bring water from further and further away. Mexico City after 2 BENEFITS OF RAINWATER HARVESTING

Today Tomorrow Future

Families gradually increase their rainwater storage and water management capacity until succeeding in reaching complete independence from other unsustainable and expensive water sources.

Communities can count on high quality water for a minimum of 6 months during the year and up to 12 months in rural communities.

The rainwater harvesting systems work with existing infrasturucture and require little maintenance.

1. Renewable source of clean water 2. Capable of supplying highlands 3. Promotes a culture of care and and marginalized communities where harmony with water. • Every square meter of roof in the City water supply is actually precarious, can capture about 650 liters costly and of a low quality. • When a family harvests rain, of high quality rainwater per year. it develops a direct relationship with the water cycle. • Users can count on an immediate availability of at least 400 liters of water per day during the five months of the rainy season. (CIDAC). 3 BENEFITS OF RAINWATER HARVESTING 4. During the rainy season, it allows the recovery of the city’s aquifers. • It decentralizes the supply of water, that allows for a lower level of dependency and helplessness when there are failures in the traditional city system.

5. Once installed, the systems provide water year after year at very low cost.

6. Rainwater does not need to be transported to the city and to homes artificially, thereby saving emissions and energy.

7. Prevents drains from saturating during downpours, so it reduces floods.

There is no future without water

4 ISLA URBANA

Isla Urbana is a project with a social and environmental focus founded in 2009 in Mexico City. Our work has concentrated on capturing rainfall in the most efficient and effective way, to allow us to supply rain to water scarce communities.

Isla Urbana’s mission is to contribute to the sustainable supply of water in Mexico by driving rainwater harvesting and other practices that allow a rational, ecological and equitable access to water for all. We envision a country where the entire population has sustainable access to water and the overexploitation and excessive discharges of water contaminants become memories of the past.

We believe in a resilient, prosperous and sustainable Mexico, with safe water for all.

Thanks for being part of that change.

#RainForAll www.islaurbana.org/english

5 WHO WE ARE

Clara Gaytan OUR FIRST SYSTEM, 2009 In 2009, Isla Urbana installed their first rainwater harvesting system in the house of Mrs Clara Gaytan. The first rainwater harvesting system installed by Isla Urbana Filled with enthusiasm by the impact of this system, our continues to operate, providing the family clean water for more than small team went to live in the colonia Cultura Maya in 8 months of the year. the Ajusco and the project was founded formally. Our co-founder and teacher Carlos Moscoso, died in December.

Founding team

OUR GENERAL DIRECTOR

Enrique Lomnitz is the General Director and one of the founders of Isla Urbana. He is a design student who returned to his native Mexico City after college in the U.S. to take on its water crisis. Enrique has a unique voice regarding efforts in helping to solve the water crisis in Mexico. He is an insightful, articulate and committed visionary who has a genuine love of his community that is impossible to miss when speaking to him. If you don’t see him at the Isla Urbana offices, in interviews or in meetings, during the year he is also likely to be spending time in the sierras of Jalisco with the indigenous Huichol community installing systems and working collaboratively with other causes.

Isla Urbana has grown. We are an interdisciplinary team of more than 30 people composed Enrique was named one of 35 Innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review in by engineers, designers and sociologists working to offer the most relevant technologies. 2013, is an Ashoka Fellow, and a sought after speaker. 6 ISLA URBANA´S RESIDENTIAL SYSTEM

1 Roof

9 Water tank 2 Gutters and Pipes

3 Leaf Filter

8 Filter Train

4 Tlaloque First flush diverter

5 Turbulence Reducer 6 Disinfection 7 Floating Intake 7 ISLA URBANA´S RESIDENTIAL SYSTEM

Rain capture is not difficult, but you have to do it well. The Isla Urbana catchment system is designed to A well-designed system makes the difference between obtaining adapt to Mexican homes easily and provide high quality high or low quality water. water to houses at a low cost . It is easy to install and removes contamination from the city air or roof.

The system takes advantage of the existing roof of the house, The cistern stores the water, you can use an existing cistern, or 1 which must be kept clean and clear to avoid contaminating the 6 a new one. falling rain. In the cistern or if you prefer in the water tank chlorine should be From the roof, water flows through gutters and pipes into the 7 added to disinfect the water. Isla Urbana offers a chlorine 2 system. dispenser which doses the necessary amount of chlorine, removing any bacteria in the water. After the pipe, the water flows through a first filter, the leaf filter, 3 which prevents the passage of leaves and garbage of a larger A pump with floating intake is used to extract the water from the size. 8 tank. The floating valve prevents the pump from drawing water from the bottom of the cistern where sediment may accumulate. Next, the water passes through a first flush diverting device or 4 "Tlaloque". The Isla Urbana Tlaloque is modular to any size roof Leaving the pump, the water passes through the filtration train. up to 140m2. It prevents the first more polluted volume of rain to 9 The first filter removes sediments larger than 50 microns. The enter the cistern. The Tlaloque allows the first minutes of the second with activated charcoal, removes finer contaminants, as downpour to clean the roof aswell; and thus reduces the well as odors and flavors. pollution in city rain by 70%. Finally, clean water is stored in the water tank in the roof for use in the residence. From the Tlaloque, water enters the cistern through the 5 Turbulence Reducer, it allows the water to enter in a calm way in order to not stir the sediment that may accumulate in the bottom.

8 OUR PROGRESS As of June 2019

,000 systems completed

66,000 people served

440 million of liters of water harvested each year

9 RECOGNITION

The work of the Isla Urbana project has been widely recognized for its contributions to the promotion of rain catchment in Mexico, its dedication to best practices and its social and environmental impact. We thank the following institutions and groups for their support.

• Winner of 50 Emprendedores que Impulsan a México (50 Entrepreneurs that Drive Mexico) Mundo Ejecutivo Magazine, 2016, Agente de Cambio (Change Agent Prize)”, Ashoka, Mexico City, Mexico, 2015, winner of grants from the Institute of Social Development (2010, 2011, 2012), HSBC Foundation (2012-2013), Iniciativa Mexico (2012), Institute of Science and Technology (2012), Porticus (2013), Genera, an NGO project incubator (2011), Secretary of the Environment (2011), Institute of Social Development (2011), Carlos Slim Foundation (2012) and Institute of the Youth (2010, 2013).

10 CONTACT

Epsilon 130, Romero de Terreros, Coyoacan, 04310, Mexico City, Mexico www.islaurbana.org/english @islaurbana.org +52 (55) 5446-4831

#RainForAll

@IslaUrbana IslaUrbana @islaurbana @isla_urbana