Water present is not water safe
Bugesera is a lake-rich district, yet living beside water does not mean it is safe to drink. Surface water can carry contamination and sediment that people cannot see.
A solar-powered kiosk that turns lake water into safe drinking water.
Bugesera is a lake-rich district, but living beside water is not the same as having safe, dependable water to drink. AquaSolve is building toward a community water kiosk in Gashora that treats water drawn from the lake and dispenses it safely, run by trained local operators.
Measure
Establish source-water quality, seasonal conditions, demand, site constraints, and hydraulic requirements with qualified partners.
Engineer
Design intake, pumping, pretreatment, treatment, solar power, storage, dispensing, monitoring, waste handling, maintenance, and local operations around measured conditions.
Build
The capitalized construction phase: secure approvals and capital, procure equipment, construct, commission, verify drinking-water performance, and train local operators.
The 2026 Gashora pilot
Lake Mirayi is the intended candidate source for the Gashora pilot. The pilot engineering phase will establish the exact treatment requirements, equipment sizing, siting, operating procedures, and regulatory safeguards for responsible construction.
Problem
Water present is not water safe
A nearby lake does not guarantee safe drinking water.
Bugesera has nine lakes, yet proximity is not access. The gap is safety, reliability, and dependable local service, not the absence of water.
Access hides the real distance
Rwanda counts a source as basic only if it is within a 30-minute round trip; safely managed water must also be on premises and free from contamination. In Bugesera, 20.9% of households do not use the source they call nearest.
Reliability breaks down
Among Bugesera households that avoid their nearest source, 65.7% say the reason is that it does not function properly. A water point that is broken or untrusted is not really access.
Source conditions must be measured
Rwanda's national monitoring programme tests water bodies for indicators including turbidity, fecal coliform and E. coli. Measuring Lake Mirayi's own condition is how the pilot's treatment design gets calibrated.
Vulnerable users have the fewest options
When time, income, mobility, or housing status removes other choices, people fall back on whatever water is nearest. Formal datasets do not capture who is left with no safer option.
Knowledge gaps compound the risk
Without clear, local understanding of waterborne risk and safe practice, even careful households cannot fully protect themselves. Education is where the work begins.
Model
The source-to-safe-use model
A lake is not automatically a drinking-water system.
Safe service requires source testing, appropriate treatment, protected storage and distribution, continuous quality verification, maintenance, responsible governance, affordability, and community trust. This is the model AquaSolve is designing toward, shaped by evidence from the field.
Confirm the Lake Mirayi source
Lake Mirayi is the intended source for the Gashora kiosk. Source testing establishes its water-quality conditions, siting, regulatory fit, and lifecycle cost ahead of construction.
Match treatment to measured water quality
Treatment and disinfection are designed to the raw-water quality that testing reveals, rather than a fixed recipe chosen in advance.
Solar power where it earns its place
Solar energy is used where it is technically and economically appropriate, improving reliability or lifecycle cost rather than serving as a headline.
Protect storage and distribution
Treated water is kept safe in protected storage and delivered through a controlled, dignified access point for the community.
Verify water quality continuously
Routine testing, records, and independent monitoring keep the service verifiably safe over time, not just on day one.
Local operations, affordability and accountability
Trained local operators run daily service, maintenance, and community education, within an operating model designed to be affordable and accountable.
Inside the kiosk: twelve stages from solar power to safe water.
This is AquaSolve's intended kiosk architecture. Final treatment selection and sizing will follow source-water laboratory results, hydraulic design, applicable Rwandan drinking-water requirements, and relevant WHO drinking-water guidance. The kiosk treats water drawn from the lake; it is not treating the lake itself.
August 2026
Pilot engineering phase
What the engineering phase involves.
The 2026 Gashora pilot moves the kiosk from concept to a construction-ready system through coordinated community, engineering, and regulatory work. Each activity is labelled by who leads it: work AquaSolve conducts directly, work planned with qualified technical partners, and work that depends on permissions or partners not yet secured.
- AquaSolve-led
- Work AquaSolve intends to conduct directly.
- With qualified partners
- Planned with qualified technical partners, subject to their availability.
- Subject to approvals
- Dependent on permissions, partner availability, or further funding.
Community workshops and listening
AquaSolve-ledProposed water-safety, hygiene, and stewardship workshops in Gashora with GGAST, our confirmed workshop partner, alongside structured listening to how households actually access and use water.
Baseline water-quality testing
With qualified partnersInitial baseline water-quality testing and development of a seasonal monitoring plan with qualified partners. A short August field period cannot establish seasonal conditions on its own: baseline testing in August would be followed by seasonal monitoring only if qualified Rwanda-based partners and an appropriate sampling plan are secured.
Source confirmation
With qualified partnersConfirmation of Lake Mirayi as the kiosk's source through testing with qualified engineering, laboratory, and hydrogeology partners. A contingency source would be considered only if required by results, approvals, or lifecycle feasibility.
GIS mapping
AquaSolve-ledMapping of lakeside settlements, existing safe-water points, walking time, and service gaps, using open and district-provided data where available.
Household and vulnerable-user interviews
AquaSolve-ledProposed interviews, conducted with local coordination and informed consent, to understand daily water realities, including for people whose options are most limited.
Institutional and approval mapping
Subject to approvalsMapping the institutional, regulatory, and approval pathways the Gashora kiosk will work through, not around. This depends on engagement with district, sector, and regulatory bodies.
Pilot system design
AquaSolve-ledEvidence-led design of the kiosk's treatment basis, governance, maintenance, measurement, and financing, defining how the Gashora kiosk will be built responsibly. Design follows testing; it does not precede it.
Gashora Sector, Bugesera
Where Sonia studied at GGAST, where Lake Mirayi sits, and the home of the 2026 Gashora pilot.
Roadmap
The project sequence
From pilot preparation to responsible expansion.
The 2026 pilot is building toward AquaSolve's first commissioned kiosk. Engineering and community implementation begin in August 2026; construction and commissioning proceed through the pilot capital round, regulatory approvals, and final engineering.
- 1
Pilot preparation & community partnership
Underway: the 2026 Gashora pilot
- 2
Source testing & site-specific engineering
- 3
Regulatory & implementation planning
- 4
Kiosk construction, commissioning & operator training
- 5
Performance monitoring & responsible expansion
Evidence & learning
The public data behind our thinking.
Each claim links to its source. National figures establish patterns; Lake Mirayi's own condition is what the pilot engineering phase measures directly.
Bugesera is a lake-rich district — home to nine lakes and three rivers.
The New Times — Bugesera has nine lakes and three riversRwanda's national water-quality monitoring work evaluates selected water bodies for indicators including turbidity, fecal coliform and E. coli — reinforcing why AquaSolve must test a candidate source directly before selecting treatment. This is national monitoring context, not evidence of Lake Mirayi's present condition.
Rwanda Water Resources Board — Water Quality Monitoring, Phase I & II Final Report (2019)In EICV7, 20.9% of Bugesera households (about 33,000) reported not using the drinking-water source they identified as nearest. Among that subgroup, 65.7% cited that it does not function or work properly.
NISR, EICV7 Utilities & Amenities — Table A.4, district water-source use (p. 106)Bugesera and Gashora water-source figures require ground-truthing before any beneficiary count.
NISR, Bugesera District Profile (2022 Census)The University of Rochester's Projects for Peace announcement documents AquaSolve Rwanda's original 2026 funded proposal. The current implementation plan is reflected on this website.
University of Rochester — Sonia Irakoze's 2026 Projects for Peace projectAquaSolve Rwanda is featured among the 2026 University of Rochester Projects for Peace recipients.
Projects for Peace (Middlebury) — 2026 University of Rochester recipientsThe model is designed to complement Rwanda's national development agenda, Vision 2050.
MINECOFIN — Rwanda Vision 2050It also aligns with Rwanda's goal of safe, reliable, affordable and equitable water services set out in the National Water and Sanitation Policy (2023).
MININFRA — National Water and Sanitation Policy, 2023
Partners
Ways to advance AquaSolve
Three moves that would turn an early venture into a credible service.
Catalytic funders
Philanthropic and impact funders backing the pilot capital plan that carries the Gashora kiosk from engineering into construction and commissioning.
Treatment & solar-equipment partners
Suppliers of treatment, membrane, UV, storage, dispensing, and solar-power equipment; in-kind contributions directly reduce the capital requirement.
Water-quality laboratories
Accredited laboratories for baseline and seasonal source-water testing and, later, treated-water verification against drinking-water requirements.
Engineering partners
Hydraulic, civil, mechanical, electrical, and environmental engineers for intake, pumping, treatment, storage, drainage, and site design.
Government, regulatory & institutional
Bugesera District, Gashora Sector, WASAC, and relevant regulators for approvals and siting; schools, clinics, and cooperatives as anchor institutions.
Operating-model & maintenance advisors
Advisors in water-service operations, tariffs and affordability, preventive maintenance, and long-term local management.
Pilot capital plan
AquaSolve is developing a $95,000–$140,000 pilot capital plan for its first community-scale solar water kiosk. Supported by a 2026 Davis Projects for Peace grant for the August 2026 community and engineering phase, AquaSolve is seeking $85,000–$130,000 in catalytic funding and in-kind technical support.
Pre-engineering planning estimate. The final construction budget will follow source testing, hydraulic design, permitting, site engineering, and supplier quotations.