Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology
STAR RATINGCi's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics: |
✔+
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.
A
RESULTS REPORTING
Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.
Fair
DEMONSTRATED IMPACT
The demonstrated impact per dollar Ci calculates from available program information.
NEED FOR FUNDING
Charity's cash and investments (funding reserves) relative to how much it spends on programs in most recent year.
31%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 31 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology:
Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation is a 2-star charity that is financially transparent. It has an above-average results reporting grade of A and overhead spending of 69% which is outside of Ci’s reasonable range. The charity has Fair demonstrated impact and reserve funds large enough to cover program costs for almost six years.
Founded in 2001, Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST) is a licensed engineering firm that teaches people how to get safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) at home using simple and affordable technologies. It provides technical training and consulting, and acts as a centre of expertise in water and sanitation for the poor in developing countries. Since founding, CAWST has helped 50.1 million people achieve better WASH, which is halfway to its goal of 100 million people by 2030. In F2023, CAWST spent $5.8m on programs.
CAWST does not directly deliver WASH services to people, instead it works with training partners and supports organizations. CAWST offers services like training, consultations, and education. In F2023, CAWST completed 332 training workshops across 109 countries with 15,418 people attending and delivered 11,691 hours of consulting support. It also provided 6,406 online learning resources in 13 languages which was accessed by 88,377 people from 212 countries. In F2023, CAWST helped 14.1 million people have better WASH facilities. Organizations supported directly by CAWST helped 8.2 million of these people, and the other 5.9 million people were helped by organizations supported by CAWST training partners.
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Results and Impact
In F2023, CAWST's services helped 14.1 million people have better WASH by supporting organizations directly or indirectly.
The charity reports that 86% of people say that CAWST helped them start, strengthen, or grow their projects and people from 694 organizations implemented WASH projects, provided capacity development, or trained others to raise awareness in WASH.
CAWST also reports on the cost per person impacted. In F2023, it cost $0.57 per person impacted, compared to $0.57 in F2022, $1.33 in F2021, and $6.40 in F2020.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology's results.
Charity Intelligence has given CAWST a Fair impact rating based on demonstrated impact per dollar spent.
Impact Rating: Fair
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Finances
Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology had donations of $1.6m in F2023. CAWST reports receiving $4.8m in donations, but Ci has adjusted for deferred donations and moved related party donations (from the board chair and other directors and executives) of $8.5m to other income.
The charity received $314k in government funding representing 2% of total revenues and investment income of $2.6m.
Administrative costs are 12% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 57% of donations (after removing related party donations). This results in total overhead spending of 69%, which is outside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology has $33.4m in reserve funds. These reserve funds are the charity’s cash and investments. The charity has 5 years and 9 months of annual program costs covered by its current reserves.
This charity report is an update that has been sent to Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on August 2, 2024, by Lily Ferguson.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending December
|
2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 12.2% | 17.9% | 15.2% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 57.3% | 55.8% | 11.9% |
| Total overhead spending | 69.4% | 73.7% | 27.0% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 575.7% | 619.3% | 513.1% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 1,606 | 1,955 | 2,501 |
| Government funding | 314 | 427 | 539 |
| Fees for service | 0 | 70 | 259 |
| Investment income | 2,588 | (1,194) | 1,590 |
| Other income | 8,534 | 5,450 | 2,643 |
| Total revenues | 13,041 | 6,709 | 7,531 |
| Program costs - International | 903 | 842 | 746 |
| Program costs - Canada | 4,898 | 3,772 | 4,825 |
| Administrative costs | 1,274 | 1,414 | 901 |
| Fundraising costs | 920 | 1,091 | 297 |
| Total spending | 7,994 | 7,118 | 6,767 |
| Cash flow from operations | 5,047 | (409) | 764 |
| Capital spending | 27 | 165 | 18 |
| Funding reserves | 33,395 | 28,571 | 28,582 |
Note: To report on a cash basis, Ci included deferred contributions in donations, affecting revenues by $4.7m in F2023, $1.7m in F2022, and ($1.3m) in F2021. Ci adjusted for deferred contributions from government funding, affecting revenues by $65k in F2022, and $nil in F2021. The charity did not break out government funding in F2023, but Ci has kept deferred contributions in donations. Ci moved related party donations (donations from the board chair) from donations into other revenue, affecting donations by ($8.5m) in F2023, ($5.5m) in F2022 and ($2.6m) in F2021. Ci included investment income in revenues, affecting revenues by $2.6m in F2023, ($1.2m) in F2022, and $1.6m in F2021. Ci reported administration and fundraising costs from the charity’s T3010 CRA filings and reconciled for the difference in program costs. Ci also used the T3010 to report government funding.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
1 |
$160k - $200k |
1 |
$120k - $160k |
4 |
$80k - $120k |
4 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2023
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Comments from CAWST, received December 12, 2025 and posted January 26, 2026:
The Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST) is a registered Canadian charity and licensed engineering firm based in Calgary, Alberta. We work to address the global need for safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene through our people-centred approach of transforming technical knowledge into practical, accessible information.
Our approach: building capacity
Our model is intentionally non-traditional. Rather than funding infrastructure directly, we invest in people. That means focusing on local leaders, implementers, entrepreneurs and trainers, who come to CAWST for support with driving sustainable solutions in their own communities. This approach ensures that solutions are locally owned, contextually appropriate, sustainable and resilient.
We turn science into practical training. We provide open access to the world’s largest online WASH library–free, in multiple languages and accessible to anyone.
The multiplier effect in action
When knowledge spreads from person to person, impact grows exponentially. In 2024, 22.6 million people reported better WASH as a result of programs supported by CAWST and our partners. Since our inception, CAWST has supported local organizations to help over 72 million people across more than 200 countries improve their water, sanitation or hygiene.
How this appears in Charity Intelligence’s metrics
This progress is only made possible through the generous support of donors and institutions. CAWST practices strong financial stewardship, grounded in accountability, sustainability, and measurable results. We intentionally maintain a multi-year reserve fund to ensure longevity in our commitment to the individuals and communities we serve. While this decision impacts Charity Intelligence’s “need for funding” metric, it reflects best practices for organizations working in complex, long-term global development contexts, and aligns with the values and expectations of our funders and supporters.
We receive a high level of support, both in volunteer hours and philanthropic donations, from our Board of Directors. As noted by Charity Intelligence, these donations are removed from our fundraising results as related party transactions and moved into other revenue, affecting donations by ($8.5m) in F2023, ($5.5m) in F2022 and ($2.6m) in F2021. This impacts our cents to cause calculation on this page, even though these gifts directly support CAWST’s mission.
When donors consider CAWST, we encourage them to look at our long-term results, scale of impact, and our commitment to future-proofing multi-year financial health. Together, they reflect our focus on achieving the greatest possible impact per dollar, while ensuring we can keep our promises to the communities and partners we serve.
Looking ahead: 230 million by 2030
CAWST, along with our training partners, has set an ambitious target for the future: reaching 230 million people with improved access to water, sanitation, or hygiene by 2030. We’ve seen through our model that incremental budget growth enables exponential impact growth — positioning CAWST, through the support of donations, as a highly efficient vehicle for transforming lives.
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 403-243-3285