Tusafishe — Electricity-Free Water Filters for Schools (Uganda)

A Ugandan social enterprise making and installing low-cost, powerless water filters for schools and communities.

At a glance What it is: A social enterprise (a story, not a build-it-yourself) that designs, makes and installs its own water-filter systems. · Origin: Uganda — founded by Saudah Birungi. · Maturity: Scaled by one operator — 70+ institutions and 100 000+ beneficiaries reported (not independent replication). · How it runs: Gravity-fed, no electricity; moringa seeds as a natural coagulant. · Note on claims: Pathogen- and sediment-removal figures are the company’s own, not independently tested.

The story. Tusafishe — “let us clean” in Swahili — is a Ugandan social enterprise, founded by Saudah Birungi, that designs, builds, and installs low-cost, electricity-free water filters for schools, institutions, and households. In a country where much of the population still lacks reliably safe water, its systems purify thousands of litres a day without power, using multi-stage filtration and moringa seeds as a natural coagulant, from trees the team plants alongside each installation. This is a story, not a build-it-yourself guide: Tusafishe manufactures and installs the systems and trains local women to install and maintain them.

The problem it solves. Across Uganda, a large share of people still lack reliably safe drinking water, and much “improved” water is contaminated again before it is drunk — waterborne disease hits schoolchildren especially hard. Conventional treatment needs electricity and money that rural schools do not have. Tusafishe’s answer is a system that runs on gravity, not power, sized for an institution.

How it works. Water flows by gravity through the filter’s stages; the moringa-seed coagulant helps particles clump and settle, and the media remove the rest, producing clear water without electricity. Systems are sized to serve thousands of litres a day, which suits schools and remote sites off the grid. Tusafishe designs, manufactures, installs and services the units, and trains local women as installers. The specific engineered system is Tusafishe’s own product; the underlying ideas — slow filtration and moringa as a coagulant — are long-established, open water-treatment knowledge.

What to expect — and what NOT to expect. Reach (as reported): Tusafishe reports about 50 institutional filters serving 50 000+ students across 50 schools, with 240+ women trained (company figures). In a 2025 programme it installed 71 institutional systems and 40 domestic filters across six districts, reaching a reported 119 562 beneficiaries and training 537 community members. Water-quality claims (the company’s own): Tusafishe states its filters remove about 99% of pathogens and 100% of sediment — these are the company’s own figures, not independent test results, so treat them as self-reported until independently verified. What it is NOT: an installed product-and-service, not something a household builds alone; it depends on Tusafishe or trained installers for supply and upkeep, and it does not treat industrial or chemically contaminated water. The honest open question, as with any institutional-water programme, is whether schools keep the filters maintained and the media replaced after a funded installation ends — Tusafishe’s trained-local-installer model is built to address this.

Where it has been used. Uganda (50 schools), to ~2023 — ~50 institutional filters; 50 000+ students; 240+ women trained (company figures). Uganda (6 districts), 2025 — 71 institutional systems + 40 domestic filters; 119 562 beneficiaries; 537 trained; 3 000+ trees planted.

How it continues. Founded by Saudah Birungi, Uganda. Maintained now by Tusafishe (manufacture, install, service) and trained local women and community members; schools own the installed systems. The deployments are recent and often grant-funded; the honest open question is whether schools keep the systems running once a funded installation is over. Independent long-term follow-up data is not yet available.

Used a Tusafishe system, or run one at your school? Tell us how it went — how it performed, whether it was still running a year on, whether the water stayed clean, what you’d change, and roughly where and when. We want the honest result, including what didn’t work. Your contact details stay private; we read and check every report before anything is published, and we’ll never publish a detail you’ve asked us to keep private.

Sources: SEED enterprise profile (seed.uno/enterprise-profiles/tusafishe-low-cost-institutional-water-filters) · the 2025 71-schools programme, reported via allAfrica (allafrica.com/stories/202508270037.html) · the Bayer Social Innovation Award (socialinnovationacademy.org) · tusafishe.org · national water-access context: Uganda Ministry WASH Adaptation Plan.