One of the many problems that mountain families must contend with is lack of potable water. Most people are forced to walk many hours to springs or rivers to get water for drinking and cooking. CODEP has developed a reward system for all workers where they might earn points that can earn their family a gutter and cistern for their home.

The guttering is made of PVC pipe and is connected to either a 2,500 gallon cement tank or a 500 gallon fiberglass tank. The larger cement cistern is built where homes are not a great distance from the main highway, where it is reasonable to transport cement and blocks. The fiberglass cisterns are used with homes further into the interior, where all supplies must be carried in by workers.

The cost for a cement cistern runs approximately $2,000US. The fiberglass ones are about $800 US. All supplies for either cistern can be purchased in Haiti, therefore helping the local economy as well as the deserving CODEP family.

There are numerous benefits of the cistern project. Here are but a few:

1. Most water collection involves women and children. Being able to get water on tap near the home saves countless hours of carrying 5-gallon buckets of water on their heads, navigating narrow trails and hiking up and down steep mountainsides. Saving calories for an already mal-nourished population means better health for all.
2. Rain water that would naturally just run off the sides of the mountains and then often flood the flatlands below is trapped near the home to be used when water is at a premium. Keeping water on the mountain, or at least slowing it down, is essential for eliminating erosion and therefore keeping the soil in place for trees and gardens.
3. Families with cisterns are able to purify their drinking and cooking water, eliminating many water-born diseases.