- Families in Salvapan, a neighborhood in the Belizean city of Belmopan, relied on wells, rainwater tanks, and creeks—sources that were often contaminated, unreliable, or costly to maintain.
- The IDB-supported Water Supply and Modernization Program brought piped clean water to this peri-urban community, home to thousands of migrants and locals alike.
- Reliable water access is freeing up time, enabling small businesses, improving hygiene, and giving families a greater sense of security.
In recent decades, Belize has become a settling destination for migrants from neighboring countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, many of whom now call Salvapan, a vibrant, multicultural neighborhood in the city of Belmopan, home. This demographic shift has increased the need to expand and adapt basic service provision, particularly for water, as demand places added pressure on infrastructure that is often already limited.
Today, Salvapan’s population consists of approximately 3,000 residents, 23% of whom are migrants. Access to piped water in this area was limited, but this began to change with the implementation of the Water Supply and Modernization Program, a collaboration between the Belizean government, Belize Water Services (BWS), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Expanded access to clean water in several peri-urban communities is ongoing.
Why Water Access Matters
The link between water access and health, particularly for children, is well documented. Each year, millions of children around the world die from preventable water-related diseases. Young children are especially vulnerable because of weaker immune defenses and greater exposure to contaminated sources.
According to the World Health Organization, diarrhoeal disease remains the third leading cause of death among children aged 1–59 months, killing roughly 444,000 children under five each year. Much of this burden is preventable and treatable, with safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and hygiene among the key interventions. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme estimates that about 2.1 billion people still lacked safely managed drinking water services in 2024, with the greatest disparities affecting low-income countries, fragile contexts and rural communities—many of the same settings where child mortality remains highest.
But the impact of water access also reaches into many other aspects of life besides health.
As the residents of Salvapan make clear, reliable water shapes daily routines, economic opportunities, and a family’s sense of security.
Voices from Salvapan
Before piped water reached Salvapan, families relied on a patchwork of sources: hand-dug wells, rainwater collected in tanks, nearby creeks, and distant hand pumps. Each came with trade-offs. Wells could become contaminated when floodwater or runoff seeped in during the rainy season. Rainwater tanks, when left uncovered, bred mosquito larvae. Creeks sometimes dried up. Bottled water, though safe, was an expense many families could not always afford.
Martina, a Honduran migrant who has lived in Salvapan since 2007, described the daily effort that water required before her household connected to the Belize Water Services (BWS) network. When rainwater ran out, she would go to a neighbor’s well or walk to a hand pump further away from her home and carry water back in jugs. When water would occasionally flow, she washed clothes in the creek.
“When we saw the water connection was coming, we applied right away,” she recalled, “because we badly needed it.”
The change was immediate. “Now I can wash my son’s school uniform quickly,” Martina said. “Before, I had to go to the creek or the pump and it was a much bigger process.” With reliable water at home, she found time for her small business selling tamales and burritos. “I can work with more freedom now. I know I have clean water. Before, I had to keep buying purified water, and sometimes there just wasn’t money for it.” She also noted that during construction work at home, mixing cement and sand required large amounts of water—something that used to make costs harder to manage.
Water is essential in our homes.
Without it, we can’t do practically anything.
Sylvia Baten, convenience shop owner and resident of Belmopan
Juan, originally from Guatemala, runs a home carpentry workshop employing six to seven workers alongside raising four young daughters. For years, his family relied on a shallow well and the creek for water. He described the improvement in simple terms, “It’s going to be much better, more hygiene, no more hauling water in buckets. With piping, it’s better.”
Even families with functioning wells recognize that the neighborhood’s rapid growth is changing Salvapan's landscape. Isabela, a Guatemalan widow who has raised her children alone in Salvapan for over two decades, noted, “This area is getting very populated, and the well water won’t be usable for everything anymore.” For her, connecting to the network is a matter of long-term security for her family, including her 11-year-old daughter and her 16-year-old daughter.
Watch the video below to hear Sylvia Baten and other voices behind this story: Tanya Santos, CEO of the Ministry of Immigration; Miriam Willoughby, Deputy Director General of the Statistical Institute of Belize; Ervin Flores, engineer at Belize Water Services; and Felipe Muñoz, Chief of the Migration Unit at the IDB:
Operational Lessons: What It Takes to Deliver Inclusive Services
The experience in Salvapan offers important operational takeaways for inclusive infrastructure delivery.
Inclusive targeting requires intentional design. Close collaboration between BWS and relevant government agencies was essential to identifying and reaching migrant households, many of whom live in informal conditions and may not appear in official records. Targeting efforts included mapping household locations and collecting data on the socio-demographic characteristics and economic status of migrant families, complemented by a dedicated survey to understand their specific water needs.
Simplifying the connection process matters. Many eligible families were unaware of the documentation and steps required to obtain a water connection. Enhanced community engagement, particularly through trusted local leaders and multilingual outreach, is essential to increase uptake, build trust, and reduce barriers to access.
Behavioral barriers require long-term follow-up. Some families remain reluctant to drink chlorinated tap water or continue combining rainwater with their piped supply to reduce costs. Post-project data collection on water-use behavior could inform future awareness-raising campaigns and investments in alternative disinfection technologies.
The Water Supply and Modernization Program in Salvapan shows how an unassuming water connection on a property can have profound impacts on the lives of vulnerable populations. For families like Martina's, piped water meant the end of carrying jugs from a distant pump and the freedom to run a small business. For Juan, it means his daughters and workers will have reliable, clean water. For Isabela, it is the security of knowing that as her neighborhood grows, her family's water will remain safe.
Access to safe water saves lives and expands economic opportunities. It is the foundation on which everything else is built.