Donate to help me clean water in the Philippines

Moritz Kopmann is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Dear Family, Friends, and Community!

I want to raise funds to cover the construction materials needed to bring this important project to life. Your support, no matter the size, will make a significant difference in helping me reach my goal.

Let us clean the water together and make it safe for everyone.

Imagine this: What if we could recycle our wastewater, and it would all be done by the power of nature?

We're working to clean up water in San Juan, La Union, Philippines, and we need your help to make it happen.

San Juan, a coastal town in La Union, in the Philippines, is a recreational destination for Filipinos and foreign tourists, prominent for longboard surfing, parties, and sand beaches.

Right now, our beaches are facing a big problem: water pollution.

Surfers are getting itchy skin, and there's a risk of infections from water. It's not just bad for people; it's harming the environment, too.

The dirty water derives from sinks, showers, and kitchens of private homeowners and businesses (like restaurants, hotels, resorts, and others). And it is making rivers and the ocean dirty because it's not getting cleaned. Soon, the government might step in and shut things down, as they did to Boracay, a famous tourist spot, in 2018.

But there's hope.

We have a simple and effective solution: constructed wetlands.

For many decades, people worldwide have been using constructed wetlands to clean wastewater from remote areas, stormwater from highways, or even recreate a functioning ecosystem.

These constructed wetlands are basically a garden bed system with wetland plants. Its soil acts like a filter and cleans the dirty water like a natural cleaning system. If we build these wetland systems, the treated water will be clean enough to be discharged into nearby waters or reused for toilet flushing, irrigation, and cleaning.

My story.

When I first shared my ideas about a nature-based treatment plant, I received great interest from the San Juan community. This unexpected interest made me return. I decided to build a small version of this treatment plant, a prototype kind of thing, to test it and show everyone how it works.

Since November 08, I've started building the prototype of this system, thanks to the support of the community and Flotsam & Jetsam Art Hostel. With your help, we can finish construction and start testing by March 2024.

If you want to follow the construction progress and get daily updates, I invite you to follow me on Instagram (MoCo7onia).

My vision.

Suppose the performance of the prototype shows satisfactory results. In that case, it enables me to develop full-scale treatment solutions for hotels, resorts, and many other businesses to keep the water clean and safe for everyone.

And that's the plan! Helping the environment, raising awareness about wastewater, and teaching the residents sustainable and nature-based water cleaning practices.

Whether you're able to contribute financially or simply share our campaign with your network, every bit of support is deeply appreciated — my deepest gratitude for your support, kindness, and generosity.

Have a productive and fantastic day.

Best Wishes,

Momo

Drainage canal in Urbiztondo, San Juan. Picture taken by Moritz Kopmann.

Outlet of a hostel in Urbiztondo, San Juan. Picture taken by Moritz Kopmann.

Constructed Wetlands in Germany. Picture taken by Nelsnelson - own work.

Working principle of a vertical Constructed Wetland System. Illustration by Tilley, E., Ulrich, L., Lüthi, C., Reymond, Ph., Zurbrügg, C. - Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies.

Constructed Wetland System in the Philippines. Picture taken by SuSanA.

Inside view of the greywater tank at Flotsam & Jetsam Artist Beach Hostel. The tank contains wastewater from the kitchen and greywater from the guests’ shower and sink. Picture taken by Moritz Kopmann.