Water, sanitation and hygiene
Clean water and hot showers
Showers four days a week, weather permitting. Water points cleaned twice a day, 365 days a year.
To confirm
What we do
- Keep the two state water points clean, working and stocked with soap and toiletries, cleaning them twice a day.
To confirm - Run hot showers four days a week, weather permitting, at the distribution site.
To confirm - Hand out hygiene supplies: toothbrushes, razors, soap, sanitary products.
- Carry in drinking water by van when the fixed points fail or are shut off.
- Provide heated gazebos in winter so people can wait, wash and dry in the warm.
Why it matters
Clean water, showers and hygiene supplies are fundamental to health, dignity and survival. Without them, skin conditions, infections and illness spread fast, especially in winter. A hot shower is also one of the few moments of privacy and normality available to someone living outside. We believe everyone should have access to drinking water within a safe walking distance, and we keep pressing the French state to treat that as the basic right it is.
In figures
- 5M+litres of clean water delivered since 2021, more than 5,000,000Between 6,000 and 15,000 litres a day from 2021 to spring 2024.To confirm
- €390kwhat that water would have cost as two-litre bottles, €390,000Since 2021Calculation basis
- 10,800hot showers provided in 20222022Latest full year
- 365days a year the water points are cleanedCurrentTo confirm
Every figure carries the period it covers. Updated MONTH YEAR
How the water project started
Roots began carrying water in 2021, when the state stopped providing reliable access after the eviction of the main living site. Through 2022 and 2023 we built our own water points and delivered thousands of litres a day by van. In 2024 we campaigned for fixed water points, and in the summer the state installed two. Our job now is to keep them clean, stocked and working, and to be ready to carry water again the moment they are cut off.
DatesWhat keeps this running
To run our water, sanitation and hygiene services we rely on technical equipment such as vans, generators and water containers, and on consumables such as hygiene items and fuel. If you have any sanitation or hygiene products or equipment to donate, we would love to hear from you.
Offer items or equipmentPartners
Water and hygiene work is done alongside No Borders Medics and Care4Calais.Correct partners for this programme