What You Need To Know
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We get this question a lot – “why are Paani’s prices so low, but you provide detailed photos and videos in under 90 days each time you build a well in Pakistan? how are you doing this? I usually pay twice as much for a well.” Paani was founded by and continues to be powered by a passionate community, which keeps our costs minimal. We use custom-built software to track donations end-to-end. The people Paani pays are the contractors who dig the wells and a small team that supports operations. When a donor trusts us to build a well in Pakistan and honor someone in their life – our intention is to complete that donation using high-quality resources and materials. If there happen to be funds leftover because of economies of scale, we use those funds to build more wells and handpumps.
After being vetted by our partner teams in Sindh and KPK, we hire contractors that construct the wells. Paani and our on-ground team presides over the contractors during the entire building process, to ensure integrity and transparency.
Yes. After a well is first built, we periodically conduct checks to ensure the water is still pure every few months on rotation. In addition to our own inspections, it is critical for Paani to ensure community members are trained on how to maintain the wells and handle minute challenges that may arise. These local community members also have access to Paani’s team, so that they can call if there is some problem that develops with their water systems.
In Sindh, we build our wells in the villages around Mirpur and Tharparkar. In KPK, we mainly build around the villages in Swabi. We primarily build in these areas because we have already conducted an intensive needs-based assessment and our partner teams are situated in these areas. This ensures that we are working with the local community members to provide relief. In 2020, we began building wells in Balochistan for the first time.
As soon as the well is built, we send pictures of the entire process. You can expect roughly 20-30 pictures that include the initial drilling into the ground to the construction of the well to families drinking from the well.
This is based on two factors: – The Land. KPK has more rugged terrain, where the water basin is often much deeper than the water basin in Sindh. This means that deep well construction in KPK takes more time and requires more specialized equipment to drill –The Supplies. Sindh houses the largest ports in Pakistan, making it not only easier, but also cheaper to get materials for building wells. Whereas in KPK, the material needed is often shipped from other areas in Pakistan, which contributes to an overall increase in cost of production.
Yes. Our Tax-ID is 83-2222109.
Yes. After talking with scholars, the money donated to Paani for the intention of providing drinking water for families from low socioeconomic backgrounds fulfills the conditions of Zakat.
Paani is a nonprofit where ~96% of your donation goes directly to building wells, while roughly 4% supports essential operational costs that help us sustain and grow our impact. If you donate from our website, DonorBox will take fee that reflects on the cost of a well. Due to currency fluctuation in Pakistan, at times there will be excess funds donated to Paani. In these situations, the donation is stored in a general well fund that builds wells on an ongoing basis.