SET Water

About SET Water

SET Water restores watercourses with sustainable design

Today, water scarcity is one of our greatest challenges. SET Water has a solution. By combining pioneering high-tech with simple, robust methods, we are paving the way for a new standard in water management.

SET Water has developed a method where the restoration of watercourses and habitats can be achieved faster and more effectively, at a fraction of the costs seen on the market today.

The challenge

In many regions, rivers dry up for most of the year. Families and livestock walk for hours to dig shallow pits in riverbeds for a few litres of unsafe water. Diesel pumps drain what little remains and contaminate the groundwater.

A dry riverbed in the project region — water carried home in jerry cans.
A dry riverbed in the project region — water carried home in jerry cans.

Our method: precision through 3D scanning

We map watercourses and catchments with drone-based 3D scanning. Centimetre-accurate terrain models let us design interventions where they actually work — restoring natural water retention instead of fighting it.

High-resolution 3D scan of a watercourse and water-bearing pockets.
High-resolution 3D scan of a watercourse and water-bearing pockets.
Sand dam concept: a low barrier traps sand and water, recharging the aquifer upstream.
Sand dam concept: a low barrier traps sand and water, recharging the aquifer upstream.

Sustainable design, lasting impact

Robust, low-maintenance structures recharge aquifers, refill wells and bring rivers back to life — owned and operated by the communities that depend on them.

Today's reality: diesel pumps drawing the last water from a sand-dam well.
Today's reality: diesel pumps drawing the last water from a sand-dam well.
Restoring flow means restoring life — for people, animals and ecosystems.
Restoring flow means restoring life — for people, animals and ecosystems.