For many years, residents of the Belize River Valley depended primarily on the Belize River as their main water source. Women would spend long hours by its banks, washing and drying their laundry, and children would have to help ferry water from the river to their homes, all before the start of school. Alternative water sources included creeks, and hand-dug wells, while rainwater catchments and bottled water were the primary sources for drinking water. In 2015, this situation changed for approximately 2,000 residents of the Belize River Valley. A project funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), and implemented by the Belize Water Services (BWS) in partnership with the Government of Belize, has brought running, potable water to the community’s households.