TERRA - A Natural Water Filter That’s Making Big Waves
Many people here in Bali - The Island of Gods, have already heard of Terra Natural Water Filters, a company founded in 2020 by American entrepreneur Christine Manson. I met Christine at a local coffee shop and was immediately taken by her vibrant energy. We chatted for a couple of hours, about Terra and about life here on the island. In her own words, Christine told me the story of her incredible company which has caused quite a big splash. (Read her TFN Talks Interview here)
“I started Terra officially in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic. We had spent 9 months building out the factory and trying to make a filter. When introducing a new product there is no proof of concept without building it first (and a factory before that and a market study before that!). So after doing all of that I felt pretty good about getting our MVP (minimum viable product) out there. Of course it had to work, we are cleaning water! So of course we built in many quality control steps and did our best to polish it up and make it look nice, but it was still only a rudimentary version of our Basic filter now – the filter in a bucket container. BUT, we got it out there! We partnered with Plastic Exchange, a fantastic local organization run by Bali’s own CNN-nominated Hero of the Year 2022, Janur Yasa. Janur allowed us to introduce the filters in his family village. This was a fantastic opportunity for us to get Terra filters in front of Indonesians for the first time. We gave families a ½ day training on the filters and WASH education, (water, sanitation and hygiene) so they would know how to care for their filters, and we sent everyone home to try their filters for a month. The only condition was that they let us in every week to ask them a series of questions. At that time we were still experimenting with our branding, filter container design, customer service and sales protocols. We asked them their perceptions of all of these things, as well as their experience using the filters.
At the end of a month we had some great data and were ready to take the filters back. We had told families that after the project if they wanted to keep their filters they would get a discount on the sale price, but there was absolutely no pressure. We were fully prepared to take filters back to the factory, make sense of the data, and flip the whole company concept if they hated them. But everyone loved their filters. So much so, they all bought them!
As I say this it is 2 years, to the month, that those first customers bought their filter! Which is a pinnacle point in our company because our filters are guaranteed for 2 years, and then it’s time to change the filter unit. So it’s a really exciting time for us!
Honestly, as a new product in a new market, we never thought Terra filters would do so well. Our initial market studies indicated that since Indonesians had been using ceramic water vessels for thousands of years to hold water, like the traditional containers called Kendi or gentong, we hoped they would get it. But we feared that Indonesians are not accustomed to drinking tap water. But it worked out, the education and a great product was enough to have people trust it. Two years later we have developed additional container models and have been able to maintain not only our branding, but our focus on our values: 100% local, 100% natural and 100% safe. As a social enterprise we have sold over 2,000 filters at different price points, and with local partners have donated over 400 to families all over Indonesia who would not have had safe drinking water otherwise. All of this positive growth has allowed us to stay focused on our mission: clean water for everyone, naturally and responsibly.
“We’re on a mission to elevate communities out of poverty by freeing up time and financial resources for families: especially women and girls who are usually in charge of water in the home who we hope can now use that time to find economic or educational opportunities. We’re on a mission to save families at the top and bottom of the pyramid money. Even families who use firewood for boiling water spend more in two years than if they’d had a Terra filter. We’re on a mission to get kids back in school. We know that sick kids don’t go to school, and families spend money on healthcare that they could have spent on education. And finally we’re on a mission to minimize plastic waste since Indonesia disposes of 70 tons of plastic waste per day. ”
The key ingredients in TERRA Filters purify by ensuring that water is filtered at about 2 litres per hour, trapping bacteria and parasites in the microscopic pores. The clay creates microscopic pores within the walls of the filter unit which catch the contaminants, while the areas inside the filter wall activate as carbon and remove bad smell, taste, and the look of dirty water. Colloidal silver is a bactericide used worldwide to purify water and has no side effects. It helps to kill the bacteria and parasites.
How Effective are these methods?
There is plenty of scientific research that has been done on ceramic pot filtration by the most prestigious health and technology institutions throughout the world such as the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and the Center for Disease Control in the USA, among many Ministries of Health including Kementerian Kesehatan Republic Indonesia. Microbiological tests indicate that ceramic water filters make water pure by removing bacteria, viruses, and parasites that make you sick. They also remove many particles, chemicals and other toxins. In addition to its effectiveness, this particular technology has been praised for its ease of use and cultural appropriateness since it uses locally sourced clay which many traditional cultures have used for centuries to make ceramics.
I appreciate the ethos of Terra and the tremendous eco and community conscious effort that went into building this brand, that is why I was so excited when Christine and her team agreed to partner with The Fearless Nomad. In addition to this article I will be publishing an interview with Christine in a few days and diving deep into her personal story as well as the story behind Terra. Today I received a special delivery, my very own stunning White Ceramic Terra Water Filter, which I lovingly set up in my new Bali kitchen. I am thrilled that plastic water bottles will now be forever banished from my house and I am really looking forward to drinking fresh filtered water. I can attest to the fact that this technology works because I have been to many events which had partnered with Terra (that is how I initially discovered the brand). At the latest Jia Curated Kiosks at Planarian, Terra had set up free water stations on the market grounds and visitors were lucky to be able to try their filtered water firsthand.
Everything about TERRA and its founder Christine aligns with the mission we have here at The Fearless Nomad and we are happy and proud to join forces to promote this incredible technology to our audience because we love using it ourselves!
And now a final word from Christine -
“Terra won’t be slowing down anytime soon. We have as many orders throughout the country now as we do in Bali, and are always looking for partners to help us spread access to safe drinking water. This year we launched our Terra for Business program which gets filters into local businesses and helps them cut down on costs and plastic usage. But we also engage them in CSR (corporate social responsibility) work. Many of our business partners (and individuals) donate filters either back to our Terra foundation, because they know we work in communities that need safe water, or to their own communities and/or even buy filters for their staff and their families.”
In Partnership with Tropical Nomad Coworking Space
Images used in this article are intellectual property of TERRA Water Indonesia