Fernanda Henriquez

Chilean environmental engineer revolutionizing water access in Latin America

Fernanda Henriquez is a Chilean environmental engineer whose pioneering work in water filtration technology has provided clean drinking water to over 2 million people in Latin America. Born in 1988 to a Mapuche family in southern Chile, she developed an early passion for solving water scarcity issues affecting indigenous communities. Her breakthrough came in 2014 with the invention of the Puriflow System, a low-cost water purification unit that uses solar energy and locally available materials.

Deployed in 12 countries including Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia, the Puriflow system removes 99.9% of contaminants while costing 70% less than traditional solutions. Henriquez's nonprofit Agua Convida has trained over 3,000 community technicians in maintenance and operation of these systems. Her innovations were recognized with the 2019 UN Young Innovator Award and a $500k grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Henriquez also co-founded the Water Innovate Lab, a regional hub for water tech startups. Her TEDx talk "Water as a Human Right" has sparked policy changes in Chile's water rights legislation. Notably, her 2021 partnership with UNICEF expanded access to 150 remote schools, reducing waterborne disease incidents by 65% in those communities.