Refund Policy
Last updated: July 2026
Clearwater is built on transparency — that applies to how we handle your money, not just your water. This policy explains exactly when and how much you get back if an order doesn't go as planned.
All refunds are issued as Clearwater wallet credit, applied instantly to your account. Wallet credit can be used toward your next order, or you can request a cash-out to Mobile Money through customer support. We don't route refunds back through the original Mobile Money charge — that path used to take 1–3 days to settle, and wallet credit is instant.
1. Late Delivery Guarantee
If we fail to deliver your water within 24 hours of the delivery time we committed to, you get a 100% refund of the order cost, automatically credited to your wallet. No need to request it — but if 24 hours pass and you don't see the credit, contact support and we'll sort it out.
2. Cancelling an Order
How much you get back depends on how far along your order is. The key moment is whether a driver has been assigned — once a driver is dispatched, they've already committed time and fuel to your order, so the refund adjusts accordingly.
| Order status | Driver assigned? | Cancellation fee | You get refunded |
|---|---|---|---|
| In checkout (payment not yet confirmed) | — | — | Nothing was charged, so there's nothing to refund |
| Queued / Scheduled | No | 0% | 100% |
| Dispatched (driver assigned, en route to pickup) | Yes, not moving toward you yet | 20% | 80% |
| En route (driver actively driving to you) | Yes, driving | 50% | 50% |
| Completed / Already cancelled | — | — | Order can no longer be cancelled |
In plain terms: cancel before a driver is on the job and you get everything back. Cancel after a driver has started moving your water, and a portion covers their time and fuel — the rest comes back to you.
The retained cancellation fee, when applicable, goes to the driver as compensation for the trip already made — not to Clearwater.
If you paid partly with wallet credit
If part of your order was paid using existing wallet credit (rather than Mobile Money), that portion is always refunded in full, regardless of the cancellation fee above. The fee only applies to the portion paid via Mobile Money.
Retry-safe
If you or the app submits a cancellation twice, you won't be refunded twice — we detect and skip requests for orders that are already cancelled.
3. Cancellations Made by Clearwater
If Clearwater or a depot needs to cancel your order (for reasons other than late delivery covered under Section 1), our support team will determine the appropriate refund — full, partial, or none — based on the circumstances. In these cases, any cancellation fee is retained by Clearwater rather than passed to the driver, since the driver isn't the one initiating the cancellation.
4. Discounts and Promo Credits
If you redeemed a one-time discount on an order that gets cancelled, the discount is restored to your account so you can use it on a future order — even if your order is cancelled without a refund.
5. Cashing Out Wallet Credit
Wallet credit doesn't expire and can be used on any future order. If you'd prefer the cash equivalent sent to Mobile Money instead, reach out to support — we can process a manual cash-out.
Questions?
If anything about a refund looks off, contact us through the app or at ryan@clearwaterafrica.com and we'll take a look. We'd rather over-explain a refund than leave you guessing — that's the whole point of building this business on transparency.