Segment information (Details)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($) segment	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments | segment			4
Revenue	$ 19,087,247	$ 18,305,260	$ 39,812,968	$ 35,293,784
Cost of revenue	11,784,104	10,752,511	24,069,504	20,778,732
Gross profit	7,303,143	7,552,749	15,743,464	14,515,052
General and administrative expenses	4,861,028	4,994,992	10,014,785	9,373,026
Gain (loss) on asset dispositions and impairments, net	(3,030,420)	397,301	(3,030,640)	441,070
Income (loss) from operations	(588,305)	2,955,058	2,698,039	5,583,096
Other income (expense), net	(155,115)	50,333	14,229	310,423
Income (loss) before income taxes	(743,420)	3,005,391	2,712,268	5,893,519
Provision for income taxes	204,268	64,233	410,351	113,192
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	(947,688)	2,941,158	2,301,917	5,780,327
Income attributable to non-controlling interests	180,154	464,896	541,152	738,804
Net income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. stockholders	(1,127,842)	2,476,262	1,760,765	5,041,523
Net income from discontinued operations	0	0	0	3,621,170
Net income (loss) attributable to Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. stockholders	(1,127,842)	2,476,262	1,760,765	8,662,693
Accounts receivable, net	26,858,584		26,858,584		$ 23,229,689
Inventory, current and non-current	9,806,490		9,806,490		7,691,933
Property, plant and equipment, net	59,808,325		59,808,325		61,248,979
Construction in progress	399,463		399,463		1,335,597
Intangibles, net	4,573,333		4,573,333		5,040,000
Goodwill	13,325,013		13,325,013		13,325,013
Land and rights of way	21,126,898		21,126,898		24,162,523
Total segment assets	180,824,923		180,824,923		192,292,144
Retail [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	5,966,296	6,983,515	13,223,728	13,670,175
Cost of revenue	2,769,497	2,982,758	5,756,117	5,808,362
Gross profit	3,196,799	4,000,757	7,467,611	7,861,813
General and administrative expenses	3,266,782	3,405,421	6,640,621	6,522,699
Gain (loss) on asset dispositions and impairments, net		397,301		394,570
Income (loss) from operations	(69,983)	992,637	826,990	1,733,684
Accounts receivable, net	2,872,089		2,872,089		2,891,165
Inventory, current and non-current	2,758,051		2,758,051		2,668,902
Property, plant and equipment, net	28,701,759		28,701,759		29,177,718
Construction in progress	225,663		225,663		396,214
Goodwill	1,170,511		1,170,511		1,170,511
Total segment assets	52,401,338		52,401,338		65,554,640
Bulk [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	5,866,397	6,941,051	12,306,681	14,052,364
Cost of revenue	3,941,309	4,768,122	8,505,889	9,722,713
Gross profit	1,925,088	2,172,929	3,800,792	4,329,651
General and administrative expenses	261,100	344,971	553,146	606,383
Gain (loss) on asset dispositions and impairments, net			200	46,500
Income (loss) from operations	1,663,988	1,827,958	3,247,846	3,769,768
Accounts receivable, net	20,126,330		20,126,330		18,883,493
Inventory, current and non-current	4,138,547		4,138,547		3,628,443
Property, plant and equipment, net	29,253,459		29,253,459		30,281,647
Construction in progress	31,737		31,737		869,792
Goodwill	1,948,875		1,948,875		1,948,875
Total segment assets	72,695,342		72,695,342		69,423,770
Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	3,476,000	90,792	6,590,813	191,369
Cost of revenue	2,631,513	45,094	4,905,033	167,013
Gross profit	844,487	45,698	1,685,780	24,356
General and administrative expenses	1,014,765	779,882	2,145,903	1,265,767
Gain (loss) on asset dispositions and impairments, net	(3,030,420)		(3,030,840)
Income (loss) from operations	(3,200,698)	(734,184)	(3,490,963)	(1,241,411)
Accounts receivable, net	1,537,453		1,537,453		954,149
Property, plant and equipment, net	254,930		254,930		168,585
Intangibles, net	3,538,889		3,538,889		3,877,222
Goodwill	5,320,416		5,320,416		5,320,416
Land and rights of way	21,126,898		21,126,898		24,162,523
Total segment assets	37,569,235		37,569,235		42,459,177
Manufacturing Units [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	3,778,554	4,289,902	7,691,746	7,379,876
Cost of revenue	2,441,785	2,956,537	4,902,465	5,080,644
Gross profit	1,336,769	1,333,365	2,789,281	2,299,232
General and administrative expenses	318,381	464,718	675,115	978,177
Income (loss) from operations	1,018,388	$ 868,647	2,114,166	$ 1,321,055
Accounts receivable, net	2,322,712		2,322,712		500,882
Inventory, current and non-current	2,909,892		2,909,892		1,394,588
Property, plant and equipment, net	1,598,177		1,598,177		1,621,029
Construction in progress	142,063		142,063		69,591
Intangibles, net	1,034,444		1,034,444		1,162,778
Goodwill	4,885,211		4,885,211		4,885,211
Total segment assets	$ 18,159,008		$ 18,159,008		$ 14,854,557