Segment information (Details)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2020 USD ($) segment	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments | segment			4
Revenue	$ 17,666,257	$ 15,889,239	$ 57,479,225	$ 51,183,023
Cost of revenue	11,450,621	9,180,259	35,520,125	29,958,991
Gross profit	6,215,636	6,708,980	21,959,100	21,224,032
General and administrative expenses	4,810,016	4,279,972	14,062,938	12,389,547
Loss on asset dispositions and impairments, net	(984)	7,018	4,001	448,088
Income (loss) from operations	1,404,636	2,436,026	7,900,163	9,282,573
Other expense, net	245,492	216,896	533,710	518,031
Income before income taxes	1,650,128	2,652,922	8,433,873	9,800,604
Benefit for income taxes	(263,165)	(40,075)	147,186	73,117
Net income from continuing operations	1,913,293	2,692,997	8,286,687	9,727,487
Income from continuing operations attributable to non-controlling interests	101,137	433,235	642,289	1,172,039
Net income from continuing operations attributable to Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. stockholders	1,812,156	2,259,762	7,644,398	8,555,448
Net income from discontinued operations	(377,321)	(532,710)	(4,448,798)	1,834,297
Net income attributable to Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. stockholders	1,434,835	1,727,052	3,195,600	10,389,745
Accounts receivable, net	24,411,328		24,411,328		$ 23,229,689
Inventory, current and non-current	8,427,769		8,427,769		7,691,933
Property, plant and equipment, net	59,056,778		59,056,778		61,238,752
Construction in progress	473,507		473,507		1,335,597
Intangibles, net	4,360,833		4,360,833		5,040,000
Goodwill	13,325,013		13,325,013		13,325,013
Total segment assets	157,420,195		157,420,195		163,003,122
Assets of discontinued operations	23,047,739		23,047,739		29,289,022
Total assets	180,467,934		180,467,934		192,292,144
Retail [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	4,993,069	6,271,220	18,216,797	19,941,395
Cost of revenue	2,586,901	2,945,586	8,343,018	8,753,948
Gross profit	2,406,168	3,325,634	9,873,779	11,187,447
General and administrative expenses	3,367,802	3,497,320	10,008,423	10,020,019
Loss on asset dispositions and impairments, net		6,518		401,088
Income (loss) from operations	(961,634)	(165,168)	(134,644)	1,568,516
Accounts receivable, net	2,374,722		2,374,722		2,891,165
Inventory, current and non-current	2,811,852		2,811,852		2,668,902
Property, plant and equipment, net	28,355,776		28,355,776		29,177,718
Construction in progress	298,468		298,468		396,214
Goodwill	1,170,511		1,170,511		1,170,511
Total segment assets	50,782,152		50,782,152		65,554,640
Bulk [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	6,061,475	6,449,757	18,368,156	20,502,121
Cost of revenue	4,400,717	4,269,739	12,906,606	13,992,452
Gross profit	1,660,758	2,180,018	5,461,550	6,509,669
General and administrative expenses	382,662	294,189	935,808	900,572
Loss on asset dispositions and impairments, net		500	200	47,000
Income (loss) from operations	1,278,096	1,886,329	4,525,942	5,656,097
Accounts receivable, net	18,609,023		18,609,023		18,883,493
Inventory, current and non-current	4,006,117		4,006,117		3,628,443
Property, plant and equipment, net	28,537,623		28,537,623		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	73,845,479		73,845,479		69,423,770
Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	3,351,935	95,980	9,942,748	287,349
Cost of revenue	2,513,272	31,601	7,418,305	198,614
Gross profit	838,663	64,379	2,524,443	88,735
General and administrative expenses	728,829	549	2,112,869	2,865
Loss on asset dispositions and impairments, net	(984)		3,801
Income (loss) from operations	108,850	63,830	415,375	85,870
Accounts receivable, net	1,598,836		1,598,836		954,149
Property, plant and equipment, net	487,555		487,555		158,358
Intangibles, net	3,369,722		3,369,722		3,877,222
Goodwill	5,320,416		5,320,416		5,320,416
Total segment assets	14,023,605		14,023,605		13,170,155
Manufacturing Units [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	3,259,778	3,072,282	10,951,524	10,452,158
Cost of revenue	1,949,731	1,933,333	6,852,196	7,013,977
Gross profit	1,310,047	1,138,949	4,099,328	3,438,181
General and administrative expenses	330,723	487,914	1,005,838	1,466,091
Income (loss) from operations	979,324	$ 651,035	3,093,490	$ 1,972,090
Accounts receivable, net	1,828,747		1,828,747		500,882
Inventory, current and non-current	1,609,800		1,609,800		1,394,588
Property, plant and equipment, net	1,675,824		1,675,824		1,621,029
Construction in progress	143,302		143,302		69,591
Intangibles, net	991,111		991,111		1,162,778
Goodwill	4,885,211		4,885,211		4,885,211
Total segment assets	$ 18,768,959		$ 18,768,959		$ 14,854,557