Related party transactions (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021	Mar. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2020
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Accounts payable outstanding	$ 247,008		$ 200,558
PERC Water Corporation
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Purchases of services	156,000,000	$ 493,000,000
Accounts payable outstanding	247,000,000
Amount of expense related to sublease agreement	$ 4,000,000

Amount for accounts payable to related parties. Used to reflect the current portion of the liabilities (due within one year or within the normal operating cycle if longer).

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.19(a))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 850
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39549-107864

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 850
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39603-107864

Reference 4: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(k)(1))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120395691&loc=d3e23780-122690

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AccountsPayableRelatedPartiesCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Expenses recognized resulting from transactions (excluding transactions that are eliminated in consolidated or combined financial statements) with related party.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 850
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39549-107864

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionExpensesFromTransactionsWithRelatedParty
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Purchases during the period (excluding transactions that are eliminated in consolidated or combined financial statements) with related party.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionPurchasesFromRelatedParty
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=cwco_PercWaterCorporationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: