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Accounting policies (Details Textual) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
Accounting policies (Details Textual) (USD $)	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2007 gal
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Foreign Currency Transaction Gain (Loss), before Tax	$ (111,409)	$ (197,396)	$ 68,355
Cash Deposits In Excess Of Federally Insured Limits	527,000
Cash And Restricted Cash Equivalents Held In Foreign Bank	36,300,000
Goodwill, Impairment Loss			88,717us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss
Amount Of Water Lost (in gallons)				438,000,000cwco_AmountOfWaterLost
Accumulated Amortization of Other Deferred Costs	1,500,000	1,300,000
Equity Method Investment, Additional Information	The Company uses the equity method of accounting for investments in common stock where the Company holds 20% to 50% of the voting stock of the investee and has significant influence over its operating and financial policies but does not meet the criteria for consolidation.
Criteria For Recognizing Investment At Cost	Investments where the Company does not exercise significant influence over the operating and financial policies of the investee and holds less than 20% of the voting stock are recorded at cost.
Estimated Fair Value Percentage Of Services Unit	The fair value the Company estimated for its services unit for the year ended December 31, 2012 was 10% less than its carrying amount.
Reconciliation Percentage of Implied Control Premium	1.00%
Asset Impairment Charges	0us-gaap_AssetImpairmentCharges	0us-gaap_AssetImpairmentCharges	521,444us-gaap_AssetImpairmentCharges
Property, Plant and Equipment [Member]
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Asset Impairment Charges			432,727
Retail [Member]
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated Fair Value Carrying Amount Exceeded Percentage	36.00%	47.00%	39.00%
Asset Impairment Charges			0
Bulk [Member]
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated Fair Value Carrying Amount Exceeded Percentage	29.00%	23.00%	6.00%
Asset Impairment Charges			432,727
Services [Member]
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Asset Impairment Charges			88,717
Capitalized Engineering Labor and Materials Cost [Member]
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Other Assets	$ 3,500,000	$ 3,500,000