Water revolutionizes the health and future of entire societies. For that very reason, many nonprofits commit to bringing clean water solutions to global communities. We’re highlighting a few water organizations that have taken up the worthy cause as their own.
Here are 15 nonprofits elevating the need for clean water around the world.
The Importance of Water Organizations
To see just how valuable water organizations are, consider these three statistics from water.org:
771 million people ( 1 in 10) lack access to safe water282 million people spend more than 30 minutes retrieving water each time they need itMore people have a mobile phone than a toilet
Clean water is a basic necessity for life, but it is not a reality for most of our global population. The need to eliminate this threat continues to grow, so we celebrate the nonprofits working tirelessly to save lives and transform societies for the better. These water organizations provide hope for those who need it most and create a seamless path for people to do their part in addressing the global water crisis through advocacy, education, and action.
15 Water Organizations That Make Clean Water a Reality
1. Generosity.org
Generosity.org is a water organization committed to ending the clean water crisis in developing countries.
By empowering and equipping individuals through the spirit of generosity, we help them become self-sufficient and inspire in them the same spirit of helping their neighbor; ultimately paying it forward. We believe that generosity changes people, and changes the world. Our goal is to move from a place where communities rely upon us, to a place where communities utilize the tools we provide to become proud and progressive stewards of their own destiny. Our dream is to make our role obsolete. That’s how we change the world.
Generosity.org
Generosity.org has completed more than 800 water wells in 20 different nations to help them access clean water.
2. Pure Water for the World
Pure Water for the World focuses on communities in Central America and the Caribbean as a water organization that provides children and families with the tools and education to develop sustainable water, hygiene, and sanitation solutions.
We love how they directly connect fundraising dollars to impact. This immediately helps potential supporters see how their donation or peer-to-peer fundraising campaign will make a difference for the people they serve.
To date, Pure Water for the World has partnered with more than 750 communities throughout Haiti and Honduras. They provide critical resources and education to ensure that safe water, improved sanitation, and adequate hygiene are pillars of their communities.
Check out Pure Water for the World’s Health and Hope in Haiti, named a Finalist in the Classy Awards
3. Blood:Water
Blood:Water is a water organization that partners with African grassroots organizations to bring clean water and HIV/AIDS support to one million people in 11 countries.
The organization was founded by the multi-platinum, GRAMMY® Award-winning band, Jars of Clay, and activist Jena Lee Nardella as a call to personalize the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa.
In an effort to fit every community’s varying needs, the organization provides a wide range of solutions. From toilets and handwashing stations, to services preventing mother-to-child HIV/AIDS transmission, local partners are empowered to choose the solutions that would best serve their communities. These leaders then activate and educate the people around them through meetings, local support groups, and training sessions.
Since its launch in 2004, Blood:Water has worked with more than a dozen African grassroots organizations and brought clean water to one million people in 11 different countries.
4. Water for Good
Water for Good works with communities in the Central African Republic to establish sanitation best practices, improve agriculture, and empower people to create sustainable clean water access.
Water for Good connects underserved communities to locally-owned water businesses, a supply of spare parts, and government oversight.
Women are often more successful at managing their family’s budget, so we always recommend that there be at least one woman on the committee. They are also much more likely than men to be the ones responsible for fetching water for the family, another reason why it’s critical to have them represented on the committee.
Water for Good
In 2021, the organization had 35 new water points in progress or completed, 1,957 service visits to pump water, 13,091 miles traveled by their maintenance team, and 1,121 water points served.
5. Hope of Life International
Hope of Life International is a faith-based water organization dedicated to effectively serving vulnerable children and families in Guatemala.
Hope of Life International outlines how their efforts and the support of their community can help prevent deaths due to diseases like typhoid and cholera. They drive home the value of each donation with the message that it only takes one dollar to provide a child with clean water for a year. Thanks to donor support, the organization successfully installed five water wells in 2020.
6. Splash
Splash is a water organization that serves disadvantaged cities. Splash works with local governments and businesses to educate children about effective hygiene practices and trains local organizations and businesses to properly maintain toilets.
The organization creates these safe water projects through strategic partnerships with local entities to solidify long-lasting solutions. The existing technology and supply chains used by commercial markets—such as those of top-notch restaurants and hotels—inform Splash’s strategies to bring the same, high-quality care to families in need.
We collaborate with government bodies to make sure we are in alignment on the target populations, the quality of services to be provided, and to make sure there is no duplication of efforts. We work with local businesses to ensure that products related to water filtration, hand washing, or sanitation are easily accessible locally and available over the long term.
Splash
Today, Splash reaches over 800,000 kids in the Ethiopian cities of Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar, as well as Kolkata, India.
7. Lifewater International
Lifewater International is a Christian water development organization that serves vulnerable children and families in remote and rural areas of East Africa and Southeast Asia.
Lifewater International’s staff live in the areas they serve. They help community members drive change from household to household by actively participating in the development process and teaching underserved communities how to build their own home latrines, drying racks, and handwashing stations.
We walk alongside families, leaders, and churches in overcoming all forms of water poverty as communities themselves take steps toward better health through practicing good hygiene and sanitation. When combined with a safe water source (that the community locally maintains and manages through a water committee), the health changes taking place at the household and community level have a lasting impact.
Lifewater International
8. Planet Water Foundation
Planet Water Foundation serves schools, children, and rural communities worldwide by installing water filtration systems and launching health education programs.
Planet Water Foundation’s filtration systems, called “AquaTowers,” trap bacteria, viruses, and other harmful matter to provide 1,000 people with 10,000 liters of clean water per day. Children can also wash their hands in the soap dishes mounted around the structure.
The organization installs these systems in just one day. Community members can help clean each AquaTowers to help prolong its lifespan, simplifying the maintenance procedures. In addition, the affordable initial cost helps make this a sustainable solution.
Planet Water Foundation supports more than 2 million people in 15 countries.
9. Water 1st International
Water 1st International is a water organization that empowers vulnerable communities in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Honduras, and India. Since 2015, the organization has helped build and sustain solutions that provide clean water access and toilets.
Community members using the systems secure a loan to pay the initial costs to build the system. Water 1st International then steps in to provide grant support to their local partner organization to implement water and sanitation solutions and help Water 1st retain staff. On average, communities in the Bangladesh program repay their loans at a 98 percent rate. These funds then circulate to launch new projects. However, the success of these repayments extends far beyond just the monetary value.
In these projects, people have a choice. They can scrimp and save and repay the loan. That would help their neighbor. Or they could default and use the money on their own needs. Faced with this choice, the poorest people in the world are overwhelmingly, almost unanimously, choosing to help one another.
Water 1st International
To date, Water 1st International has provided 260,643 people with safe water across five countries and 3,876 projects.
10. Safe Water Network
Safe Water Network is a water organization that works to build affordable, locally-owned water systems for communities in Ghana and India.
While their organization provides the tools to use these systems, referred to as “Safe Water Stations,” community members eventually take ownership of them and operate them as small businesses. Instead of being perceived as beneficiaries, individuals are seen as consumers and business owners.
Water is sold at each station to help cover operating and maintenance costs. Safe Water Network provides the education and equipment to manage these stations, as well as the technical services and monitoring necessary to keep them in top condition. They also continue to improve this model by partnering with experts in academia and the public and private sectors for new insights.
Safe Water Network reached 20 million people through technical Assistance and Sector Engagement to date and plans to access safe water for 50 million people by 2026.
11. Thirst Project
Thirst Project is a water organization that educates students about the clean water crisis and mobilizes them to take action.
The organization travels to secondary schools and universities across the United States to activate who they believe are the real game-changers: young supporters. Thirst Project also encourages students to start their own Thirst Project Clubs to raise awareness about the cause within their schools.
In addition to raising awareness, Thirst Project has boots in India, Uganda, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Kenya, and Colombia. They focus primarily on building hand pump wells that typically last over 40 years.
12. The Last Well
The Last Well is a faith-based organization on a mission to bring safe water to all Liberians.
No country has been able to provide clean water to all of its citizens, nor eliminate water-borne diseases or sicknesses. The Last Well aims to change that narrative for the entire nation of Liberia.
The Last Well has completed 11,714 projects in three countries to date to support the lives of 3,200,000 people.
13. Hope Rising Together
Hope Rising Together (formerly Let Them LOL) is a water organization focused on serving Sierra Leone. They build wells to provide poverty-stricken communities with access to safe water.
After 10 years as Let Them LOL, Hope Rising Together was born to renovate the Malting Silos in the heart of Buffalo, NY into a community center.
What makes us very unique is that we have a Well Maintenance program. Our Sierra Leone maintenance team travels around to all of our communities where we have wells, servicing them and making repairs. This ensures that the clean water continues to flow for many years.
Let Them LOL (Now Hope Rising Together)
Hope Rising Together has completed over 150 wells, bringing water to 49,300 people in Sierra Leone.
14. WaterAid
WaterAid is a water organization that transforms lives by providing clean water, hygiene and sanitation hardware in the world’s most vulnerable and remote communities.
Founded in 1981, WaterAid is part of a global federation and works on the ground in over 30 countries. From the hardware of taps, pipes, and toilets, to hygiene education, climate resilience, and maintenance, WaterAid’s projects are designed to work for the long term. Clean water that’s close to home makes the chore of collecting water a matter of minutes, not hours. This frees up precious time so girls can go to school and people can work and start businesses. Clean water really is just the beginning, it unlocks potential and empowers people to thrive.
The work of WaterAid has reached 28.8 million people with clean water, 28.1 million people with decent toilets, and 26 million people with hygiene education to date. WaterAid has a bold, new strategy to reach 400 million people in the next decade to end the water crisis once and for all.
15. charity: water
charity: water is a water organization that helps bring clean and safe water to families around the world by partnering with experienced local organizations that build sustainable, community-owned water projects.
charity: water was founded in 2006 by Scott Harrison, a former New York City club promoter. In less than a decade, it has become a leader in the nonprofit sector and a fundraising powerhouse.
The organization puts a great deal of emphasis on documenting and sharing details of their work, which not only keeps their ratings high among charity watchdogs but also allows supporters to get an inside look at exactly who they have helped.
The organization helps fund water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs for rural communities around the world while monitoring, evaluating, and maintaining programs to operate sustainably for years to come.
charity: water has funded 91,414 water projects to date in 29 countries to serve 14,762,215 people.
Water Organizations Hydrate the Future
These water organizations and their associated campaigns are pushing the envelope to bring safe water to communities everywhere.
Learn how you can help bring clean, safe water to people around the world.