If you’re reading this article, you’re probably lucky enough to have access to safe water whenever you might need it.
It’s shocking to think that there are still so many parts of the world that don’t have this basic human right.
Thankfully, there are an increasing number of non-profits and charities that exist today with the sole purpose of providing clean water and sanitation systems to those who need it.
We’ve highlighted those worth knowing about below.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Nearly 800 million people in the world lack access to safe water, and 1 in 4 people don’t have access to a toilet.
- Non-profits and charities such as Blood:Water, Splash, and Water For Good are helping make clean water a reality in developing countries and beyond.
- You can support these organizations by making a donation or get involved with local projects to benefit those without clean water in other parts of the world.
Table of Contents
🚰 Why Are Water Organizations Needed?
If you have a constant supply of clean drinking water, it can be difficult to imagine a life in which this isn’t a given.
However, for millions of people, the water crisis continues. According to the latest statistics from Water.org, 1 in 10 people – or 771 million of us – still don’t have access to clean drinkable water.
Not only that, but 1.7 billion people don’t have access to a toilet, and 282 million people spend at least 30 minutes traveling to collect water every day.
These figures aren’t exaggerated. The water crisis is considered a major problem – in fact, it’s the fifth-ranked global risk when it comes to societal impact, according to the World Economic Forum.
🤝 21 Charities & Non-Profits Providing Clean Water & Transforming Lives Globally
Let’s take a look at the charities and non-profits that are working to provide sanitation and hygiene education, clean water, decent toilets, and other sanitation solutions to those that need them the most.
Water For Good
Water For Good is a non-profit founded in 2004. The faith-based organization provides and maintains wells for communities in the Central African Republic, and provided more than 600,000 people in rural regions with water in 2019.
According to the Water For Good website, over half of the wells introduced by charity water projects in Sub-Saharan Africa are no longer working. Water For Good doesn’t only establish wells – it also maintains their functionality, and the charity’s maintenance team traveled over 13,000 miles in 2022 to provide service visits to pumps.
Blood:Water
Blood:Water is an international non-profit that partners with more than a dozen African grassroots organizations to provide the funding needed to implement water and HIV solutions.
The organization has partnered with 33 other organizations since 2004, focusing on areas that lack access to clean and safe water and have the highest prevalence of AIDS/HIV. Blood:Water has reached hundreds of thousands of people in 12 countries, including Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi, Nigeria, and Kenya.
WaterAid
WaterAid is a British charity founded in 1981. The charity has provided clean water, hygiene education, and decent toilets to 28 million people since its establishment, with projects in countries including Zambia, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, and Ghana.
WaterAid’s aim is to end the global water crisis by ensuring that everyone has access to basic water sanitation and hygiene necessities.
Thirst Project
Thirst Project is a non-profit organization that raises money to build water, hygiene, and sanitization projects in rural communities in the developing world.
Founded by college students in Los Angeles in 2008, Thirst Project has gone on to raise several million in funds to serve more than 500,000 people in 13+ countries.
Pure Water For The World
Pure Water For The World is an international non-profit organization that aims to end the global water crisis by providing water sanitation and hygiene education, along with filtration solutions, to local governments and community members that need them.
The non-profit, which has a community-based approach, functions predominantly in rural and underserved regions and focuses on key locations, such as health clinics and schools, to install its water systems.
Hope of Life International
Hope of Life International is a faith-based charitable organization that was established in 2004, with the aim of fighting poverty and disease, and advocating for community development and health.
The organization serves vulnerable families, particularly children, in Guatemala, and uses its donations to drill drinking water wells in some of the most rural mountain villages in the country.
Generosity.org
Generosity.org is a non-profit global relief organization that is dedicated to ending the clean water crisis in developing countries. The organization supports the UN’s sustainable development goal #6: Clean Water & Sanitation for All.
Generosity.org has numerous projects in action, including a partnership with International Lifeline Fund (ILF), with the aim of creating clean water projects, strengthening rural health services, and encouraging better sanitization practices in Northern Uganda.
The Last Well
The Last Well is non-profit organization that strives to end water scarcity by providing sustainable safe water solutions to communities most in need.
The organization recently achieved its 12-year goal: to provide full basic access to clean water for all communities in Liberia. Now, all community members are at most a 15-minute walk away from a clean water well.
Hope Rising Together
Hope Rising Together is a USA-based non-profit organization that was established in 2009 with the goal of providing clean water to communities in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Originally, the founders raised money by selling a $3 ringtone of a funny laugh, and the non-profit was initially called Let Them LOL.
More than 13 years later, Hope Rising Together has gone on to install and maintain 145 wells serving more than 53,633 people, as well as providing education to 600+ children and care to 40+ children.
Splash
Splash is a global non-profit organization that was founded in 2007 and designs child-focused safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs for children in Africa and Asia.
The organization has served over 400,000 children living in urban poverty, with the aim to provide clean hands, clean water, and clean toilets for all children, regardless of where they live.
Planet Water Foundation
Planet Water Foundation is a non-profit organization that aims to alleviate the clean water crisis in developing countries by bringing water health and hygiene education, sanitation services, and clean water access to all who need it.
The non-profit focuses on rural communities and schools in Latin America and the Asia Pacific. Since its establishment in 2009, Planet Water Foundation has helped 1,900 communities in 25 countries.
Lifewater International
Lifewater International is a non-profit Christian clean water organization that has served more than 2.5 million people in 40 countries over a period of 40 years.
The organization was founded by a water pump business owner in 1977, and became registered in 1986. It now operates in developing countries, including Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Cambodia, with a mission to advance the cause of WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) to those who need it.
Safe Water Network
Safe Water Network is a nonprofit organization that provides underserved communities with sustainable solutions for affordable water supplies.
The organization was founded by actor and philanthropist Paul Newman and a group of civic leaders, with the aim to overcome the challenges faced by communities with restricted access to safe water due to a lack of funding. Safe Water Network began its work in Ghana and India, but now has a global impact.
Water 1st International
Water 1st International is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2005 with the focus of addressing the sanitation and water needs of the poorest and most vulnerable communities by consistently implementing high-quality projects.
The organization has completed more than 4,232 projects and supplied 270,318 people (and counting!) with clean water. Working with local partners, Water 1st International aims to support lasting projects and commit to consistent funding, monitoring, and evaluation.
charity: water
charity: water is a non-profit organization that has served 15 million people in 29 countries with more than 110,000 water projects since it was founded in 2008.
The non-profit partners with other local partner organizations that design and implement sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs for vulnerable communities in remote and rural areas. charity: water offers continued funding and support for ongoing projects to ensure they operate sustainably for years to come.
Drop In The Bucket
Drop In The Bucket is a Los Angeles-based sanitation and water charity that has field offices in South Sudan and Uganda. The charity’s mission is to provide clean water to children in sub-Saharan Africa by building sanitation systems and wells at schools; allowing all children – including children – to receive an education.
The organization has worked to drill wells and construct sanitation facilities in hundreds of villages since 2006, and has also introduced village programs like health clubs, girls clubs, and community sanitization initiatives.
H20 For Life
H20 For Life is a service-learning opportunity for schools, raising awareness of the global water crisis and encouraging children to fundraise for the implementation of hygiene, sanitization and water projects in partner schools.
The organization was founded in 2007 and has since inspired more than 1 million students in hundreds of schools to support WASH programs in developing countries. Students have raised more than $3.5 million dollars so far, and all donations are matched 1-to-1 by H20 For Life’s non-governmental organization partners.
WATERisLife
WATERisLIFE provides hygiene solutions, clean water, and sanitization education programs to those who need it. The organization designed a water filtration product called the WATERisLIFE straw, which filters fresh water and removes waterborne diseases and other harmful contaminants.
The organization has also overseen the installation of 500+ SunSpring self-contained solar and wind-powered water treatment systems, which remove 99% of turbidity, particulate matter, bacteria, cysts, and viruses in any water source.
Water.org
Water.org global non-profit organization that aims to bring sanitization and clean, drinkable water to the world. This organization has provided safe drinking water to more than 51 million people by providing affordable financing to communities around the globe.
Water.org was founded more than a decade ago and currently works in more than 11 countries – including Cambodia, India, Mexico, Peru, Kenya, and Uganda – to achieve its founders’ vision of sanitation and safe water for everyone at home.
Water For People
Water For People is a non-profit that works to equip communities with clean water solutions and encourage good hygiene practices in nine countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
The organization partners with local businesses, governments, and individuals to provide the support needed to provide their communities with water and sanitization systems.
The Water Project
The Water Project is a charity that works in sub-Saharan Africa to provide access to safe, clean, and reliable sanitation and drinking water solutions. The charity has impacted almost 800,000 people and currently monitors more than 2,100 water points, with 97% of these points offering flowing water.
The Water Project team builds sand dams, water wells, and other solutions, then provides follow-up servicing to keep them working. The team also rehabs neglected wells and constructs rain catchment tanks – whatever best suits the local geology.
📑 Final Word
It’s great to see so many charities and non-profits working hard to provide safe drinking water to communities around the world. But these organizations can only exist with the support of the general public.
If you’re looking to make a difference, no matter how big or small, consider donating to one of these organizations and feel proud in the knowledge that you’re supporting their mission to end the global water crisis once and for all.
