Over 80% of the disease in developing countries is related to poor drinking water and sanitation.

4,500 children die every day from preventable diseases related to a lack of access to clean water, adequate sanitation and hygiene.

Medical research has reported many cases of lasting damage to women’s health in consequence to carrying heavy jugs of water, like chronic fatigue, spinal and pelvic disfigurements, and effects on reproductive health such as spontaneous miscarriages.

If the world did nothing besides just providing access to clean water, without any other medical involvement, we could save 2 million lives per year.

Without access to safe water, families are forced to spend hours each day collecting it—often from unsafe sources. This limits time for work, school, and income-generating activities, keeping entire communities trapped in poverty.

When people are sick or spending hours collecting water, they can’t work or attend school consistently. This reduces productivity, lowers school attendance, and slows economic growth. Clean water is one of the most effective ways to help people move themselves out of poverty.

Access to clean water is one of the most effective investments a community can make. Every $1 spent on water and sanitation can generate up to $8 in economic returns through increased productivity and reduced healthcare costs. When children stay in school and families stay healthy, entire communities move forward.

In Africa, more than a quarter of the population spends between 30 minutes  to 6 hours, walking 3.75 miles just to collect enough water for the day. Women and children are mostly responsible for fetching water and caring for the sick (who primarily fall ill due to unclean water). This means that women and children have less time for productive activities, such as going to school or earning a living.

Not offering girls the same schooling opportunities as boys costs less-developed nations $92 billion every year. That means $1 trillion per decade is missed out on in salaries.

When girls are given clean water and toilets at school and no longer have to walk for water, school enrollment increases by 15%. This means that girls will reach higher levels of education and the benefits this has will reduce diagnoses of HIV/AIDS and poverty. It wil improve the health of women and their children, delay unlawfully young marriages and increase empowerment, confidence, and the ability to choose for oneself.

“No other single intervention is more likely to have a significant impact on global poverty than the provision of safe water.” – Schuster-Wallace. C.J., Grover, V.I., Adeel, Z. Confalonieri, U. and Elliot, S. Safe Water as the Key to Global Health. (United Nations University, 2008).

“The UN estimates it would cost an additional $30 billion to provide access to safe water to the entire planet. That’s a third of what the world spends in a year on bottled water.”