News, Press & Perspectives

Find the latest news and press releases about our work in the water and sanitation sector below. 

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Water.org and Founding Partners Launch Get Blue™ to Bring Water Home™ Through Everyday Actions

June 9, 2026

Join Get Blue™, co-founded by Water.org’s Matt Damon and Gary White, and partners Gap Inc., Starbucks, Amazon, and Ecolab to shop, share, and donate to help end the global water crisis.

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The TODAY Show - Matt Damon, Gary White Talk Global Water Crisis and Solutions

June 9, 2026

Water.org co-founders Gary White and Matt Damon joined the TODAY Show to talk about Get Blue and why bringing safe water home for families around the world is within reach. "It's a massive problem but we have solutions," Damon says. Five dollars helps one person get lasting access to safe water or sanitation.

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TIME - Water Will Be the Defining Business Issue of the Decade

Jan. 23, 2026

Water shapes how people spend their time, the choices available to them, and their ability to participate in community and economic life. For the estimated 2.1 billion people who lack access to safe water and the 3.4 billion who lack access to safe sanitation, water dictates everything.

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TIME - Vedika Bhandarkar Believes We Can Solve the Water Crisis in Our Lifetime

May 1, 2025

TIME profiles Water.org President & COO Vedika Bhandarkar as part of Gold House’s A100 List, honoring the most impactful Asian Pacific leaders. Drawing on her 25-year career in finance, Vedika is helping unlock capital and scale smart solutions to accelerate access to safe water and sanitation, driving progress toward a world where everyone everywhere has the resources they need to thrive.

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NextBillion - The Keys to Successful Blue Bonds: How Peru’s Strong Local Lending Systems Are Expanding Water and Sanitation Access

May 26, 2026

For millions of families safe water solutions exist and are within reach — what's missing is affordable financing to pay for them. Water.org's Rocio Cavazos explains how two blue bond issuances are closing that gap for people in need in Peru, and what it took to build the lending systems that made them possible.

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A cyclist and a horse-cart carriage pass each other in a flooded area after heavy rain caused a river overflow, submerging scores of homes in Bandung, Indonesia on March 16, 2025. Timur Matahari—AFP/Getty Images
TIME - The Key to Solving the Global Water Crisis

March 22, 2025

The global water crisis is one of the most urgent and complex challenges facing humanity today. More than 2.2 billion people lack access to safe water, and 3.5 billion lack access to safely managed sanitation. This crisis undermines health and safety, education, and economic opportunity.

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Lifestyles Magazine - Water relief from a star

Jan. 6, 2020

As Co-founder of Water.org, Matt Damon's focus includes philanthropy as well as film.

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Global Citizen - Billions of People Won't Have Access to Water or a Toilet This Holiday Season

Dec. 20, 2019

It’s the holiday season. Conversations about who will host which gathering are in full swing. Imagine if some of the considerations were whether the host family has access to running water, or if they could offer guests a toilet.

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The Hill - Water.org is finding solutions to a dire problem

Nov. 28, 2019

“Looking ahead, access to water will be one of the most critical challenges of our time,” says co-founder Matt Damon. “The good news is that there are solutions that work.”

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CSIS - Channeling Financial Flows for Urban Water and Sanitation

Nov. 27, 2019

From the Center for Strategic & International Studies, "Increasing the amount of financing available to citizens in low- and middle-income countries will allow them to take out loans in order to purchase toilets and water purification systems for their homes. One of the leaders in providing these microfinance solutions is Water.org."

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Water documentary featuring Matt Damon and Gary White premieres in Los Angeles

Nov. 27, 2019

Featuring Matt Damon, Gary White, Jaden Smith and other pioneers in the water sector, the Brave Blue World documentary paints an optimistic picture of how humanity is adopting new technologies and innovations to re-think how we manage water.

Watch the trailer
Danone-AQUA and Water.org Push for Increased Access to Water

Nov. 21, 2019

Since 2016, this collaboration has supported 3 financial institutions in Central Java and East Java, Indonesia to distribute water and sanitation loans in 33 villages.

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Water.org partners with The BBVA Microfinance Foundation to provide access to safe water in Peru

Nov. 18, 2019

BBVA Microfinance Foundation and Water.org are working to bring access to safe water and sanitation to rural and peri-urban homes in Peru.

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Seeing the people we empower through a different lens

Nov. 8, 2019

Traveling around the world reveals we are more alike than different, however one thing stands out. Many people we meet lack access to safe water and sanitation. Read more from Benjamin Heath, a photographer who has supported our work for more than five years.

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Raconteur - Millions without water could pay for taps and toilets with affordable financing

Nov. 6, 2019

We believe that hundreds of millions of people who lack basic water services could pay for their own tap and toilet solutions if they simply had access to affordable financing.

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Web Summit 2019 - Collaborating to end the water crisis

Nov. 4, 2019

Gary White joins Jaden Smith, founder of JUST water, and Paul O'Callaghan, founder of BlueTech Research, at Web Summit 2019 to share how Water.org provides innovative financial solutions to end the global water crisis.

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SOCAP19 - Jennifer Schorsch on Building and Scaling an Impact Organization

Oct. 29, 2019

Water.org President Jennifer Schorsch shares her experience and what it takes to build and scale an organization that makes a big impact. Be clear on your purpose, aggressively innovate, fail forward and more.

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Micron Helps Water.org Connect 10,000 People in Need of Safe Water

Oct. 24, 2019

Micron Technology, Inc. will provide a $125,000 grant to Water.org. The grant from the Micron Foundation will give approximately 10,000 people access to safe water and sanitation and expand the reach of Water.org’s solution, empowering people through access to affordable financing.

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