Your gifts in action
Sa’s home: where safe water and education are now possible
Meet Sa
In a rural village a couple of hours from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sa, a retired teacher, spent years collecting water from the river to meet her family's needs. That changed when a neighbor decided to tackle the problem himself: he built a water utility, Kampong Chamlong Water Supply (KCWS), which, with our support, grew to serve thousands of households across rural Cambodia, including Sa's.
Women and girls spend 200 million hours every day collecting water. This is time not spent working, caring for family members, or attending school.
With piped water now reaching her home, Sa no longer makes the exhausting trek to the river. Instead, she spends her days running a makeshift classroom, teaching math, reading, and history to children from her village – including some of her own great-grandchildren – whose families couldn't otherwise afford schooling.
Access to safe water at home and at school changes lives. Thank you for making bright futures possible.
"Now we have access to piped water, which makes our life easier... I can say life is easier in every way," said Sa from Cambodia as she described how lasting access to safe water transformed life for her family and community.
Latest impact numbers
Water.org co-founder and CEO Gary White (left) accepts the Hoover Medal at the SIWI World Water Week closing ceremony in Stockholm. Photo credit: World Water Week.
One of engineering's highest honors, dedicated to the people we serve
Gary White receives 2026 Hoover Medal, donates it to Water.org
Water.org co-founder and CEO Gary White received the 2026 Hoover Medal at the SIWI World Water Week closing ceremony in Stockholm. The Hoover Medal is one of the engineering profession's highest honors, awarded since 1929 to engineers whose achievements have significantly served humanity – a list that includes Herbert Hoover, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Jimmy Carter.
Gary was recognized for more than 30 years of work applying engineering and market-driven solutions to expand access to safe water and sanitation. Following the ceremony, he announced he is donating the medal back to Water.org.
A conversation on solving the global water crisis
Vedika Bhandarkar joins the Better Good podcast
Water.org President and COO Vedika Bhandarkar joined Scott M. Curran on the Better Good podcast to talk about the global water crisis and why she believes it's a problem we can solve.
Vedika discussed how we partner with local financial institutions to help families access small, affordable loans for water and sanitation – a model that has helped change more than 92 million lives to date.
The issue behind the issue
Closing the financing gap can help end the global water crisis
The World Bank estimates $114 billion per year is needed to achieve safely managed water and sanitation and meet the SDG 6 targets. It will take three times more than what is currently being invested each year to achieve this.
Bridging this gap is critical to solving the global water crisis, and your support helps scale our impact and change lives with safe water.