Why clean water
changes everything.

The scale of the need

The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) is the official global tracker for drinking water. Its 2025 report found that 1 in 4 people — about 2.1 billion — still lacked safely managed drinking water in 2024, and that 106 million people drank directly from rivers, lakes, ponds, and streams.

“Safely managed” means water from an improved source that is available on premises when needed and free from contamination. Many families have some water, but not water that is close, reliable, and safe all at once.

Health: the most immediate difference

The World Health Organization estimates that at least 1.7 billion people use a drinking-water source contaminated with faeces, and that contaminated drinking water causes approximately 505,000 diarrhoeal deaths each year. Unsafe water is linked to cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and other preventable illnesses.

A protected, well-maintained water point does not solve every health challenge. But it removes one of the most constant daily risks a family faces — especially for young children.

Time: hours given back every day

When water is not piped to the home, someone has to walk to get it. UNICEF has estimated that women and girls spend about 200 million hours every day collecting water worldwide. The 2025 JMP update notes that women and girls remain primarily responsible for water collection, with many in sub-Saharan Africa spending more than 30 minutes a day doing it.

A 20-litre jerrycan of water weighs about 20 kilograms. Carrying it is hard, slow work — often repeated more than once a day. Try the Water Walk calculator to see what that means for a household like yours.

School and work: room for a different future

Time spent walking for water is time that cannot be spent in class, at work, caring for family, or resting. Closer, reliable water can mean fewer missed school days, more time for livelihoods, and fewer long walks in the dark or heat. These outcomes depend on the full picture — reliable service, sanitation, and hygiene — but water is often the first step.

Community: a shared foundation

A community water point is also a place where people gather, organize, and decide together how to care for something that belongs to them. Water projects that last are the ones local people lead: they choose the site, form a water committee, and plan for maintenance and repairs.

That is the heart of Water Well Project: presence before projects, and partnership that keeps serving long after a visit ends.

Why a Christian mission cares about water

Jesus said that even a cup of cold water given in His name is never forgotten (Matthew 10:42). Water Well Project exists to meet a practical need while demonstrating the love of Jesus in a tangible way — serving every person with dignity, whatever they believe. Read more in Bible verses about water and living water.

What you can do today

• Give through the official Charitable Impact campaign to help make the first confirmed project possible.
• Pray through the 7-day prayer guide.
• Bring your church, school, or business in with the partner toolkit.
• Host a Water Walk and let people feel the weight of water for themselves.

Questions people ask