On average, worldwide it only costs $25 to provide someone water for life. Costs for improved sanitation is even less.

How far will you go?

Hi, Jean Robb here. Water is such an important part of our everyday life. Matt Daman has seen first hand what life is like without clean water. There's a really easy way to help!

Each day, many millions of people in developing countries must walk long distances to get the water they need for drinking, cooking, and bathing. Often, this water is contaminated. Water.org, co-founded by Matt Damon and Gary White, helps people in developing countries obtain safe drinking water and basic sanitation (toilets). Working in partnership with those in need, Water.org has transformed hundreds of communities in eight countries – Bangladesh, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Guatemala, India, Kenya, and the Philippines – with access to a safe, reliable source of water and basic sanitation. Please find below a sampling of our photo resources, recent feature stories, Water.org headlines, and global water crisis news. If you would like to contact us regarding a media opportunity, please complete the Media Request Form and we will respond as quickly as possible. Thank you for your interest in Water.org and our work.


Nearly one billion people lack access to safe water and 2.5 billion do not have improved sanitation. The health and economic impacts are staggering. CamelBakGive Bak - Water.org

Today’s water crisis is not an issue of scarcity, but of access. More people in the world own cell phones than have access to a toilet. And as cities and slums grow at increasing rates, the situation worsens. Every day, lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills thousands, leaving others with reduced quality of life.

884 million people lack access to safe water supplies; approximately one in eight people.

3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease.

People living in the slums often pay 5-10 times more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city

An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than a typical person in a developing country slum uses in a day.

The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.

Lack of sanitation is the world’s biggest cause of infection.

2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation, including 1.2 billion people who have no facilities at all.

Of the 60 million people added to the world’s towns and cities every year, most occupy impoverished slums and shanty-towns with no sanitation

facilities.

Only 62% of the world’s population has access to improved sanitation – defined as a sanitation facility that ensures hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact


Diarrhea remains in the second leading cause of death among children under five globally. Nearly one in five child deaths – about 1.5 million each year – is due to diarrhea. It kills more young children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined.

Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease.

Diarrhea is more prevalent in the developing world due, in large part, to the lack of safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as poorer overall health and nutritional status

Children in poor environments often carry 1,000 parasitic worms in their bodies at any time.

In the developing world, 24,000 children under the age of five die every day from preventable causes like diarrhea contracted from unclean water

1.4 million children die as a result of diarrhea each year.

In just one day, more than 200 million hours of women’s time is consumed for the most basic of human needs — collecting water for domestic use.

One Bottle's Promise

With each purchase of a limited edition Water.org CamelBak Groove bottle, you give a life-changing gift. While it keeps great-tasting filtered water always in your reach, it also brings safe drinking water and sanitation to people in developing countries.

$10 from every bottle purchased supports Water.org
Feature a limited-edition design
Environmentally friendly and a great gift

The CamelBak Groove bottle is 100% BPA-free, holds 20 oz, is dishwasher safe, and features the patented CamelBak Big Bite Valve.
Ordering is easy just pick stainless steel or plastic below. In partnership with Amazon.com, this year you qualify for free domestic standard shipping with each order. Additional questions, please visit our Frequent Questions page.

Make a difference

For over two decades we've been working to empower others toward change and a better live with safe water and toilet. You can help us make a difference. No matter your age, no matter your profession, it's your pick. Our greatest need is to continue to raise awareness for the crisis. Fan us online to get instant updates, share our videos, follow the work in real-time, and even fundraise for those without safe water.