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Health & Wellbeing

Clean Water Close to Home

Keeping community water points working, so clean water stays close to home.

Program area
Health & Wellbeing
Children gathered around a hand pump, filling containers with water

Health & Wellbeing

Clean Water Close to Home

  • Program area

    Health & Wellbeing

The challenge

When a water point breaks, the walk for water gets longer — often for women and children — and some families turn to sources that are not safe to drink.

What this work focuses on

  • Repair and regular maintenance of water points
  • Communities caring for their own water points
  • Hygiene awareness, especially in schools

How the work is approached

A water point lasts when the people who use it can look after it, so communities are supported to organise its care and pay for small repairs.

Repairs use skills and parts that can be found locally, so the next breakdown does not have to wait for outside help.

What it aims to change

  • Water that is reliable and safe
  • Time given back to the people who fetch it
  • Fewer illnesses linked to unsafe water

Part of our program area

Health & Wellbeing — Improving health outcomes through care, awareness and support.

Related work

  • A doctor in a white coat listening to a patient's breathing with a stethoscope

    Community Health Days

    Open days that bring basic health checks, information and advice closer to families who live far from a clinic.