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H-03

Establish universal access to clean drinking water

Every person has safe, affordable drinking water.

20 organizations tracked  ·  0 vetted

The goal in brief

GoalEvery person has safe, affordable drinking water.

people lacking safe drinking water1
2.1 billion
people drinking untreated surface water1
106 million
diarrhoea deaths a year from dirty water2
≈505,000

Why it matters

One in four people, 2.1 billion, still lack safely managed drinking water, and 106 million drink untreated water straight from surface sources like rivers and ponds.1 Contaminated water spreads diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid,2 and in most countries with data, fetching water falls to women and girls.1

How we’ll know it’s done

Finish line
Universal and equitable access to safe, affordable drinking water for all, the SDG target 6.1 end state for 2030.3
What counts
Safely managed water: at home, available when needed, and free from contamination.
How it’s checked
WHO and UNICEF’s Joint Monitoring Programme, using household surveys and water-quality data.
Our part
We’ll fund this once our vetting team vets an organization working on it.

What follows

  • Far fewer cases of diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid.H-15End disease
  • More children surviving past age 5.H-11Reduce the child mortality rate to under 1% globally
  • Hours back each day for the women and girls who now fetch water, for school and work.H-12Establish universal access to high-quality education

How it can be solved

The approaches to this goal, and how many of the organizations taking each one we’ve vetted.

  • Community water systems

    Wells, taps and water points built and kept running with communities.

    6 organizations

  • Water treatment

    Making water safe to drink with chlorine, filters and simple treatment.

    4 organizations · 2 no longer operating

  • Solar purification and desalination

    Using sunlight to purify water or turn seawater fresh.

    3 organizations

  • Water from air

    Machines that pull drinking water out of humid air.

    3 organizations

  • Utilities, finance and watersheds

    Strengthening city utilities, lending for water connections and protecting the sources.

    3 organizations

  • Sanitation

    Safe toilets and waste treatment, which keep drinking water clean.

    1 organization

Who’s working on it

We only call a solution proven, measurable and scalable once our vetting team has vetted it. Everything else here, the team is tracking.

Vetted0 organizationsReviewed by our vetting team, and passed all three tests.

  • Proven

    It has worked, with results to show.

  • Measurable

    Its impact can be counted.

  • Scalable

    It can grow toward the size of the goal.

None on this goal yet. When our vetting team vets an organization working on it, it appears here with its vetting report.

Not vetted20 organizationsTracked by our vetting team. Not vetted yet, so we make no claims about them.

No longer operational Kept here so the record is complete. 2

  • H-03-S01

    WaterNow No longer operational

    Installed water filtration and clean water projects for communities and businesses.

    Water treatment

  • H-03-S06

    Liquidity Nanotech No longer operational

    Made nanofiber water filters, including the Naked Filter bottle.

    Water treatment

Listing an organization isn’t an endorsement. Not vetted means just that: our vetting team is tracking it, and we make no claims about it yet. Last reviewed October 2026.

Know a solution we’re missing?

Submit a solution that tackles a goal on Humanity’s Checklist.

  1. Tell us about it in a short form.
  2. Our Solutionary Team reviews every submission.
  3. If it looks like a fit, we’ll start vetting the project.
Submit a project (opens in a new tab)

Sources

  1. 1. WHO and UNICEF, “1 in 4 people globally still lack access to safe drinking water,” Joint Monitoring Programme 2025 report release, WHO (2025) (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2. WHO, “Drinking-water” fact sheet, World Health Organization (2023) (opens in a new tab)
  3. 3. UN DESA, “Sustainable Development Goal 6: targets and indicators,” United Nations (2015) (opens in a new tab)