April 7, 2025
How does clean water affect human health?
Every year on April 7th, the world comes together to celebrate World Health Day, a global health awareness initiative sponsored by the World Health Organization. Since its founding in 1948, the day represents an opportunity to bring awareness to the subject of global health. The theme for 2025, Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures, aligns with our mission at Well Aware- providing clean water for life so communities and future generations can thrive, grow, and develop.
But why should you care?
The Connection Between Clean Water & Health
Nearly 2.2 billion people globally lack reliable access to safe drinking water (WHO and UNICEF). Despite there being enough freshwater on the planet for 7 billion people, it is unevenly distributed, wasted, polluted, and unsustainably managed. This disproportionately affects those in Sub Saharan Africa, where the burden of water collection often falls on women and girls. In fact, 8 out of 10 households without a water supply line depend on women and girls to collect water (WHO and UNICEF). The lack of sanitation facilities with clean water for girls reaching puberty makes them more likely to miss school, limiting their education and future opportunities.
The effects of a lack of clean water reaches beyond filling the water well. Contaminated drinking water is estimated to cause 485,000 diarrheal deaths each year. Unclean water can transmit diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio. And more than 297,000 children under five die annually from diarrheal diseases due to poor sanitation, poor hygiene, or unsafe drinking water (WHO).
How Clean Water Saves Lives
At Well Aware, we focus on the Ripple Effect, the idea that clean water affects every aspect of daily life. Without access to clean water, communities struggle with malnutrition, education, and economic growth. But when clean water is accessible, diseases plummet, education increases, gender equality improves, agriculture and commerce grow, and reinvestment in the community increases.
One of the most crucial areas impacted is healthcare. 1 in 4 healthcare facilities lacks basic water services, making it a struggle to prevent infections and provide safe medical care. Infections account for 26% of neonatal deaths and 11% of maternal mortality (WHO and UNICEF). Having clean water in hospitals and clinics is essential to keeping mothers and newborns safe.
What We’re Doing to Help
To this day, Well Aware maintains a 100% success rate, meaning each and every one of our projects is still functioning and providing lasting clean water to its respective community. One of these communities is Uasonyiro Primary School, located in Laikipia, Kenya. Despite the community having limited groundwater potential making drilling a borehole infeasible, we installed a rainwater harvesting system with large tanks that can hold enough water through the dry season. Uasonyiro Primary went from having 13,000 liters of unfiltered water storage to 80,000 liters of clean, safe drinking water along with guttering systems to capture rainwater, a UV filtration system, and a water treatment system.
The impact? The student population grew from 750 to 881 students, and new partnerships are helping to expand the school. Clean water doesn’t just improve student well being, it creates opportunities for growth and collaboration.
How You Can Get Involved
This April, Well Aware is launching a new and exciting challenge: H2gO. Over 4 weeks, participants will walk 30 miles, symbolizing the daily obligation most women in rural Kenya face every single day- traveling for water. This interactive experience is the chance for you to get involved, to not only be active in the drive for clean water across East Africa but to immerse yourself in the struggles of these communities.
Here’s how you can help:
- Fundraise–Every $20 dollars raised gives one person clean water for life.
- Donate–Every dollar supports projects focused on building and restoring wells, filtration systems, and sanitation education.
- Spread Awareness–Your voice sheds light on the water crisis and inspires others to take action.
This World Health Day we encourage you to take action. Health is a human right and clean water is essential in making that right a reality. Your involvement, whether that be fundraising, donating, or spreading awareness, helps forward our mission of building reliable, long-lasting water sources that enable communities and future generations to prosper. Thank you for being part of this mission!