Eradicating the world's water crisis 'is within our grasp'

(Photo: Talia22)

World Vision US and Water4More are partnering to give impoverished communities access to clean water.

Today is World Water Day and around the world, 780 million people lack access to safe water.

World Vision says the problem is not scarcity but rather that communities do not have the means to access the water that is beneath them.

Together, World Vision and Water4 are working to rapidly increase the number of people with access to safe water using high-tech, low-tech and sustainable solutions.

The partnership is one of the largest humanitarian water well projects in the world, with the ambitious goal of establishing 7,000 wells in eight African countries.

Water4 uses low-cost drilling technology to expand reach into smaller communities, while the Desert Research Institute is further supporting efforts by providing satellite technology to help identify potential well locations and the best methods to reach the water.

Locals will be trained in well drilling and maintaining the pumps as part of a sustainable model that also provides jobs and further business opportunities for these communities.

Paul Carey, executive director of corporations and foundations for World Vision said: "We could not be prouder to partner with Water4 to bring critically needed solutions to our water partnership, bringing hope to the vulnerable families and communities World Vision serves."

Water4 co-founder Richard Greenly said: "For the first time in history, the opportunity to eradicate the world's water crisis is within our grasp.

"It is through this cooperation [with World Vision] that we will see clean water be made available to the bottom billion on planet earth, and within our lifetimes."