Environment

Global Leader in Sustainable Productivity Solutions Wants to Ensure Everyone Has Access to Clean Water

Jan 4, 2016 2:05 PM ET
Campaign: Atlas Copco: Empowering Our Communities

Our planet has enough fresh water for everyone. Despite this, around 800 million people still don’t have access to clean water. Each day, more than 5,000 children die from diseases related to contaminated water. In fact, dirty water and poor sanitary conditions claim more lives than war and violence.

That’s why Atlas Copco, a global leader in sustainable productivity solutions, is committed to creating a world where all people have access to clean water, adequate sanitation and basic health services. Since 1984, the company’s Water for All organization has helped nearly 2 million people get clean drinking water and sanitation.

Founded by two Atlas Copco employees in Sweden, today Water for All is in more than 40 countries on five continents.

Making a better, safer world
Every day, millions of women and children have to walk several kilometers in order to fetch water – water that is often contaminated. Access to clean water in the vicinity of a village reduces the prevalence of disease, but it also improves the entire village; instead of traveling long distances to get dirty water, women and children are able to provide their family with food or money or attend school.

Water for All: how it works
Any Atlas Copco employee can decide to start a Water for All organization in his or her country.

  • The founding employee establishes a local Water for All organization and facilitates voluntary donations, which are doubled by Atlas Copco.
  • The local organization investigates and selects the water project it wants to support.
  • Water for All provides remote support, but the project is managed by partner organizations that specialize in water-project management. These organizations ensure the project is implemented, and they train and organize local people to use and maintain the new water source. Helping people help themselves ensures the project’s sustainability.
  • Many projects involve drilling or digging a well or protecting natural water resources. Other methods include building a system to collect rainwater, constructing basic rainwater systems for villages or homes, or building sanitation or sewer systems.
  • Project results are reported back to the local Water for All organization.

Water for All has no administrative costs, as Atlas Copco absorbs all expenses. This means that 100 percent of donations support people in need.

Clean water saves lives
Here are just some of the ways Water for All can make a difference for communities in need:

  • Water from the new source is safe to drink.
  • Collecting water now takes just a few minutes, where it used to take hours. This frees women and children for other pursuits.
  • Many women join the village’s water committee to oversee the new water source. Often, it is their first position in local leadership.
  • Children can go to school instead of spending hours collecting water. Many receive the education necessary to become teachers, health workers or entrepreneurs.
  • Villagers start their own vegetable gardens near their homes, produce more food for their families and are able to sell any surplus on the market.
  • Neighboring villages witness the positive development created by clean water and enroll in a similar project with Water for All. The process begins again, and more lives are saved and enriched.

From the vision of a small group of philanthropic employees at Atlas Copco, Water for All has grown to a global organization supported by thousands of members who share the conviction that clean water is the foundation for a better life.

Together, we can build a better world.