Water By Women Supports Clean Water Worldwide

March 22 is World Water Day, which the United Nations is promoting this year as a day to “explore the critical relationship between water, women, and gender equality.”

It’s also a good day to highlight the work of Water By Women, a Louisville-based nonprofit that creates networks of women who provide safe drinking water for communities around the world where people are endangered by waterborne diseases.

The organization receives significant support from the Louisville Water Foundation. Water By Women is currently using a $50,000 Foundation grant to empower and provide water filters and related equipment to 625 women in marginalized communities in Haiti. Ultimately, the project will achieve clean, safe drinking water for an estimated 10,000 children, families, and community members who live in areas where reliable water systems do not exist.

This project builds on the success of an initiative funded by a $15,000 Foundation grant in 2024 that supported a previous cholera-eradication program in Haiti. Facilitating 10 years of safe drinking water for 4,000 people, Water By Women used the 2024 grant to equip 188 women with filtration systems, buckets, water storage pouches, home hygiene storybooks, and training materials.

“The Water By Women model empowers smart, motivated women with education and advanced, lifetime, point-of-use water filtration technology,” said Larraine Lauter, Water By Women Chief Vision Officer. “In turn, they commit to filtering water for their nearby neighbors, thereby creating a human network or infrastructure that sustainably provides safe water for thousands of people.”

“Like the Louisville Water Foundation, we are working towards a world where safe water is available to everyone,” Lauter added.

Photos by @Bryan Woolston/@woolstonphoto