Skip to main content

Water beyond wells

Skip to main content

With dams, rainwater collection, and purification systems, Rotary and Rotaract clubs help people access clean water

By

Access to clean water and sanitation can determine whether a child gets an education. That’s what Rotaract club members in the Ashanti region of Ghana learned when they explored ways to improve schools in their area.

The schools the club members visited faced water shortages and relied on contaminated water, resulting in high levels of diarrhea, dysentery, and other illnesses. There were no modern toilets, and girls didn’t have private spaces for menstrual hygiene. The lack of water affected every aspect of the students’ lives. The wide-ranging impact of water access is highlighted on the United Nations’ World Water Day, observed on 22 March.

“Water bankruptcy is becoming a driver of fragility, displacement, and conflict,” Tshilidzi Marwala, undersecretary-general of the UN, said in January. “Managing [water] fairly — ensuring that vulnerable communities are protected and that unavoidable losses are shared equitably — is now central to maintaining peace, stability, and social cohesion,” Marwala said.

More than 2 billion people around the globe lack clean, safe drinking water. Helping people gain access to clean water and sanitation is a top priority for Rotary, which includes the issue among its seven main causes.

With a US$57,000 global grant from The Rotary Foundation, members of the Rotaract clubs of Kumasi and Obuasi in Ghana brought clean water and sanitation facilities to eight schools in the Ashanti region. Their project installed around 80 microflush toilets and 10 urinals, constructed changing rooms for girls, and drilled borehole wells at two schools. Ghanian Rotary and Rotaract clubs and Rotaract clubs in Turkey and the U.S. supported the initiative. It benefited more than 6,000 people.

Other recent Rotary projects in Mexico, Kenya, and the Dominican Republic highlight the far-reaching impact of water accessibility.

Clean water for the Rarámuri

Mexico

The Indigenous Rarámuri people live in isolated mountain villages in Mexico’s Chihuahua state. They face high rates of infectious diseases, malnutrition, and infant mortality due to a lack of clean water. The villages are out of reach of existing water networks, and the terrain makes it virtually impossible to drill wells.

A global grant-funded project led by the Rotary Club of Chihuahua Campestre, Chihuahua, Mexico, installed rainwater collection and purification systems in two villages, bringing water to 54 families.

The project included masonry classes for residents, who took part in the construction. Women and girls no longer need to travel long distances to collect water. Partner organizations provided food and nutritional supplements for children, pregnant women, and older residents.

Sand dams for farmers

Kenya

Residents of southeastern Kenya experience poverty and famine due to climate extremes and frequent, severe droughts. The Rotary Club of Embakasi, Kenya, led a global grant-funded project to construct sand dams, wells, and hand pumps for two subsistence farming communities.

The US$88,000 project created sustainable water sources for around 3,000 people. It also trained farmers in crop diversification and rotation, tree nurturing and management, beekeeping, soil and water conservation, and livestock production. The initiative distributed drought-tolerant crop seeds, tree seedlings, and food preservation chemicals.

Providing for the House of Light

Dominican Republic

Casa De Luz (“House of Light”) provides care for 40 orphaned and abandoned children with severe disabilities in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The residence hospital relies on a well for water, but it’s not clean.

With a US$117,000 global grant, the Rotary Club of Santo Domingo Bella Vista, Dominican Republic, installed a water purification plant at the hospital. The plant provides enough water for the hospital’s needs and a surplus that it can sell. In addition to training hospital employees to operate the system, the project established a distribution route for trucks to sell water throughout the community. Around 4,500 people benefited from the project.

Learn more about Rotary’s work to increase access to clean water and sanitation.

— March 2026