The Waterstep mission
WaterStep responds to critical needs for safe water by evaluating and implementing solutions and teaching people to use those tools.
WaterStep saves lives with safe water by empowering communities to take care of their own long-term water needs. We believe that the best solutions to water problems are rooted in simple tools and effective training.
We also provide safe water solutions to areas impacted by disaster, arming first-responders and survivalists with the equipment and knowledge to support those in need.
Our approach is built around simplicity and sustainability, which can literally mean the difference between life and death.
What we do
WaterStep’s work in the international WASH program is changing lives.
Water & Well Repair
Community members learn how to use appropriate water solutions for their unique problems. Whether it is treating their existing water, repairing a broken well, or transporting and containing water. WaterStep believes that the community needs to take ownership of their own water supply.
Sanitation
Teaching about proper disposal of waste and the use of disinfectant in homes, clinics and feeding centers can reduce the cases of diarrhea by 32%. Proper sanitation is one of the largest problems the world faces today. Simple steps with simple solutions is a great place to begin to tackle the problem.
Hygiene Education
Every water project is paired with Health Education. Teaching about hand washing, disease transmission and the importance of staying hydrated are a few of the many lessons. Fun and interactive ways of teaching Health Education make a lasting impression and can improve the health of a community by 45%.
WaterStep Products
WaterStep manufactures and provides products that make water safe to drink. They’re available for sale to mission teams, humanitarians, disaster relief agencies, and survivalists. All proceeds support WaterStep’s mission to save lives with safe water.
Through the generous funding of WaterStep donors and volunteers, we can offer solutions for water treatment, health education, hand pump repair, and hand well drilling at no cost to developing countries worldwide.
Browse safe water solutions for your water project at the Water Products for Good store.
SHOES FOR WATER
Help save lives by donating your used shoes or hosting a shoe drive.
Training
Attend a training session for water chlorination, health education or well repair.
WaterStep Products
View the products that Waterstep manufactures that make water safe to drink.
Profiles & highlights
Emmanuel Olupot
Don't you just love it when children lead the way? That is the back story for Emmanuel Olupot, whose family lives in Uganda. Emmanuel's twelve-year-old daughter has a pen pal in the US. In the midst of their correspondence she mentioned that people were sick all the time in her community and she wished she could help them. Being an encouraging father Emmanuel began to make plans for the soon to be water project, really not expecting the impact it would have on his community.
Don and Shelley Lockhart
WaterStep relies heavily on our shoe program to fund our mission of saving lives with safe water around the world. We have drop-site locations all over Louisville, and in several other major cities as well. The shoes are collected by volunteers and brought to our headquarters in Old Louisville (shoes are pictured below waiting to be sorted). When COVID hit in March and everything shut down, the shoes stopped coming in and we had to temporarily close the building to volunteers. We were a bit concerned how we were going to move forward during the pandemic.
Annmarie Morin
About 18 months ago, I was tasked with bringing to life BASEflow’s bleach-making initiative that was introduced to us by WaterStep, one of our strategic partners. Since I was not doing much at the time as a recently unemployed youth looking for work, I took on the challenge – and what a challenge it has been. One of the first things I ended up doing was driving BASEflow’s flood response effort where I had to coordinate the production and distribution of bleach to households that were affected by the massive floods, caused by hurricane Idai, that hit Southern Malawi in 2019.
Get involved
Save A Life Tour - SALT
Volunteer
Free Lesson Plans
CQ Jam 2017
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WaterStep Pivots: Huge Impact
WaterStep Awarded National Accolades
