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Water is the key to all life. Here are ways you can provide water for life to communities.
can build a standalone water well
can sponsor a portion of a community well
Want to contribute to our water projects?
A staggering 785 million people are going thirsty each and every day. Without safe and clean water to drink, these people risk dehydration, disease and at worse: death.
Donate now and provide water for life.
“The best charity is giving water to drink and He was the most generous in giving charity.” (Ahmad)
When you donate water wells, not only does it act as a Sadaqah Jariyah (continuous charity) but you also help communities facing water scarcity access clean and safe water. Your generous donations are helping us to reach over 200,000 people through over 100 water wells, hand pumps, and water infrastructure to provide clean water for life.
We support communities across the globe in a variety of ways, including:
$1,500 can build a standalone water well
Hand pump wells are a type of water pump that are drilled to source groundwater that is pumped to the surface. Installing hand pumps helps increase access to clean drinking water, reduces overcrowding at water collection points and improves relations within communities.
In many countries, health and quality of life is increasingly threatened by the poor water quality and scarcity of water reserves. Without the infrastructure or resources, communities are not able to install wells on their own, and are forced to travel long distances for water.
This is where your donations come in! Our hand pumps are installed directly in family homes, villages and schools to increase direct access to clean water. Each family receives a consultation from a technical expert to find the best location for the water pump, so they can have direct access for their day-to-day usage and farming needs.
$5,000 can sponsor a portion of a community well
Our solar powered borehole wells offer a long-term solution to water scarcity and provide water to thousands of people. The water is pumped from a depth of over 100m, using electricity generated from solar panels, making it a reliable clean, sustainable solution – even in the most remote areas. A solar powered borehole means an entire water system, piped to key areas with taps for easy supply.
In many countries, communities continue to suffer from acute water scarcity, with 60% of the population with little or not access to clean drinking water. Climate change has further exacerbated the water crisis by increasing severe water stress across various regions. This has caused chronic food insecurity and malnutrition in children.
This is where your support can make a difference! Our solar powered borehole wells can supply enough water for an entire community. They come with a water tank and an additional water distribution system for drinking and irrigation. This will not only reduce disease but also enhance food security within these local communities. Islamic Relief also makes sure to establish and train local water management committees to ensure sustainability for each community.
Here at Islamic Relief, we’re working worldwide in over 40 countries across the globe to ensure that not only do communities have a safe and reliable source of water for today, but for life too.
When we build a water system, we ensure communities have a sustainable source of clean water for years to come.
We bypass short-term interventions and high running costs to instead provide long-term sustainable solutions; installing irrigation systems, building water tanks, training communities, distributing hygiene kits and rehabilitating viable water systems.
Help us to provide men, women and children clean and safe water, an essential we all take for granted.
Costs vary due to a variety of factors. The main reasons include the geophysical aspects of the land, how deep the well needs to be drilled to reach safe water, the remoteness of the well’s location, and the cost of the required equipment, as well as transport within that country.
Our projects also strive to ensure that wells are accessible for people with disabilities and that designs are gender equitable so that, for instance, if women and girls are the main water bearers, there are protection measures in place that improve their safety and security, including travelling shorter distances to retrieve water and well-lit pathways.
Another major factor involved is also currency fluctuations and cost of living.
When supporting the development of a well, a variety of costs are included. Costs include installation and construction of the well, along with associated material costs, fuel, cement, and water quality testing.
Furthermore, the cost includes the training of a water committee that oversees the maintenance and operation of the wells to make them more sustainable in the long term. This typically includes a maintenance and repair toolkit as well. Administration costs for logistical and personnel needs that are required for a water well project are also included.
Although it can be difficult to cover the entire cost of the well yourself, you can still indirectly cover the entire cost of a well by fundraising the amount within your community. This can be through crowdfunding pages or other independent efforts.
You can also make a contribution of any amount towards our general Water for Life Fund or by partially sponsoring a larger project.
The Water for Life fund supports our water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects. The main goal of our WASH projects is to increase access to and use of safe water and sanitation. This generally includes the installation, construction and/or rehabilitation of wells in addition to building latrines and hand washing stations.
All our currently implemented WASH projects include culturally-sensitive hygiene and sanitation awareness sessions and the formation and training of community WASH committees. This ensures the sustainability of the project, as community members are trained in the operation and maintenance of the well.
Islamic Relief builds wells primarily in Africa and South Asia. Countries include, but are not limited to, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Sudan, Malawi, Mali, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Kosovo, Ethiopia, Niger, and Pakistan.
Our water projects can be supported in 3 main ways.
For online donations made towards sponsoring a well, we will send you a report when the project is completed which will contain all the details related to the project you supported and your impact.
For any fully funded water projects over $5,000, we provide you with an initial report 3-4 weeks after the donation is made and a final report upon project completion. This will include a photo of the well, along with its location and the impact it has had on rights-holders.
For donations made towards the general Water for Life fund, we send a general report of completed and ongoing WASH projects implemented during the year.
Please note, we do not provide independent well reports unless an entire well is funded.
When you donate towards sponsoring a well through the website, your contribution will go towards supporting one of our ongoing projects in a region that has already been selected. For more information on other water projects in different countries that you can fund, please email [email protected]
Water well projects can range from 6 months to 3 years. This time frame depends on whether the well project is stand-alone or part of a larger, integrated project.
For example, a project in Bangladesh whose sole purpose is the construction of wells can be completed within 9 months. On the other hand, for a bigger water system project in Mali where the well is just one of many components, the implementation can take around 2 years. Such a project typically includes a sustainable livelihood component through which the wells are constructed alongside irrigation systems and agricultural training. These wells would provide water for domestic use, but also for agricultural purposes and ultimately build a source of income for the local community.
Another factor that affects the timeframe is accessibility, which can slow down the completion of a project. This could look like security issues that prevent access to the project location, poor road infrastructure to the well site, or the impacts of natural disasters, such as floods or earthquakes.
The prices differ from other organizations because our projects include much more than just building a simple well. It also includes associated material costs, fuel, cement, water quality testing, the costs required to establish a water committee which oversees the maintenance and operation of the well to ensure it is sustainable in the long term. Administrative costs for logistical and personnel needs as well as maintenance toolkits are also included in our prices.
Additionally, the price usually ranges depending on the country and the region we work in. We make a conscious effort to work in regions that have low water levels, which means that access to water is very hard. Most of the areas we currently work in are drought-stricken areas in countries like Sudan and Niger which means that we need to drill deep to reach safe and clean water.
Our water projects are designed to be inclusive so that the more vulnerable members of society, like women, girls, and people with disabilities are able to safely access and benefit from the wells. Protection and accessibility measures are taken into account and ultimately impact pricing.
This option is only available for fully funded well projects that are over $5,000, and only one name is permissible – whether it is an individual’s name, family name or corporate name.
It is important to know that the majority of our water projects are implemented in either very remote areas or where there are little to no resources. This means our field offices face multiple obstacles and complex challenges to successfully build a water system.
To inquire further about the possibility of an inscription, please email [email protected], or give us a call at 1-855-377-4673 between 9am-5pm EST from Monday to Friday.