India, Oct. 15 -- Most of us probably never think about the kitchen tap until it stops running. For many people, that worry is a daily one. A 2025 report from the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme showed that 2.1 billion people still lacked safely managed drinking water in 2024. That's around one in four people. It's the kind of gap that led Matt Damon to water work in 2006.

For Damon, a trip to a Zambian village was a life-changing experience. He was there, walking with a 14-year-old girl who was going to collect water. For many of us, water comes at the turn of a handle. For her, that meant a long walk. Damon and the group that made a documentary about running across the Sahara Desert started the H2O Africa Foundation in 2006. It w...