United for Safe Water.
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To survive and thrive, the world needs clean safe water. According to National Geographic, there is the same amount of freshwater on earth as there always has been, but population explosion and extreme weather brought on by climate change, have caused a severe water crisis. According to the UN, in just two years, an estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity. This puts pressure on people’s lives and livelihood and has an exponentially negative impact on women and girls.
Water is at the heart of Kohler. That’s why we have been taking action to conserve this natural resource and make safe water and sanitation a reality.
Our flagship initiative, Safe Water for All, leverages Kohler’s design and engineering expertise and the passion and talent of our associates to develop solutions for communities experiencing water scarcity, innovating water saving products, improving watersheds near Kohler manufacturing plants and partnering with humanitarian organizations such as DigDeep, Water Mission, and World Vision to develop and fund customized solutions that meet the unique needs of communities around the globe.
In 2021 alone, we impacted more than 305,000 lives around the world and 1.8 million since 2014. Together we can make safe water for all a reality. Learn more about Kohler’s efforts in the stories below. You can also make an impact with a contribution to organizations devoted to addressing the global water crisis.
Step into action.
The annual Kohler Run/Walk for Safe Water is one of the many ways we engage our associates and individuals around the world who are passionate about safe water as a human right.
United for Safe Water: World Water Day
Watch as players and coaches from Manchester United talk about the need for safe water and sanitation to save lives around the globe.
United for Safe Water: International Women's Day
Manchester United players and coaches share sobering statistics on the disproportionate impact that a lack of safe water and sanitation has on women and girls.
Our commitment to safe water.
We’re using our water expertise to develop safe water, sanitation, and handwashing solutions, and as a result, the lives of over 900,000 people have been positively impacted.
You can make an impact.
Support Safe Water for All efforts around the world with a donation to one of our partners.
Water Stories: Dattamaya
At 23 years old, Dattamaya from the community of Shivgarh Tanda in India exemplifies the possibilities that access to water provides.
Dattamaya’s story.
Learn how 23-year-old Dattamaya has been able to refocus energy on running her grinding mill business after gaining reliable access to safe water with the installation of a reverse-osmosis kiosk in her small village in India.
Innovative products making an impact.
Developed through Innovation for Good®, these smart solutions are helping communities around the world gain access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene.
Our Progress Toward Better: Kohler's 2022 Believing in Better® Report
In our journey to better, we use Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria as a framework to transparently report against our goals and progress while ensuring the actions we take are embedded in our business strategy and operations. The report was prepared with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards.
Sustainable water solutions begin with the community.
Kohler associates use their water expertise to help solve the lack of access to clean, safe water for Canada’s Indigenous communities.
Why design can (and must) save the world.
Meaningful change for the environment requires new ways of thinking, making, and living. Design opens the door to possibility.
Taking a cue from the UN.
Kohler has aligned its safe water efforts, both our business strategy and project pipeline, with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Pumping water for refugees.
Partnering with Water Mission, Kohler installed our KOHLER-SDMO generators to power water treatment systems in Tanzania’s Nyarugusu refugee camp.
Safe Water for All exhibit.
Housed at Kohler Design Center in Kohler, Wisconsin, the exhibit documents life without safe water and the actions we’re taking to help solve the crisis.
Spreading the word.
Access to safe water has finally arrived in Rekhaben’s Indian village, and she’s sharing information about the benefits of safe water with local families.
Navajo Nation’s Water Lady.
With 250 households depending on her for their meager monthly water supply, Darlene Arviso, affectionately known as the “Water Lady,” is passionate about helping her community.
Water Solutions on the Navajo Nation.
We're partnering with DigDeep to launch the Water Is Life microgrant program, a multiyear innovation and training program that will fund water and sanitation initiatives on the Navajo Nation. Photo courtesy of DigDeep
Navajo Water Warrior Emma Robbins.
Emma Robbins grew up seeing her grandparents and her Navajo community struggle to live without access to safe water. Today she leads DigDeep's Navajo Water Project, bringing safe water to the Navajo Nation. Photo courtesy of DigDeep
Water Stories: Shanna.
A Navajo woman, mother, and manager of DigDeep's Navajo Water Project, Shanna shares her day-to-day experience raising a family on the Navajo Nation without running water at home.
Bringing safe water to school.
Stewardship, product, and design teams collaborate to transform a primary school space in China into a safe water and sanitation facility for young students.
Innovative solution to address global sanitation gaps.
Partnering with Sanergy, a Nairobi-based organization focused on sustainable solutions for nonsewered sanitation, Kohler is developing a container-based sanitation (CBS) option for people living without access to safe sanitation systems.
Explore more about the Water is Life Fund, a microgrant program with DigDeep, and its recipients.
Kohler associate passion.
Associate Vipin Kumar is dedicated to impacting communities throughout India by finding safe water and sanitation solutions for local villages.
The 50-liter home.
Fourteen of 20 of the world’s largest cities are experiencing water scarcity. Find out how Kohler and the 50L Home Coalition are working toward a more water-resilient future.
Water may be life, but it is never a given.
Discover how Kohler and DigDeep’s microgrant program is bringing safe water to the Navajo Nation in our latest Sustainable Brands article.
Water Innovation: A conversation with Fast Company.
Fast Company takes a look inside Kohler’s push to provide safe water with Laura Kohler, Senior Vice President – HR, Stewardship, and Sustainability.
Safe showers too.
Unhoused individuals and families have been hit extra hard by the pandemic. We’ve mobilized our KOHLER Relief Shower Trailer to help bring safe showers to L.A.’s unhoused.
WaterSense® for smart saving.
Water-efficient products have an enormous role to play in the fight for safe water. We’re designing products that don't just look beautiful, but also use significantly less water.
Communities impacted by safe water efforts.
Working with humanitarian organizations around the world, Kohler is helping to bring access to safe water and sanitation to communities living with water scarcity, ineffective infrastructures, or the effects of displacement.
“I believe it is our responsibility to use our talent, capability, resources, and products to make our world better.”
—Laura Kohler, Chief Sustainability & DEI Officer, Kohler Co.