Sun Seiya, 33, carries buckets to collect water with her daughter Sreyleak, 4, in Cambodia.
Credit: WaterAid/ Tariq Hawari
WaterAid Australia’s Walk for Water starts today. This National Water Week (19-23 October), organisations and individuals are invited to walk, run or ride for five day to raise awareness and funds for communities without access to clean water.
Currently, 696 million people globally still live without clean water close to home.
Around the world, women and girls walk long and often unsafe distances to collect water. This time-consuming task affects education, limits job opportunities and causes serious health and safety risks.
Walk for Water offers Australians the chance to step into their shoes, raising vital funds to help communities access clean water, sanitation and hygiene.
In an exciting first, this year’s event will also feature the Walk for Water Ultra Walk Water. On 22-23 October 2026, Sequana’s Zoe Walsh, Inside Water’s Chris Edwards and Finao’s Terry Down will walk 83.3 kilometres across Melbourne, connecting the city’s four metropolitan water utilities on foot as part of Walk for Water, and attempting to reach an ambitious fundraising target of $10,000.
This year, 14 Water Leaders from across the water industry will be ambassadors for Walk for Water, helping to rally organisations, colleagues and networks behind a shared purpose: providing access to clean water for communities around the world. They include Mitch Peyre from Actemium, Ben McMaster from AECOM, Karen Lau from South East Water, Denisha Anbu from Sydney Water, Dr Ryan Signor from Alluvium Group, Nick Quinn from Aurecon, Gillian Blythe from Water New Zealand, Shaun Cumming from Barwon Water, Neal Firth from Downer, Richard McCarthy from Interflow, Natalie Foeng from Yarra Valley Water, David Thomas from Sequana, Francois Gouws from TRILITY, and Brian Krishna from Xylem.
Becoming a key event within the Australian water sector, Walk for Water sees companies and teams from across the country walking in solidarity with communities in need.
Now in her fifth year as a Water Leader, Denisha Anbu, Executive General Manager, Strategy and Stakeholder, South East Water said
“At Sydney Water, everything we do is about creating a better life for our customers through world class water services. However, across the world there is a water and sanitation crisis that keeps hundreds of millions of children out of school, adults out of work and traps people in poverty. If we solve this crisis, we can provide these communities with the hope and the power to change their future. The one hour of walking, riding or cycling each day for one week as part of WaterAid’s Walk for Water represents the daily reality endured by millions around the world to access their closest water source. It’s something tangible and healthy we can do to raise much needed funds for underprivileged communities”.
Fellow Water Leader Gillian Blythe, CEO of Water New Zealand said
“Water issues are global issues and there are huge challenges facing the entire planet and many communities locked out of opportunities because of lack of access to basic necessities such as safe drinking water and sanitation. As a water leader, I’m motivated to support any efforts to increase access to water for deprived people across the world and to improve quality of life. Walking for water is a great opportunity for everyone to get involved.”
WaterAid Australia Chief Executive, Tom Muller said
“The support of the water sector is absolutely vital in our mission to ensure everyone, everywhere has access to clean water. Their commitment, through events like Walk for Water, demonstrates the power of collaboration in tackling the global water crisis and creating lasting change for communities most in need.”
Participants can walk solo, with friends or as a team, setting their own distance goals and fundraising targets. Whether it’s 5km or 50km, every step taken helps create a future where everyone, everywhere has access to clean water.
To sign up or learn more, visit:
https://fundraise.wateraid.org.au/event/walkforwater
WaterAid
WaterAid is an international non-profit with one goal: to change the world through water. Along with decent toilets and good hygiene, a reliable supply of clean water is essential for health, dignity and a life full of opportunity. We work alongside communities in 22 countries, setting up entire systems that deliver clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene for millions of people. Since 1981, WaterAid UK and its Country Programmes have reached 28.9 million people with clean water, 29.2 million people with decent toilets and 28.7 million people with good hygiene.
To find out more visit www.wateraid.org.au follow @wateraidaustralia on Instagram, @WaterAidAus on Twitter, or find WaterAid Australia on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wateraidaustralia
- 696 million people in the world – almost one in ten – don’t have clean water close to home.1
- 2.1 billion people in the world – more than one in four – don’t have safe water.1
- 1.7 billion people in the world – one in five – lack soap and/or water to wash their hands at home, if they have a place at all.1
- 1.5 billion people in the world – less than one in five – don’t have a decent toilet of their own.1
- Almost 400,000 children under five die every year due to diseases caused by unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. That’s more than 1,000 children a day. 2
- Investing in safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene services provides up to 21 times more value than it costs.3
- Worldwide, women and girls spend 200 million hours every day collecting water. 4
[1] WHO/UNICEF (2025). Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2024: special focus on inequalities. Available at: washdata.org/reports/jmp2025-wash-households (accessed 27 Aug 2025).
[2] WHO (2023). Burden of disease attributable to unsafe drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene: 2019 update. Available at: who.int/publications/i/item/9789240075610 (accessed 24 Jul 2023).
[3] WaterAid (2021). Mission-critical: Invest in water, sanitation and hygiene for a healthy and green economic recovery. Available at: washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/mission-critical-invest-water-sanitation-hygiene-healthy-green-recovery (accessed 1 Nov 2023).
[4] UNICEF (2016). Collecting water is often a colossal waste of time for women and girls. Available at: unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-collecting-water-often-colossal-waste-time-women-and-girls (accessed 09 Jan 2024).
INDEPENDENT NEWS IS IMPORTANT.
Enjoy reading Eco Voice? Please help us by purchasing a GIFT Voucher or send one to a friend and encourage people to purchase trees or seeds via The Native Shop – www.nativeshop.com.au
Plants, seeds & more delivered to your door!