In the countries where we work, the distance to the nearest source of water can vary hugely.
We gave pedometers to people in Ethiopia, Malawi and Nepal to measure the distance they covered when collecting water. The results were shocking. Most people walked between 0.75 miles (which takes around 15 minutes) and 4.9 miles (which takes around two hours) - a journey that many must make twice a day.
The burden of this task regularly falls to the women and children of households. Imagine what they could be doing with their lives if they didn't have to spend so long collecting something as basic as water - going to school, enjoying their childhoods, or earning a decent living for their family.