In Mumbai, Young Leaders from Water Heroes Academy are working to improve access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). In India 88 million people lack access to safe water – that’s enough to fill the Mumbai Football Arena over 4500 times.

In Shanghai, Young Leaders from Water Heroes Academy provided water sustainability education for all, with a focus on children with intellectual disabilities. To date, the project has reached more than 500 participants across schools in Shanghai. This project is delivered in partnership with Special Olympics.

In São Paulo, Water Heroes Academy Young Leaders in the community of Vila Albertina use football to empower youth to campaign on water access and pollution. Through creative football-based games the project educated local city kids aware of the importance of water and its conscious consumption. In 2016, 35 million Brazilians did not have access to drinking water and more than 100 million lived without adequate sanitation.

In Cape Town, South Africa Water Heroes Academy projects worked to improve water access in underserved local communities, such as Khayelitsha – the largest township in the Western Cape. Up to 40 million litres of raw sewage is pumped into the sea at Mouille Point on the Western Cape daily.

In New York City, USA, Young Leaders are focused on preventing urban flooding and water pollution. By 2045, more than $8.5 billion of the New York State’s residential properties (based on today’s values) will be at risk of chronic flooding. Vanessa and fellow Young Leaders in NYC are equipping local city kids with tangible solutions to these issues, including water conservation, proper waste disposal, and looking after waterways.

Around 3.7 million people in the Buenos Aires suburbs do not have access to water mains – La Cava is one of those communities. As part of Water Heroes Academy young leaders in La Cava equipped local children with tangible solutions to these issues, including installing clean-water handwashing stations and teaching them the importance of handwashing.

In Cape Coast, Ghana, Young Leaders are working hard to improve access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. According to UNICEF, 76% of households in Ghana are at risk of drinking water contaminated with faecal matter.

In Melbourne, Water Heroes Academy Young Leader developed WASH and football sessions to educate young participants on how to better look after water. Water levels in Melbourne have declined 30% in the last six years due to drought.

It is estimated that about 70% oof Mexico City has less than 12 hours of running water available per day, whilst 50% of the floods in Mexico City are due to obstructed drains. Water Heroes Academy Young leaders in the suburbs of Valle de Chalco and El Coyolito help build flood-resilient communities and tackle water scarcity.

The Malaysian capital city receives an average of 2,500 mm of rain per year, Water Heroes Academy young leaders in Kuala Lumpur educate young people on how they can help to prevent the impact of flash floods.

Despite being one of the world’s fastest growing cities, many of Bangalore’s 12.3 million residents still do not have access to clean drinking water and are at risk of contracting water-borne diseases. In partnership with Manchester City, Xylem & Planet Water Foundation installed four water filtration towers in four schools to provide clean drinking water for their communities with support from City fans, Club legend Paul Dickov and Xylem volunteers.

Xylem employee volunteers and Man City fans teamed up with Cityzens Giving to build two new water filtration towers in Cape Coast, supporting the Dehia community and Oguaa Football for Hope Centre. The towers contain water filtration systems which will help provide for the daily drinking needs of 1,800 people, reduce the burden of collecting water, and counter water-borne diseases, keeping children healthier and in school.

In June 2018, 12 boys and their coach from the Wild Boars Thai junior football team became trapped in a cave system for two weeks. Thailand quickly brought together an international rescue team including US Air Force rescue specialists and cave divers from around the world. Xylem deployed a team offering expertise and advice that helped lower water levels in the cave, contributing to the successful recovery of the boys and their coach. Five months later, Xylem returned to the Chiang Rai Province with Coaches and former City players to put on training sessions for the young Boar football players, before helping the community tackle local water accessibility challenges by building a clean drinking water tower.

For the 2021/22 season Man City, Puma and Xylem collaborated on the Premier League’s first ever kit dedicated to water awareness. The kit launch was supported by a network of football and safe water programmes around the world. City in the Community Coaches engaged 2,000 children in 80 primary schools on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), water sustainability and the importance of water conservation. To complement the programme, Xylem built a Water Tower at the Etihad Stadium as an educational pillar to help raise awareness of water issues around the world and right here in Manchester.