Water is essential to human life, yet 2.1 billion people lack access to safe, clean water at home, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF. And nearly 844 million people worldwide do not have access to clean drinking water at all.

For more than a decade, Procter & Gamble has worked to increase access to clean water and, today, World Water Day, the company is celebrating a major accomplishment: delivering 15 billion liters of clean water to families around the world.

And now, P&G is challenging itself to go even further by delivering 25 billion liters of clean water by 2025.

The company’s success in reaching its goal is, in large part, due to its innovation.

While trying to develop a technology to separate dirt from used laundry water, P&G scientists created what would become the company’s water purification sachets.

The small sachets enable people to turn 10 liters of dirty, undrinkable water into clean, potable water in 30 minutes, using just the sachet, a bucket, a clean cloth, and a stick, according to P&G.

Through its nonprofit, Children’s Safe Drinking Water, P&G worked with more than 150 partners across 90 countries to raise awareness about the global water crisis and to bring clean water to families.

The company had originally planned to deliver 15 billion liters of water by 2020, but achieved the target a year ahead of schedule and is raising the bar for its next goal.

“We are proud to have reached this 15 billion liter milestone and inspired by the opportunity to make an even greater impact through our new goal,” David Taylor, chairman of the board, president, and chief executive officer of P&G, said in a statement.

“This life-changing technology has helped many families over the past 15 years, and we’re eager to help even more in the years to come,” Taylor said.

Source: Global Citizen