One-third of the world’s water supply never makes it to the tap. Here’s what The Coca‑Cola Foundation and partners are doing to help.

A large portion of the world’s drinking water supply is lost before reaching homes and businesses due to outdated infrastructure. The Coca‑Cola Foundation is supporting efforts to address this issue.

• Drinking water is lost due to leaky pipes and outdated systems¹
• Advanced AI tools, backed by The Coca‑Cola Foundation, are being used to predict water main issues in the United States and to detect leaks in Indonesia.
• Initiatives in South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Bangladesh are improving water access through smart technology and community-led repair programs.

You turn on your tap. Water flows. But what about the one-third of the world’s water supply¹ that never reaches the tap?

The reason? Aging and deteriorating water infrastructure. It’s estimated the amount of water lost due to leaky pipes, metering inaccuracies and theft through illegal connections could supply more than 2 billion people with 100 liters of water every day².

Inefficiencies in water infrastructure are believed to cost $39 billion each year¹. However, water utilities often struggle to secure funding for repairs or updates, making private investment necessary to help address the problem.

The Coca‑Cola Foundation helps support The Coca‑Cola Company’s goal of giving water back to nature and communities. Since 2015, the Coca‑Cola system, with funding from the Foundation, has returned more than 100% of the water used in its finished beverages³.

“For 20 years, the Foundation has funded global initiatives that provide sustainable access to safe water in vulnerable, water-stressed communities,” said Carlos Pagoaga, President of The Coca‑Cola Foundation. “The pressing issue of water loss requires collective action. We take pride in supporting partners and advancing innovative solutions and programs for water utilities that are often deemed too risky for traditional private donors and investors.”

Through Foundation grants and programming investments, our partner organizations are installing technology – such as smart meters, sensors, AI-powered leak detection and digital infrastructure networks – that helps utilities conduct proactive maintenance and rapidly respond to issues around the world. The result is greater efficiency, reduced water loss and energy usage, and more reliable service for customers. The Foundation has contributed over $100M toward water-related programs globally in the past three years (2023-2025). The Coca‑Cola system, which includes the company’s bottling partners, also contributes by sharing local expertise with partners who are implementing water loss projects in their communities. 

Utilities with aged water infrastructure in the United States face increasingly frequent pipe failures that result in water loss. Through the Water Innovation Pilot Fund, a collaboration between the Foundation and Imagine H2O, a public utility in Mississippi is piloting an AI-powered tool to proactively predict failures in water mains.

The solution, developed by BlueConduit, helps utilities identify pipe segments that have a high likelihood of failure, allowing them to prioritize infrastructure upgrades. Early results from the pilot show promising performance in its forecasting accuracy. The pilot is in its final phase, focused on assessing the tool’s usability and long-term adoption for both the utility in Mississippi and others like it.

This work complements another Foundation-funded project with Imagine H2O and SmartTerra, a new AI-driven tool that identifies leaky pipes and faulty water meters in Indonesia.

“Imagine H2O is clearing the path for water innovation—especially where solutions are needed most,” said Scott Bryan, President, Imagine H2O. “Our partnership with The Coca‑Cola Foundation through the Water Innovation Pilot Fund brings 16 years of startup acceleration to the front lines—unlocking breakthrough technologies that help communities fix failing infrastructure, tackle emerging contaminants, and meet urgent water challenges head-on.”

In water-scarce South Africa, the Foundation joined with the World Bank’s 2030 Water Resources Group (WRG) to support the Platform for a Water Secure Gauteng. The effort brings together local government, academia and civil organizations in Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Tshwane, to address water loss which cost the municipalities USD $362 million in 2024⁶.

“Our partnership with the Foundation aims to improve water services for 338,000 people in low-income areas by complementing municipal infrastructure investments with community-based leak detection and repair, and strengthening alliances,” said Michael John Webster, Program Manager for 2030 WRG.

With Foundation support, several initiatives also provide first-time water access to low-income communities, highlighting the need to plan for water loss prevention from the start. In rural Uganda and Tanzania, Water Mission is installing meters and remote monitoring systems that measure water flow. In Bangladesh, WSUP is working with local providers to enhance their capacity for managing water loss and improving construction practices.

Time is of the essence. “Water loss is a critical and overlooked issue in our communities,” Pagoaga said. “The demand for water globally may increase by up to 30% in the next 25 years⁴, so now is the time for large-scale collaboration to drive lasting, systemic change.”

¹ Quantifying the global nonrevenue water problem, Liemberger, 2018

² Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2020: five years into the SDGs. Geneva: WHO & UNICEF, 2021

³ With support from The Coca‑Cola Foundation, the company’s owned and independent bottling partners and independent suppliers and partners. 

⁴ The United Nations World Water Development Report 2018: Nature-Based Solutions for Water, WWAP/UN Water, 2018

⁵ Lost Water: Challenges and Opportunities, Erin Boeke Burke, 2023

⁶ Consolidated Financial Statements of Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Tshwane