Every day, people in different corners of the world are doing something extraordinary: they are solving their water challenges with the tools they have, in the communities they know best. And in a world facing a growing water crisis, these efforts are not just inspiring. They’re essential.
As someone who has spent decades researching sustainable water technologies, I’ve seen how innovation often begins with necessity. Living in the UAE, a country that has long grappled with water scarcity, I’ve dedicated much of my career to exploring how to stretch every drop of water safely and sustainably. And yet, despite progress, the global water crisis continues to deepen.
By 2030, the world is expected to face a 40% gap between freshwater demand and supply. Around 1.6 billion people could find themselves without access to safe drinking water. Meanwhile, 80% of wastewater still goes untreated—polluting vital ecosystems and threatening public health.
In labs, we may have access to advanced materials and complex systems. But on the ground, innovation looks different. It’s about simplicity, adaptability, and local knowledge. And increasingly, I believe that these grassroots solutions are just as important as the high-tech breakthroughs we pursue in academic research.
While large-scale infrastructure and national policies remain essential, it’s clear that we must also invest in community-driven innovation—solutions built from the bottom up. These efforts don’t wait for perfect conditions. They emerge from urgency, from proximity to the problem, and from a deep understanding of local needs.
That’s where global platforms like the Zayed Sustainability Prize come in. As a member of its Selection Committee, I’ve had the privilege of reviewing remarkable solutions created by organisations working in some of the world’s most water-stressed communities.
One example is Wateroam, a past winner from Singapore that created portable water filters to deliver clean water in disaster zones. In Bangladesh, LEDARS developed community water resource systems to help climate-vulnerable populations adapt to flooding. In France, Better With Water helps underserved families in urban areas gain access to clean water at home—transforming public health and dignity with one tap at a time. And our most recent winner, SkyJuice Foundation has delivered low-cost, gravity-fed water filtration systems to underserved communities across 70 countries—providing safe, reliable drinking water to millions while empowering local groups to manage their own water supply sustainably.
What unites these solutions is their practicality, urgency, and impact. They don’t wait for the perfect conditions or the perfect budget. They start with what’s available—and scale with support. Collectively, Prize winners have improved access to clean water for over 11.4 million people—transforming not just daily life, but long-term health, opportunity, and resilience in communities around the world.
The UAE has embraced innovation through advanced desalination and wastewater reuse, setting an example of how technology can address large-scale water challenges. But innovation cannot remain confined to laboratories or large utilities. To truly move the needle on global water security, we must build ecosystems of support for innovators at every level—through funding, visibility, partnerships, and recognition.
Water is not only a scientific challenge—it is a human one. And it will take collaboration across sectors, scales, and borders to solve it.
We already have promising solutions. The challenge now is to amplify them.
If you’re part of an organisation or high school addressing water or broader sustainability challenges, I encourage you to apply to the Zayed Sustainability Prize – whether in Health, Food, Energy, Water, Climate Action or Global High Schools – and join a global community of innovators shaping a more secure and equitable future.
By Dr. Hassan Arafat, Senior Director, Research and Innovation Center for Graphene & 2D Materials (RIC2D), and Professor of Chemical Engineering, Khalifa University