Through Cummins Water Works, Cummins strengthens sustainable usage of water

Earlier this month, Cummins Inc marked the first anniversary of Cummins Water Works, underscoring its commitment to strengthening communities through sustainable usage of water.

Cummins Water Works is a key piece of the company’s strategy to mitigate the impact of climate change. Water is the primary medium through which most of us experience the effects of climate change, in terms of floods and droughts.

Today, there around 785 million people who lack access to basic drinking water and by 2050 one in four people will likely live in a country affected by chronic or recurring water shortages.

The Cummins Water Works initiative focuses on ensuring availability and sustainable management of water where the company does business and the company’s employees live and work.

In partnerships with Water.org and the Nature Conservancy, Cummins Water Works has helped more than 500,000 people by providing around four billion gallons in annual water benefits to communities around the world.

Cummins’ support for Water.org has allowed the latter to complete more than 47,000 water infrastructure improvement projects, including the installation of spigots, plumbing, taps, pumps and water storage tanks.

Further, Cummins’ has also provided financial support, in terms of loans, to families in the most vulnerable communities. Such funds have taught banks how to thrive in low capital environments.

To date, Cummins Water Works has helped mobilize more than $17 million in capital with a loan repayment rate of just over 99%; incidentally, more than 80% of the applicants are women.

The company has projects underway in multiple countries including India, Brazil, Mexico and in the United States. Several more projects have been identified in Spain, South Africa and in Chile.

Through these projects, Cummins addresses an array of local needs such as building oyster reefs that filter algae from the water and remove nutrients that could be harmful to other aquatic life, sponsoring low interest loans for underserved populations and installing indoor plumbing.