A multi-country impact study examining a decade and a half of Living Water International programs designed to advance holistic flourishing through safe water, published openly so practitioners, researchers, and funders can build on what we're learning.
The WASH sector has plenty of evidence that interventions work in the short term, and very little on what endures years after a program concludes. The Ripple Effects Study is built to help fill that gap. It's an independent, mixed-methods impact evaluation of Living Water International's WASH Program Area model—examining 16 completed programs across 9 countries, with new field research in matched comparison communities—published openly so others can use what we're learning.
The methodology, instruments, and findings from a multi-country, long-term sustainability evaluation, designed to be adapted to your own work.
A mixed-methods, matched-comparison study with peer-review-quality outputs—methodology and data—published openly.
Independent evidence on the long-term impact of holistic WASH programming, with a methodology that can travel to other contexts and other organizations.
The evidence we need to refine the WPA model going forward, and the discipline of being transparent about what worked, what lasted, and what we'd do differently.
Three questions Living Water is asking of its own model. We're answering them through independent research, in public, because the answers—including the parts that turn out hard or unflattering—are worth knowing for ourselves and worth sharing with the sector.
Mixed-methods evaluation across 16 completed WASH Program Areas in 9 countries, conducted to peer-review quality.
Read the overview →Phase 1 desk review, Phase 2 field collection in six countries with matched comparison communities.
See the approach →Supported by an independent academic advisory committee.
Meet the partners →Phase 1 publishes August 2026. Phase 2 final report in 2027. Peer-reviewed publication wave through 2028.
See the full timeline →Join the practitioners, researchers, and funders who'll use this study to build on their own work. One email when Phase 1 publishes in August 2026; one when Phase 2 publishes in 2027. Nothing else.
