Coke Isn't Just About Bottling Soda

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on the work the Coca-Cola company is doing worldwide, not just to provide their product, but to provide clean water to millions who don't have it:

Hoping to restore some of the goodwill that made its flagship product a global icon, Coca-Cola Co. has gone on a clean-water kick in the developing world.

In Kenya, where more than half of the rural population has no access to clean water, the Atlanta beverage giant brought water-purification systems, storage urns, and hygiene lessons to 45 schools in a poor western province. Children learn how to use a chlorine-based solution to kill diseases that come from contaminated, muddy pools or remote wells -- and are taught to teach their parents.

In Mali, Coke is helping extend municipal water taps beyond the country's capital of Bamako. In India, where the company has been accused of draining water from poor communities for its own use, the company is building rainwater-harvesting structures to help alleviate chronic water shortages. Coke's bottlers are also implementing water-efficiency measures.

More than 1.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 2.6 billion -- about 40% of the world's population -- lack proper sanitation, resulting in waterborne diseases that infect and kill about two million people a year, according to the United Nations. And global population growth and rising industrial production are increasing competition for the world's freshwater supplies.

Coke has some 70 clean-water projects in 40 countries, a service it hopes will eventually boost local economies and broaden its consumer base. But the efforts are also part of a broader strategy under Chairman and Chief Executive E. Neville Isdell to build Coke's image as a local benefactor and global diplomat. "You have to be an integral and functioning part both in perception and reality in every community in which you operate," he said in an interview.

We take water for granted - even in Southern California where we're on track for the lowest rainfall year in history. I know that if I turn on the tap water will flow, and that it will be suitable for whatever purpose I have in mind, including drinking. Much of the world doesn't have even that simple luxury, and I have to commend Coke for their efforts.