Amla Ruia, 71, has become known as the “Water Mother” after leading an initiative that helped provide water to more than 300 villages in Rajasthan, one of the biggest, and driest, states in India. Speaking to BBC News, the inspiring Ruia explained how she found a solution to the barren region’s water problems after hearing that the government had been forced to send water tanks to stop people from dying of dehydration during a drought. “Something had to be done for a permanent solution,” she said. “It was conceived with the idea of building ‘check dams’ … This is not a new solution. This was practiced by our ancestors.”

“I had been following the Flint, Michigan, issue for about two years,” Gitanjali Rao told ABC News. “I was appalled by the number of people affected by lead contamination in water and I wanted to do something to change this.”

Though Michigan women and children have suffered the horrendous consequences of the crisis, women have also led the fight for access to safe and affordable drinking water, as well as the battle to hold city and state officials accountable for their negligence.

The design, called Watt-r, aims at reducing the time that women and children spend collecting water in places like rural Africa. On average, a trip to get water in a developing country requires walking more than three miles round-trip, carrying a jug that weighs around 40 pounds on the way back. In areas affected by drought, the walk can be 15 miles or more.