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- Who We Are
Two decades of trust, built village by village.
Our deepest asset is not a single programme but the trust we have built over two decades — with village communities, local authorities and the families we work alongside.
About Living Water India
Water is where we began.
Living Water India was founded in 1998 in Hyderabad, Telangana, with a single conviction: that access to clean water changes everything.
Over 25 years, that work taught us something larger. A community's water does not stand alone — it depends on the health of its land, the fate of its waste, and whether people can earn a living without depleting the very resources they rely on. Making that work last.
We have grown from a handful of villages to reaching more than 350,000 people across rural and tribal communities in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu — as a registered society under Indian law, FCRA-compliant for international partnerships, governed by a board and held to transparency, community ownership and lasting impact.
Our history
From a single conviction to a stewardship model
Twenty-five years of delivery, and the partnerships that shaped how we work today.
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1998
Founded in Hyderabad
Living Water India begins in Hyderabad, Telangana, with a single conviction: that access to clean water changes everything.
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1998—now
25 years of WASH delivery
350,000+ people reached across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, through 3,000+ water projects, sanitation facilities in 400+ communities and 13,000+ training sessions on water, sanitation and hygiene.
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2018—23
The partnerships that shaped us
UNICEF — Project WASH MART, across 14 Gram Panchayats in Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh; and Clean Water Energy Trust in Ananthagiri Mandal, Araku.
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Today
Stewardship as the lead identity
Communities stewarding their whole local environment — water, land and waste — and earning a living from doing so, so the work lasts beyond any one programme.
What guides us
Mission, Vision & Values
What follows holds the same conviction we started with in 1998: the people who live with these resources are the ones who should own them. Each statement below is that conviction, in the order it has to happen.
01 Mission
What we do to get there.
To inspire community-led environmental stewardship by strengthening local capacity & opening pathways to sustainable economic opportunity.
02 Vision
The world we want to see.
A world where rural communities thrive as trusted stewards of their resources, to nurture the environment and sustain their livelihoods.
03 Values
The principles we hold ourselves to.
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Durability.
We measure our success not by what runs while we are present, but by what keeps running after we leave. The people who benefit from a resource are the ones best placed to sustain it. So, we build local capability, not dependency.
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Local Ownership.
Real change is owned, not delivered. We work alongside communities, local authorities and partners as collaborators rather than recipients. Because change that lasts is the change people build for themselves.
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Accountability.
We hold ourselves answerable — first to the communities we serve, and then to our partners and funders. We believe that trust is earned through transparency, not claims.
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Partnership.
Community development is interconnected. No single organization holds every answer. We are clear about what we do well, and we bring in the right expertise for the rest, convening technical specialists, professional consultants and local institutions around a shared goal.
Legal & Governance
Registered, compliant, accountable
Living Water India is a registered non-profit organisation operating under Indian law since 1998. We maintain full regulatory compliance as required for both Indian and international partnerships. Copies of all certificates are available on request.
- Legal name India Living Water Services
- Type Registered Society
- Year established 1998
- Registered in Hyderabad, Telangana
- Registration number 6743
- FCRA registration 016286504
- NGO Darpan (NITI Aayog) TS/2018/0184451
- UN Partner Portal Registered (UNPP)
Governance
Our Board of Directors
Living Water India is governed by a board of directors who bring diverse professional expertise across development, finance, law, healthcare and community leadership. The board provides strategic oversight, ensures organisational accountability, and guides the mission of Living Water India.
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PresidentB/01 — President K Joshua Spurgeon brings professional experience in engineering, technology and organisational leadership, with a background in the technology and renewable-energy space and exposure to engineering and product-oriented work. -
Vice PresidentB/02 — Vice President Bijju Thomas serves as Vice President of Living Water India, supporting the organisation’s governance, direction and wider mission. -
TreasurerB/03 — Treasurer Mr. Srinivas Rao P is a commerce graduate from Osmania University with an MBA in Banking & Finance, having 3,1/5 decades of banking experience and currently serving as Advisor in Central Vigilance Commission, New Delhi. Mr. Rao has been on the board of Living Waters since 2011(please verify) actively contributing in the areas of his field. -
SecretaryB/04 — Secretary Deputy Director at the National Water Informatics Centre, Ministry of Jal Shakti. A civil engineer with a Ph.D. and around 30 years across water-resources planning, hydraulic structures and digital water information systems. -
MemberB/05 — Member A robotic surgical oncologist in Hyderabad with more than 20 years in surgical oncology and extensive experience in robotic and minimally invasive techniques. -
MemberB/06 — Member A consulting engineer and serial entrepreneur who has advised the World Bank, UNICEF, USAID and the Government of Andhra Pradesh on WASH programmes in Kenya, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India for more than two decades. -
MemberB/07 — Member A lawyer and Senior Legal Programme Manager, Asia, at TrustLaw, after eight years with International Justice Mission Mumbai representing survivors of trafficking and sexual abuse. -
MemberB/08 — Member A former public water-systems inspector and U.S. energy-sector engineering lead, now an independent advisor on WASH, livelihoods and community health for around 18 years, and founder of Ecorevive.org.
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G/01 Oversight
Strategic direction
The board sets and reviews the direction of the organisation, and holds the stewardship model to the standard it was built for — that the work outlasts the funding that started it.
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G/02 Accountability
Financial & programmatic
It ensures organisational accountability across finance, compliance and programme delivery, and signs off the reporting that partners and funders rely on.
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G/03 Expertise
Five disciplines
Directors bring professional expertise across development, finance, law, healthcare and community leadership — the range the model needs to be governed properly.
Partner with us
We work with organisations that share our commitment to lasting change.
Living Water India partners with institutional funders, foundations and corporate organisations to help rural communities steward their natural resources and build durable livelihoods. If your priorities align with ours, we would welcome the chance to explore what we can build together.