International Water Association

Analysis

International Water Association is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in London. It was registered in July 1999, 27 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training, the advancement of health or saving of lives and environment/conservation/heritage, which this site groups under health and saving lives. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 03597005). It says it provides human resources, provides advocacy/advice/information and acts as an umbrella or resource body.

In the financial year ending December 2025, International Water Association reported income of £11.1m and spending of £6.9m, leaving 38% of income unspent that year. Across the 5 years on record, from December 2021 to December 2025, income grew from £6.1m to £11.1m (+83%), an average of +16% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to December 2022, when income rose by 73%. Over the whole period it spent 84% of the income it received.

Among 24,651 England and Wales charities whose main cause is health and saving lives and that reported income, International Water Association sits at the 98th percentile: it is larger than about 98% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 99th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include The Cochrane Collaboration (£11.1m), The National Childbirth Trust (£11.1m) and Passage 2000 (£11.1m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 59% and trading 40%. Charitable activities took 67% of spending and raising funds 31%. Reserves of £4.1m would cover about 7 months of spending at that rate. It employed 54 people.