WT Stevens Construction, a construction management and services firm based in Flint, Mich., is the only black-owned company to be awarded a service contract to replace contaminated water pipes across the city.

The city plans to distribute 12 semi-trailers of bottled water at five locations on World Water Day, March 22, Mayor Karen Weaver says. Speaking at a news conference Monday, March 11, Weaver announced the giveaway and a World Water Day sister city partnership with Dakar, Senegal, which has struggled to provide basic water access to all residents.

For months, Rev. Falicia Campbell kept a secret from her congregation, her friends and even her adult children. It was a secret she was ashamed to divulge: She was living without running water. Like a growing number of Americans, the 63-year-old Chicago resident couldn't afford to pay her rising water bills. She inherited her mother's house in Englewood, a poor neighborhood on the city's South Side, and last year received a $5,000 bill. Campbell is partially blind and lives on a fixed income from disability payments. She dedicates most of her time to helping her community. Her church includes a resource center that provides food and shelter for poor and homeless people.

A Michigan city that has struggled to improve the quality of its tap water will mark World Water Day this month with a major bottled water giveaway. Since 1993, the United Nations has observed March 22nd as World Water Day, a day to recognize the importance of the sustainable management of freshwater resources. Flint will soon mark the fifth anniversary of the city’s drinking water switch which resulted in contaminating its tap water with lead. Improperly treated water from the Flint River damaged pipes, releasing lead particles into the city’s drinking water.