During the recent floods this winter, I couldn't help but think of Marla Smith-Nilson. If only we could take all the excess water creating havoc in the Northwest and pipe it over to the places she's trying to reach. Smith-Nilson is an engineer who founded Water 1st, a Seattle non-profit working to relieve poverty by starting with the most basic necessity: safe water.

There's nothing fancy or high-tech about the group's work. They work on the simplest kinds of wells or distribution systems from local springs that can be built and maintained by communities, one village at a time. Water 1st works with local partners in four countries: Honduras, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and India.

One problem with past projects built by outside organizations like the World Bank is that they are complex and expensive, but not regularly maintained or repaired, Smith-Nilson said. Locally no one can agree who is responsible for the well, so half of them fail.

ALAN BERNER/SEATTLE TIMES

A farm is totally surrounded by flood waters in the Snoqualmie Valley.

Water 1st decided to enlist local residents to plan and build the projects.

"If you've invested half a year of labor, there's no way you're going to let that system fail," she said.

Progress is especially important for women and girls, who are usually the main water bearers. If they don't have to walk miles every day to collect water, they can spend more time in school. Water 1st also focuses on training in food preparation and hygiene and building latrines.

In Seattle Smith-Nilson raises money mostly by word of mouth through her network of friends, enlisting help from local schools and businesses.

ALAA AL-MARJANI/ASSOCIATED PRESS

A man sows a crop on a dry field on the outskirts of Najaf, south of Baghdad.

On Friday evening Water 1st is holding its fourth annual Water 1st - Beer 2nd event at the Lake Union Park Armory, including a presentation about the world water crisis.

Another event on the calendar is a unique combination of water causes and the trendy microblogging phenom of Twitter. On Feb. 12 Twestival Seattle, a grassroots effort to raise money and awareness for charity, will kick off with a focus on water.

One person in six, or more than a billion people worldwide, has no access to clean water, according to the group. More than 4,500 children die each day from dehydration and water-borne diseases.

One of charity:water's solutions is to donate 100 percent of profits from the sale of a $20 bottle of water to help build wells. Founder Scott Harrison said he had to rethink his lush life in New York after a trip to Liberia, where he could feed four people for the price of one $16 margarita he consumed in Manhattan. That's nice. But maybe he should rethink those plastic bottles... no sense helping one problem only to contribute to another.