Verified
The Xylem SA Trust was established to contribute to South Africa’s development by strengthening the systems that sustain life, including water and education. Xylem Inc., a global water technology company, co-founded the Trust and provided its founding financial support, but the Trust acts independently, guided by trustees and local stakeholders.
- Registered name
- Xylem SA Trust
- Type
- Trust (education and water sector development, co-founded by Xylem Inc.)
- Fields funded
- Water engineering and infrastructure, environmental science, sustainability, agriculture, public health and emerging technologies
- Website
- xylemsatrust.org
Who Xylem is
Xylem Inc. designs and manufactures pumps, water and wastewater treatment systems, and smart metering and monitoring technology used by utilities, industries and cities worldwide, according to a provider record checked in August 2026. Xylem’s leadership in South Africa includes a country lead for public utilities with more than two decades of experience in local government, utilities and infrastructure consulting.
The business of scaffolding
The Xylem SA Trust describes its work as scaffolding: quiet, essential support that helps people reach opportunities that should already be within reach. The Trust says it responds to challenges that shouldn’t still exist, such as under-resourced early learning centres, talented students locked out of higher education, and missing rungs on the ladder to skilled work. The Trust’s approach is to reinforce and bridge rather than overhaul, staying close to communities, educators and innovators.
The Trust says it does not claim to be the ultimate solution, but aims to be a meaningful part of one.
Why water skills
South Africa faces well-documented water infrastructure and skills shortages, from leaking municipal networks to failing wastewater works. The Xylem SA Trust funds graduates who can work on those problems, whether or not they end up at Xylem.
The bursary
The Trust’s bursary backs young black South Africans aged 35 or younger in undergraduate and postgraduate study in water engineering and infrastructure, environmental science and management, sustainability and climate, agriculture and food security, public health and emerging technologies. The field must link directly to water quality, technology or infrastructure. Funding covers tuition and approved academic costs, and applicants must not hold other bursaries, including NSFAS. No work-back is described.
The 2026 round closed on 28 November 2025, so expect a similar late-November date for 2027.
How to research the Trust
Watch the Trust’s website for the 2027 call, and explain clearly in your motivation how your field connects to water, since that link is required. Read about South Africa’s Blue Drop and Green Drop water quality reports to understand the sector’s challenges.
Water students should also consider the Department of Water and Sanitation bursary this year.
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