2005 was marked by three exceptionally destructive natural disasters: the tsunami in South-East Asia on December 26, 2004, which killed 200,000 people; Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans on August 29, 2005; and the earthquake in Kashmir on October 8, 2005, which left 3 million people homeless.

Veolia Waterforce, the emergency aid unit of Veolia Environnement that is manned by a team of volunteer employees, was on hand to assist in all three disasters. In the three months that followed the tsunami, Waterforce produced more than 25 million liters of drinking water in Asia.