Water Matters
July 2008
Banner photo: R.Maro/version-foto.de
Water and Sanitation Facts and Figures
1.1 billion people, or 18 percent of the world's population, lack access to safe drinking water. About 2.6 billion people, or 42 percent of the total, lack access to basic sanitation.
Water use increased sixfold during the 20th century, at more than twice the rate of population growth. About 70 per cent of all available freshwater is used for irrigation in agriculture.
By 2025, it is estimated that about two-thirds of the world's population-about 5.5 billion people-will live in areas facing moderate to severe water stress.
The average U.S. citizen uses about 380 liters to 670 liters of water at home every day. The average African family uses about 20 liters of water each day.
The lack of adequate, separate sanitary facilities in schools is one of the main factors preventing girls from attending school, particularly when menstruating. Gender-sensitive school sanitation programs can increase girls' enrollment significantly. Bangladesh saw girls' enrollment increase by 11 percent over a 4-year period.
Up to 30 percent of freshwater supplies in developed countries are lost due to leakage, and in some major cities, losses can run as high as 40-70 percent.
About 90 percent of sewage and 70 percent of industrial wastes in developing countries are discharged into watercourses without treatment, often polluting the usable water supply.
The economic payback from investing US$11.3 billion per year to reach the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015 is estimated to be US$84 billion.
Every week an estimated 42,000 people die from diseases related to low-quality drinking water and lack of sanitation. Over 90 percent of these deaths are of children under the age of 5.
At any one time, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from waterborne diseases.
In many homes toilets are responsible for a third or more of all water use. The U.S. has cut the amount of water used in toilets by three quarters over the past two decades through more efficient toilet and plumbing design.
In Chungungo in Chile, polypropylene nets are hung to condense water; as fog blows through them, the droplets run down into gutters and reservoirs, to be piped into homes.
Contaminated water can be purified by placing it in the sun in clear plastic containers for 6 hours; the water is sanitized by the sun's ultraviolet rays.
Low-income households in Cape Town, South Africa, are saving an average of 5,000 liters of water per month through a new type of water meter that dispenses only a pre-agreed (variable) amount of water each day, encouraging users to monitor their usage, save money and avoid wastage.
People in the Takhar province of Afghanistan get drinking water by collecting snow in pit reservoirs insulated with a layer of earth. Bamboo pipes channel out water as the snow melts.
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