What Are Some Global Water Crisis Facts?

Global water crisis facts are tracked by organizations such as the United Nations Water, World Resources Institute, World Health Organization, World Vision and more.

Here is what they report.

From World Vision:
  • 785 million people worldwide lack access to clean water. That’s one in 10 people.
  • Women and girls spend an estimated 200 million hours hauling water every day.
  • The average rural African woman walks 6 kilometers every day to haul 40 pounds of water.
  • Every day, more than 800 children under 5 die from diarrhea caused by contaminated water, poor sanitation and unsafe hygiene practices.[1]

From United Nations Water:
  • Of the 89 countries worldwide with water quality data, only 52 have information about ground water, which is problematic because groundwater often represents the largest share of freshwater in a country.
  • Several water-related diseases, including cholera and schistosomiasis, remain widespread across many developing countries, where only a very small fraction (in some cases less than 5%) of domestic and urban wastewater is treated prior to its release into the environment.
  • The greatest increases in exposure to pollutants are expected to occur in low- and lower-middle income countries, primarily because of higher population and economic growth in these countries, especially those in Africa, and the lack of wastewater management systems.[2]

World Health Organization reports:
  • Safe and sufficient water facilitates the practice of hygiene, which is a key measure to prevent not only diarrheal diseases, but acute respiratory infections and numerous neglected tropical diseases.
  • Microbiologically contaminated drinking water can transmit diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio and is estimated to cause 485,000 diarrheal deaths each year.
  • Over 2 billion people live in water-stressed countries, which is expected to be exacerbated in some regions as result of weather changes and population growth.
  • Globally, at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with feces. Microbial contamination of drinking-water because of contamination with feces poses the greatest risk to drinking-water safety.[3]

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