ACCESS TO WATER ISN'T A PRIVILEGE...

IT'S A RIGHT

Facts

1.2 billion people don't have access to potable water (roughly one sixth of the world's population).

2.4 billion people lack proper sanitation services (about two fifths of the world's population).

Around 5,760 children die each day (4 per minute, 2.1 million each year) from illnesses associated with a lack of drinking water, basic sanitation, and a bad level of hygiene – the equivalent of 30 Boeing 747s crashing each day. And roughly 1 million adults, predominantly women, die each year.

Health

At the moment, it is estimated that half the hospital beds in the world are being occupied by patients who are suffering from a water related illness.

200 million people are infected with dysentery, 20 million of whom are seriously ill. Scientific studies have shown that it is possible to reduce the number of incidents by 77%, by water and sanitation intervention.

Disparities

The average distance undertaken by African and Asian women to gain access to water is 6 Km.

The weight of water that these women carry on their heads is equivalent to an individual's maximum baggage allowance on an airplane.

People living in developing countries use on average 10 liters of water each day.

Flushing the toilet uses the same amount of water a person in a developing country uses for washing, cleaning, cooking and drinking each day.

For the people living in the shantytown area of Kibeira, in Nairobi, Kenya, one liter of water costs practically five times the amount it does in a European country.

It is estimated that 25% of people in developing countries buy their water from resellers, and pay five to ten times more than from a standard piped supply.

Hygiene

An increase in water quality would reduce incidents of diarrhea by 15 to 20%; better hygiene through washing one's hands and better food handling would reduce this figure by 35%; and by using better sanitary facilities the statistics can be further reduced by 40%...

Human ecology

Ecological sanitation has been put into practice in certain Indian and Chinese communities. Human waste contains valuable nutrients. Humans produce on average 4.56 Kg of Nitrogen, 0.55 Kg of phosphorous, and 1.28 Kg of potassium per person per year from our urine and excrement. This would be enough to improve wheat and maize production for an individual's annual crop.

ACCESS TO WATER ISN'T A PRIVILEGE...

IT'S A RIGHT