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Facts
- World Water Day is 22 March and World Toilet Day is 19 November.
- Water and sanitation are fundamental human rights. Everyone should have sufficient, affordable, physically accessible, safe and acceptable water for personal and domestic uses.
- It is estimated that the average person in industrialised countries uses 500-800 litres per day (300 cubic metres per year), compared to 60-150 litres per day (20 cubic metres per year) in developing countries.
- 1.1 billion people do not have safe drinking water and 2.6 billion do not have adequate sanitation, 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases, 90 % of which are children under 5.
- The Eastern, South-Eastern and Western Asia, Northern Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean regions are on track to meet Millennium Development Goal 7, to halve the proportion of people without basic sanitation by 2015.
- In the sub-Saharan African region, the absolute number of people without access to sanitation has increased from 335 million in 1990 to 440 million people by the end of 2004.
- Agriculture consumes 60 to 80 per cent of the fresh water resources in most countries. It takes 3,000 litres of water to produce 1 kilogram of rice and 16,000 litres to produce a kilogram of beef.
- Water-borne diseases are responsible for 80 per cent of illnesses and deaths in the developing world, killing a child every eight seconds.
- In 2006 floods killed 5,862 people and affected 31,134 people. In contrast, drought and food insecurity killed 74 people and affected 39,671people.
- The human body is about 70 per cent water. Water lost through bodily functions needs to be replaced within a couple of days. Diarrhoeal diseases increase the rate of water loss causing the deaths of many babies. A simple mixture of sugar and salts, Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT), reduces infant deaths.
For further information: http://www.unep.org, http://www.worldwatercouncil.org http://www.ifrc.org/publicat/wdr/index.asp |
Background
The right to water
Water is the source of life – vital for health, food and economic development. Without sufficient and affordable clean water, people suffer a range of illnesses. As a result, they may be unable to work or attend school, and are trapped in a brutal cycle of illness and poverty. Poorly managed water resources result in environmental degradation and an insufficient water supply. Exclusion from water and sanitation services on the basis of poverty, ability to pay, group membership or place of habitation is a violation of the human right to water.
Access to water
People's ability to obtain enough water for their needs is dependent on many overlapping factors. Crucially, where people live affects how much water is available. The climate and physical factors, such as land form and soil types determine the amount of water that can be collected for use. The level of infrastructure to collect and distribute the water influences the amount and quality of water available to distribute. The number of people sharing the water and the cost affects people's ability to obtain sufficient water for their needs. People living in areas of higher rainfall with the money and resources to harvest water have better access than those in drier and poorer countries.
It is estimated that in the next two decades, water use will increase by 40 per cent. By 2025 nearly two-thirds of the world's population will live in regions where water supplies are under stress, where consumption outstrips supply.
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 Roof water system - the roof is the water catchment, the gutter and tank are the delivery and storage systems, and the tap at the bottom is the point of use. At each stage in the system there are hazards that must be managed.
Simon Buckley/AusAID
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Water and the environment
Expanding populations with increasing demands for water place more strain on water source, and more marginal sources are used. Water pollution, untreated sewage, industrial waste and leaching of fertilisers quickly degrade water. Pollution is particularly serious when it affects groundwater as the water is impossible to purify. Deforestation and soil erosion decrease the amount of water available and increase the effects of flooding.
Water and food
About 70 per cent of the world's total freshwater is used in the production of food. Irrigated land is twice as productive as rain-watered cropland but it needs careful management so as not to overuse groundwater and degrade land through salination and desertification. Globally, there has been an increased demand for agricultural products and a trend towards more water-intensive food such as meat rather than vegetables and fruits rather than cereals.
Water and health
The average person needs a minimum of five litres of water per day to survive in a moderate climate at an average activity level. The minimum amount of water needed for drinking and cooking, bathing and sanitation is 25-50 litres. At any one time about one-half of all people in developing countries are suffering from diseases associated with water. Diseases may be caused by drinking water contaminated by human or animal waste or insects which breed in water. Women and children often suffer neck, knee and shoulder injuries or long term spinal damage from carting water long distances. Improved access to safe water and a knowledge of hygiene and management practices leads to improved health. Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT), a mixture of sugar and salt in clean water, is being used to stop dehydration from diarrhoea and to reduce infant deaths.
Water and development
Lack of access to clean water and sanitation is often associated with poverty because of the adverse effects on health and reduced ability to spend time in education, food production or income generation.
Water and traditional knowledge
Indigenous peoples have maintained a spiritual connection with water (and land) and have a deep sense of responsibility towards protecting these. Their worldviews, knowledge and management systems need to be considered in water policy development.
Water and disasters
Almost two billion people were affected by natural disasters in the last decade of the 20th century, 86% of them by floods and droughts. Flooding contaminates drinking-water systems with human waste rapidly increasing the spread of disease. Droughts limit access to adequate water supplies and food and thus intensify malnutrition and famine.
Water and conflict
As demands for water increase, scarcity of water can be a source of tension among the various users, both within and between countries. Increased cooperation and effective management of shared water resources are necessary to promote equitable distribution and avoid the threat of conflict. Despite being protected by international humanitarian law, water is often targeted during armed conflict. When the fighting stops, the problems continue – it may be months or even years before water and sewage systems function normally again.
Australia's responses
The Australian government's aid program aims to reduce poverty and raise living standards in developing countries. It promotes the efficient, equitable and sustainable use of water resources through focusing on two central planks:
- Water governance – managing the sustainable use of water
- Delivery systems – improving the efficiency of existing water systems while increasing the access to water and sanitation services
Australia's approach to the provision of water supply and sanitation projects has been to involve local communities in project design and implementation. Community involvement, including the roles of women and men focuses on the real needs of communities and builds skills, understanding and commitment which will assist long-term maintenance of services.
For further information see: http://www.ausaid.gov.au/keyaid/water.cfm
The global agenda
Millennium Development Goals
At the 2000 UN Millennium Summit, 189 world leaders from rich and poor countries alike committed themselves to a set of eight time-bound targets that, when achieved, will end extreme poverty worldwide by 2015. Goals focus on reducing poverty and hunger, child mortality and the spread of disease and improving education, gender equality, maternal health, environmental sustainability and global partnerships.
Goal 7, target 10 focuses on water and sanitation:
"halve, by the year 2015... the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and integrate sanitation into water resources management strategies."
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
There have been a number of high-level conferences which have highlighted the need for international cooperation to address the issue of access water and sanitation.
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