On our blue planet 97.5% of the water is saltwater, unfit for human use.

The majority of freshwater is beyond our reach, locked into polar snow and ice.

Less than 1% of freshwater is usable, amounting to only 0.01% of the Earth’s total water.¹

Even this would be enough to support the world’s population three times over, if used with care.²

However, water – like population – isn’t distributed evenly. Asia has the greatest annual availability of fresh-water and Australia the lowest. But when population is taken into account the picture looks very different.

Our increasing thirst is a result of growing population, industrial development and the expansion of irrigated farming. In the past 40 years, the area of irrigated land has doubled.³

By the mid-1990s, 80 countries home to 40% of world population encountered serious water shortages. Worst affected are Africa and the Middle East.

By 2025 two-thirds of the world’s people will be facing water stress. The global demand for water will have grown by over 40% by then.¹

The only ray of hope is that the growth in actual use of water has been slower than predicted.³

Dirty water is the cause of numerous diseases, but improving hygiene and sanitation are equally important in order to curb water-related diseases.

Diseases of contamination There are 4 billion cases of diarrhoea worldwide each year and 2.2 million avoidable deaths – that’s a death every 14 seconds.1 Most diarrhoeal deaths occur in the Majority World and just being able to wash one’s hands with soap and water can reduce diarrhoea by 35%.2

Insect-related diseases Malaria, borne by water-breeding mosquitoes, is the biggest killer, causing 1-2 million deaths a year. At any given time 100 million people suffer from the disease.1

Parasites Intestinal worms infect about 10% of the Majority World population. About 200 million people are affected by schistosomiasis (bilharzia), with 200,000 dying each year. After a peak in the late 1980s, guinea- worm infections have been declining as water sources are better monitored.1, 3

The recommended basic water requirement per person per day is 50 litres. But people can get by with about 30 litres: 5 litres for drinking and cooking and another 25 to maintain hygiene. The reality for millions comes nowhere near.

By contrast the average US
citizen uses 500 litres per day,
while the British average is 200.²

Some 97% of liquid freshwater is stored underground in aquifers. People, especially in rural areas, are increasingly dependent on groundwater – up to 2 billion people, a third of the world’s population, rely on it.¹

Pollution is a major problem, resulting from human and farm animal waste, naturally occurring toxins, as well as the over 10 million different synthetic chemicals in use today.