The world water crisis

Our bodies are as much as 60% water. All living things contain it and, like us, depend upon it for survival. Although 70% of the Earth is covered with water, a staggering number of the world’s poor lack even the most basic sanitation and access to clean water. 97% of the water on Earth is salt water. 2% is frozen in glaciers and ice caps. Only 1% is fresh water. That needs to be enough for everyone. All seven billion of us. One out of every eight people on Earth searches every day for clean water. One in six has no access to a toilet. None. Think about that. What would your life be like if that were you?

'Hmm, well, no bottled water, I guess. And no water running from the tap at home, so no shower. But seriously, no toilet? Not even this?'

Every day, women around the world walk mile after mile to collect water for bathing, cooking, cleaning and for their families to drink. They can only take back home as much as they can carry. Often that water is teeming with bacteria that will make them sick. But they have little choice. To go without even this polluted water would mean dehydration and possible death.

'You can only go three days without water.'

Countless hours spent searching or waiting in line. Lives and days wasted by illness. Time lost that could have been spent in school and work, planting, building, providing for their loved ones.

Every twenty seconds a child dies from a water-related illness like diarrhoea.

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