Facts About Water

 

 

One sixth of the world's population does not have access to safe drinking water.

WaterAid

 

 

2.6 billion people worldwide do not have access to adequate sanitation.

WaterAid

 

 

The number of people living in "water-stressed" countries is projected to climb from 470 million to three billion by 2050.

WaterAid

 

 

2.2 million people in developing countries, most of them children, die every year from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.

WaterAid

 

 

A child dies every 15 seconds from water-related diseases.

WaterAid

 

 

World population has doubled since 1950. Our water consumption has increased six-fold.

WaterAid

 

 

The average person in the developing world uses less than 3 gallons of water each day for drinking, washing and cooking. This is the same amount used to flush one toilet in the developed world.

WaterAid

 

 

On current trends over the next 20 years humans will use 40% more water than they do now.

WaterAid

 

 

40 billion working hours are spent carrying water each year in Africa.

WaterAid

 

 

It would cost an estimated $16 billion more each year to halve the number of people without access to safe water and sanitation. Americans spent $15 billion on bottled water last year alone.

WaterAid, Fast Company

 

 

1,300 gallons of water are needed to produce one hamburger.

U.S. Geological Survey

 

 

2.5 billion gallons of water are used every day to irrigate the world's golf courses.

Time Magazine

 

 

In some parts of the world, a woman expends one third of her daily calorie intake carrying water for her family.

World Health Organization

 

 

Bottled water costs up to 10,000 times as much as tap water.

National Geographic News

 

 

Women and children in rural Africa walk an average of five miles a day for water.

American Public Media

 

 

2 million tons of industrial, chemical, agricultural and human wastes are dumped into fresh water sources each day.

World Agricultural Forum

 

 

3600 children die each day from water-borne diseases.

World Agricultural Forum