Tens of millions of people across the world, mostly in rural areas, lack clean water, the charity WaterAid says. Mainly poor countries are affected, but some major economies also have a problem.
Hundreds of millions of people across the world are being forced to live without access to clean water for drinking, according to a new report by the international charity WaterAid released to mark World Water Day on Wednesday.
"Today 663 million people globally are still without clean water, and the vast majority of them - 522 million - live in rural areas," says the report, entitled "Wild Water."
Three African countries - Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea - top the list of nations worst affected by the problem, with more than two-thirds of people in rural areas in each lacking a provision of safe drinking water.
Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and Mozambique follow close behind, with the report also listing them as being among the 20 percent of nations most vulnerable to climate change and least ready to adapt.
But India, one of the world's fastest-growing economies, also has 63.4 million people in rural areas without access to clean water, the largest number of people in one country facing the problem, the report found. It said another major economy, China, has 43.7 million out of a population of 1.4 billion living without clean water in rural areas.
Climate change threat
The "Wild Water" report highlights the fact that climate change, with its accompanying extreme weather phenomena such as cyclones, floods and prolonged droughts, is likely to exacerbate water problems, not only worsening the plight of those already affected but also leaving millions more in a state of what it calls "severe water stress." It said it was predicted that more than 40 percent of the global population was likely to be living with poor provision of safe water by 2050.
World Water Week: Why water is key to development
Today, more than 750 million people still lack of access to safe water. This World Water Week, DW looks at why H2O is so essential to sustainable development, and how we can be smarter about using this precious resource.
Image: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/GettyImages
A finite resource
Water is fundamental to sanitation, healthy ecosystems and human survival. It's also a finite resource and lack of safe water could soon become a serious challenge to sustainable development. But if well and equitably managed, water can play a key role in strengthening the resilience of social, economic and environmental systems.
Image: Hugues Tsannang
Down the drain
Food waste and water waste are closely linked. Agriculture accounts for around 70 percent of human water consumption. Each year, around 500 billion cubic meters of water are wasted growing crops that will never be eaten. Meat production requires more water than vegetables - but even your morning coffee needed 140 liters to make one cup.
Image: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/GettyImages
Changing weather
Changing climatic conditions are leading to irregular rainfall patterns that complicate planning for water supply and increase water insecurity. This hits communities that depend on farming and agriculture particularly hard. In recent months, many have suffered from either short bouts of heavy rain - resulting in floods and loss of crops - or droughts that bring food shortages.
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Less moo, more H2O
Livestock production is one of the most water-heavy industries. More than 15,000 liters are needed to produce one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of meat. Rising demand for beef and dairy products means less water is available for human consumption and sanitation, so a diet based on vegetables, pulses and grains is key to saving water.
Image: imago/UIG
The water polluters in your closet
The clothing industry is one world's worst water polluters, dumping thousands of gallons of chemical residue into rivers and oceans each year - mainly in developing countries. Laundry also uses up large amounts of water, and releases polluting detergents into ecosystems.
Image: Supermarche/Gab Kiess
Ancient wisdom
As the global human population grows, so does its demand for water. But traditional techniques for harvesting rainwater have helped people in India, sub-Saharan Africa and South America to survive long dry periods and can be replicated in other parts of the world. With a little ingenuity, regular people everywhere can harvest and reuse rainwater at home, too.
Image: imago/Indiapicture
From water world to plastic planet
Plastic waste is a major problem in waterways, and causes huge damage to marine life. But demand for plastic is on the rise. In developed countries, the average person uses 100 kilograms of plastic each year. It takes 500 to 1,000 years for plastic to disintegrate - meaning until then, it just keeps piling up.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Directo
Water is money
One other reason clean water is often the highest priority for development: The social and economic effects of not having a safe water supply are immense. These affect food, housing and health. Around the world, people spend hours each day collecting water when they could be working or studying. In economic terms, every $1 invested in water and sanitation has an economic return of up to $34.
Image: Leylah Ndinda
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Diseases such as cholera, blinding trachoma, malaria and dengue are expected to become more common and malnutrition more prevalent, as rural farming communities struggle to grow food and feed livestock amid climbing temperatures.
"Clean water is not a privilege - it is a basic human right - yet over half a billion rural people are still living without access to safe drinking water," Rosie Wheen, WaterAid Australia's chief executive, said in a statement.
The organization called for action by world governments to provide more money to water, sanitation and hygiene projects, and to help poor countries cope and adapt in the face of climate change.
Many large lakes around the world are drying upImage: picture-alliance/blickwinkel/G. Pohl
