By Our Reporter
Clean, accessible water for all is an essential part of the world we want to live in. water is an integral part of human day-to-day activities in homes, manufacturing, energy, virtually all areas of human endeavor. As the world celebrates the World Water Day, here are some facts and figures about water.
- At least 1.8 billion people globally use a source of drinking water that is fecally contaminated.
- Each day, nearly 1,000 children die due to preventable water and sanitation-related diarrhoea diseases.
- Floods and other water-related disasters account for 70 per cent of all deaths related to natural disasters.
- 2.6 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water sources since 1990, but 663 million people are still without.
- Between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of the global population using an improved drinking water source has increased from 76 per cent to 91 per cent.
- Water scarcity affects more than 40 per cent of the global population and is projected to rise. Over 1.7 billion people are currently living in river basins where water use exceeds recharge.
- 2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services, such as toilets or latrines.
- More than 80 per cent of wastewater resulting from human activities is discharged into rivers or sea without any pollution removal.
- Hydropower is the most important and widely-used renewable source of energy and as of 2011, represented 16 per cent of total electricity production worldwide.
- Approximately 70 per cent of all water abstracted from rivers, lakes and aquifers is used for irrigation.
