1000 children die daily from bacteria water

UN Water Report: Dirty water is life-threatening for children

03/20/2015

In view of the growing world population and a wasteful use of drinking water, the problem of water scarcity will continue to worsen in the future. 1,000 children under the age of five are already dying of diarrhea caused by contaminated water every day. This emerges from the UNESCO World Water Report, which is presented today in the Indian capital of New Delhi.

Water scarcity will worsen significantly by 2050
According to the UN, the waste of drinking water is becoming increasingly threatening. Although there is enough water for the world population, they are „Significant changes in the use, management and allocation of resources are necessary, the World Water Report said: Without radical reforms, there is a risk of water scarcity, especially in countries with dry and hot climates, experts at the UN Weather Organization WMO have calculated that the gap between needs and that natural groundwater recharge could grow to 40 percent by 2030.

According to the report, the demand for water is rising, as the world's population will increase from the current 7.3 billion by 2050 to around 9 billion. In addition, more and more people reached a higher standard of living. Also in the future, most of the water is needed in agriculture, write the authors of the report. Overall, the need for water will increase by 55 percent. „At the same time, drinking water is not available in sufficient quality, especially in developing countries. Worldwide, around 750 million people currently have no access to clean drinking water. Almost 2.5 billion people do not have simple sanitation“, informs UNESCO. Polluted water is one of the main causes of disease today. In particular, poor sections of the population are affected. Every day, 1,000 children die from infections caused by contaminated water, lack of hygiene and lack of toilets. „If poor households get a water connection, the enrollment of children increases significantly“, so the organization.

Excessive use of groundwater is nearsighted
In the water report, the UN experts cite numerous abuses such as water pollution from pesticide inputs from agriculture, industrial production and the discharge of untreated sewage.

According to the report, more than 50 percent of the world's population withdraw groundwater, so that about 20 percent of the precious supplies are threatened by overuse. Especially in countries such as China, India, the USA and the Middle East, some of the groundwater supplies have not been tapped sustainably, as criticized by Richard Connor, lead author of the UN report. This procedure is very short-sighted.

The UN experts call on politics to take action against waste and pollution of water. „Current water costs are generally far too low to prevent wastage by wealthy households or industry. "The report says there is a need to raise awareness of the need for better water management March (ag)