Water facts About 3 million people die each day from a water related disease, that equals the

entire city of Los Angles 884 million people lack access to safe water supplies; approximately one in eight people, that is 3x the population of the United States. The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns. People living in the slums often pay 5-10 times more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city. An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than a typical person in a developing country slum uses in a whole day. Children Today 1 child dies from a water related disease every 20 seconds. Only a few years ago this number was 15 seconds After 1 mintoday 3 children die 2 years ago 4 children After 1 hourtoday 180 children die 2 years ago 240 children die With a slight change we can save 1440 children a day Women In just one day, 200 million work hours are consumes by women collection water for their families. This is equivalent to building 28 empire state buildings each day. Disease The majority of illness is caused by fecal matter, only 10% of waste water gets treated he rest goes into our lakes, rivers, and oceans. 1/10 global disease burden could be prevented by improving water supply, sanitation, hygiene and management for our water resources. Sanitation Three things most people cant do take a hot shower.get clean waterflush away yesterdays dinnerApproximately 1.2 billion people on our planet have no facilities to ensure hygiene separation of humans from their own excreta. In 3 days the amount of untreated fecal matter in the world would fill the superdome. Lack of sanitation is leading the cause of infection

Economy There is a majority discrepancy in the cost of water in our world1st world countries income high, cost of water low3rd world countries income low, cost of water highlack of community involvement causes 50% of water projects to fail. 98% of microfinance loans prove successful and are repaid.

Billions daily Affected by water crisis

Without water, life would not exist. It is a prerequisite for all human and economic development. Yet today, nearly one billion people about one in eight lack access to clean water. More than twice that many, 2.5 billion people, dont have access to a toilet. There has been significant public attention paid to the issue of water scarcity lately, and for good reason. Although water is a renewable resource, it is also a finite one. Only 2.53 percent of earths water is fresh, and some two-thirds of that is locked up in glaciers and permanent snow cover. But despite the very real danger of future global water shortages, for the vast majority of the nearly one billion people without safe drinking water, todays water crisis is not an issue of scarcity, but of access.

A Common Struggle
In most developed nations, we take access to safe water for granted. But this wasnt always the case. A little more than 100 years ago, New York, London and Paris were centers of infectious disease. Child death rates were as high then as they are now in much of Sub-Saharan Africa. It was sweeping reforms in water and sanitation that enabled human progress to leap forward. It should come as no surprise that in 2007, a poll by the British Medical Journal found that clean water and sanitation comprised the most important medical advancement since 1840. The health and economic impacts of todays global water crisis are staggering. More than 3.5 million people die each year from water-related disease; 84 percent are children. Nearly all deaths, 98 percent, occur in the developing world. Lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills children at a rate equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing every four hours. Lack of sanitation is the worlds biggest cause of infection. Millions of women and children spend several hours each day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources. This is time not spent working at an income-generating job, caring for family members, or attending school. 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related illness.

The Good News

We know how to bring people clean water and improved sanitation. Were not waiting for a magic cure. And the solutions are simple and cost-effective. On average, every US dollar invested in water and sanitation provides an economic return of eight US dollars. For only $25, Water.org can bring someone access to clean water for life.