Water is important.

If you want to drink, cook,

bathe or swim, you need clean water. In 2010,
the United Nations General Assembly decided
that everyone has the right to clean water.

Key fact
In 2015, 91% of the people in
the world had a source of
clean drinking water,
compared with 76% in 1990.

The United Nations set a Millennium Development Goal for drinking water in 2000.
The goal was to cut the number of people without clean water in half. In 2010, the
world met the goal. The 48 least developed countries didnt meet the goal, but 42%
of the people in those countries gained access to sources of clean water since 1990.

Sometimes, its harder for people to get clean

water because of inequalities. People living in
rural areas, as well as poor or homeless people,
usually dont have as much clean water.

Key fact
2.6 billion people have gained
access to a clean drinking
water source since 1990.

Dirty water can spread diseases like cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A,
typhoid and polio. People can get sick if their water isnt being cleaned properly,
especially in hospitals. Around the world, 15% of patients get infected in hospitals,
and even more patients get infected in hospitals in poorer countries.

Hundreds of millions of people have dirty drinking water because their waste water
isnt being cleaned well enough.

About 842,000 people die from diarrhea every

year because of dirty water, even though it isnt
very hard to prevent diarrhea. If water were
cleaned better, 361,000 fewer children under
age 5 would die each year. People might also
decide not to wash their hands if they dont have
enough clean water, which makes them more
likely to get diarrhea or other diseases.

Key fact
4.2 billion people now get
water through pipes; 2.4
billion people get water
through other clean sources
like public faucets and
protected wells.

Diarrhea is the most widely known disease caused by dirty food and water, but
there are other dangers. Almost 240 million people have schistosomiasis, which is a
disease caused by parasitic worms that people catch from dirty water.

In many parts of the world, insects that live or breed in water carry and spread
diseases such as dengue fever. Some of these insects breed in clean, rather than

dirty water, and they can even breed in

household drinking water containers. You can
stop insects from breeding in your water by
covering your water containers.

Key fact
663 million people rely on
unsafe water sources,
including 159 million who use
surface water, like lakes and
streams.

People can do more when they have less trouble getting clean water. They can also
stay safe if they dont have to make dangerous trips to get their water. People also
spend less on their health if they have better water sources, because they are less
likely to get sick.

Children are especially likely to get sick from

dirty water, so if they have better water sources
they can learn more, because they wont be
absent from school as often.

Key fact
At least 1.8 billion people in
the world use a drinking water
source with feces in it.

The Millennium Development Goal splits water sources into improved (clean) and
unimproved (dirty), but improved water sources arent always clean enough. At
least 1.8 billion people use a drinking water source with feces in it. Even where the

source is good, water can become dirty while its

being moved, especially if it isnt treated well
enough. A lot of pipes have dirty water in them.

Key fact
Dirty water can spread
diseases like diarrhea, cholera,
dysentery, typhoid and polio.
Dirty drinking water causes
about 502,000 deaths from
diarrhea each year.

Global warming, lack of water, population

growth and bigger cities already make it harder to get everyone clean water. By
2025, half of the people in the world wont have enough water. Its becoming
important to recycle waste water. More and more countries are watering their crops
with waste water in developing countries, 7% of crops are watered with waste
water. Watering crops with waste water can be dangerous if done wrong, but using
waste water safely can do good things, like helping farmers make more food.

Water sources will keep changing. Ground water and waste water are going to
become more important. Global warming will make rain water less predictable.
People will need to get better at cleaning and moving water.

The World Health Organization helps governments try to solve health problems, like
getting people clean water.

The World Health Organization makes a series

of water safety guidelines, including guidelines

Key fact

on drinking water, safe use of waste water, and

By 2025, half of the people in

safe swimming pools and water parks. Since

the world wont have enough

2004, the Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality

water.

have included Water Safety Plans to stop water

from becoming dirty. In 2015, the World Health Organization created Sanitation
Safety Plans to help people follow the waste water guidelines. The World Health
Organization works on helping all groups, including suppliers of drinking water,
waste water treatment companies, farmers, communities and individuals, make
water safer.

Since 2014, the World Health Organization has been testing household water
treatment products against health-based performance criteria through the World
Health Organization International Scheme to Evaluate Household Water Treatment
Technologies. The Scheme tries to make sure that products protect people from the
germs that cause diarrhea and that governments help people use the products
correctly and safely.

The World Health Organization works closely

with the United Nations Childrens Fund on
water and health. For example, they have a plan
to stop children from dying because of
pneumonia and diarrhea by 2025, which
includes putting clean drinking water in all

Key fact
In poor countries, 38% of
hospitals lack any water
source, 19% arent clean
enough and 35% lack water
and soap for handwashing.

hospitals and homes by 2030. The two groups have planned out steps to getting
everyone drinking water, which include providing good health insurance for
everybody.