Why Water

Water and Sanitation Facts

Water

• 844 million people – 1 in 9 – lack access to water.
• Almost 6x the population of the United States lives without a household water connection.
• 159 million people depend on surface water, like a river, to meet their basic needs.
• The water crisis is the #5 global risk in terms of impact to society, announced by the World Economic Forum.

Sanitation

•  2.3 billion people – 1 in 3 – lack access to a toilet.
•  Globally, 60% of people do not have access to safely-managed sanitation.
• 892 million people – 12% of the global population – defecate in the open.
•  More people have a mobile phone than a toilet.

Health

•  Water and sanitation-related diseases kill nearly 1 million people each year.
• Every 2 minutes a child dies from water and sanitation-related disease.
• 160 million children suffer from stunting and chronic malnutrition linked to water and sanitation.
• Diarrhea is one of the top 3 leading causes of child death, a majority are linked to water and sanitation.

Women

• Women and children bear the primary responsibility for water collection.
• Women and girls spend 200 million hours every day collecting water. This is time not spent working, caring for family members, or attending school.
• Women and girls living without a toilet spend 266 million hours every day finding a place to go.
• Access to improved sanitation leads to a reduction in assault and violence on women and girls.

Education

• Nearly 570 million children lack basic drinking water at their schools.
• More than 620 million children lack basic sanitation at their schools.
• Globally, 1/3 of all schools lack access to basic water and sanitation.
• Reductions in time spent collecting water increases school attendance, especially for girls.
• Basic water and sanitation in schools help reduce gender disparities in performance and attendance.
• For every year a girl stays in school, her income can increase by 15-25%.

Economic

• $260 billion is lost globally each year due to lack of basic water and sanitation.
• Every $1 invested in water and sanitation provides a $4 economic return.
• Universal access to basic water and sanitation would result in $18.5 billion in economic benefits each year from avoided deaths alone.
• People living in poverty are reliable paying customers when given the opportunity to access household water connections.
• Access to credit plays a significant role in triggering household sanitation investments.

Finance

• It will take three times more than what is currently being invested to achieve universal access to safely managed water and sanitation.
• Globally, to extend basic water and sanitation services it will cost $28.4 billion per year. •
• $114 billion per year is needed to achieve safely managed water and sanitation, meeting the SDG 6 targets. This represents a gap of $89.6 billion.

Your Donations Make a HUGE Impact

Consumer spending fact – According to reports, the average American spends approximately $1,100 a year– or $3 each day– on coffee.  7 cups of coffee = one water filter = 500,000 of clean water = life changing