Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Water costs

2.1 billion people do not currently have access to clean and continuously available drinking water. 4.3 billion, do not have access to safe sanitation facilities.

Half of the world's population with inadequate access to safe drinking water lives in Africa. Only 24 percent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa has access to safe drinking water.


By the year 2050, 45 percent of global gross domestic product and 40 percent of global grain production will be threatened by environmental damage and lack of water resources.

People who are poor or marginalized are also more likely to have limited access to proper water and sanitation.

In cities, rich homes have piped water while poor people living in slums, who often had to buy water from trucks, kiosks and other vendors, spending roughly 10 to 20 times more. "The misperception is that they don't have water because they can't afford it - and that is completely wrong", with some spending up to 30 percent of their salaries on water.


Exports of crops - like coffee, rice, avocadoes and cotton require large amounts of water to grow them, yet poor communities struggle to get enough for their basic needs, a situation made worse by climate change, WaterAid
India, for example, is the world's third largest exporter of groundwater, accounting for 12 percent of the global total. Meanwhile, the rate of depletion of its groundwater jumped by 23 percent between 2000 and 2010, and as many as 1 billion of its people live in water-scarce areas, WaterAid said.


https://www.dw.com/en/worlds-poor-pay-more-for-water-than-the-rich-un/a-47970657

No comments: