World Water Day: Dirty water kills more people than violence, says UN

Saving half the water lost through leaky pipes and ill-maintained sewage networks could supply 90 million people with clean water, says a UN report released on World Water Day. Up to 60 percent of supplies of clean water is thus wasted.

Almost all dirty water produced in homes, businesses, farms, and factories in developing countries is washed into rivers and seas without being decontaminated.

"The sheer scale of dirty water means more people now die from contaminated and polluted water than from all forms of violence including wars." the UN Environmental Program (UNEP) said.

This include 2.2 million people whose deaths are attributed to diarrhea, mostly from dirty water, and 1.8 million children aged under five who succumb to water-borne diseases. This equates to one infant every 20 seconds.

"If the world is to survive on a planet of 6 million people heading to over 9 million by 2050, we need to get smarter about how we manage waste waters," Achim Steiner, UNEP's director said. "Waste water is quite literally killing people."

Solutions ?

"It may seem like an overwhelming challenge but there are enough solutions where human ingenuity allied to technology and investments in nature's purification systems such as wetlands, forests, and mangroves can deliver clean water for a healthy world," said Mr. Steiner.

Aside from recommending a focus on fixing leaky pipes, the World Water Day meeting called for water recycling systems and multi-million dollar investments in sewage treatment works.

But, the UN added, just $20 million could pay for drip irrigation and tread pumps to draw water from wells, which could lift 100 million poor farming families out of extreme poverty.

Source: Mike Pflanz, Correspondent.