Make a difference on World Water Day

It is in situations like Christchurch’s recent earthquake that we realise how much we take access to clean water for granted, yet more than 1 billion people in the world take a gamble with their health every time they use water, said TEAR Fund Canterbury regional manager Bruce Morriss.

On World Water Day (Tuesday March 22) TEAR Fund is challenging Kiwis to make a difference for those who do not have access to safe water supplies, by helping to support water projects around the world.

Mr Morriss said he had seen the impact that a lack of clean water and sanitation has had on the population of Christchurch. “We are so used to just going to the tap and getting water, but now we have to remind ourselves constantly to boil the water, even if we are just brushing our teeth.” This was an everyday reality for so many people, and they may not even have had the option of boiling their water, he said.

TEAR Fund supports many water projects around the world helping to reduce the number of deaths due to waterborne diseases. In India for instance, TEAR Fund has been working for many years to reach the poorest and most remote villages to ensure they have access to clean drinking water and water for irrigating crops to provide more food.



Mr Morriss has seen this work firsthand and has heard how these people’s lives have been changed. “They are very grateful that they no longer have to walk several kilometres to get water that was often of dubious quality. It has reduced the time it takes for women and girls to fetch water and meant that the women have more time to look after their families and girls can attend school.”
Having access to clean water also had a huge impact in reducing waterborne diseases, he said.

The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. It occurs each year on March 22 and encourages organisations around the world to host events and activities that focus on improving water, sanitation, and hygiene provision.

TEAR Fund has water projects in:
India
Nepal
Somaliland

10 World Water Facts

1. More than 1 billion people do not have access to clean water

2. Waterborne diseases cause the death of more than 1.5 million children each year (or more than 3.5 Million people in total)

3. More than an estimated 2.5 billion people globally live without adequate sanitation.

4. Every day, 2 million tons of sewage and other effluents drain into the
world’s waterways.

5. The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.

6. Taking a five-minute shower uses more water than the typical person living in a developing country slum uses in a whole day.


7. Less than 1% of the world’s fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water on earth) is readily accessible for direct human use.
8. Millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources.

9. At any one time, more than half of the poor in the developing world are ill from causes related to hygiene, sanitation and water supply.

10. Poor people living in the slums often pay 5-10 times more per litre of water than wealthy people living in the same city.