Water Facts

3.575 million people die each year from water-related diseases.

884 million people lack access to clean water – that’s almost 3 x the population of the United States.

780 million people lack access to an improved water source; approximately one in nine people.

3.41 million people die each year from water, sanitation and hygiene-related causes each year.

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

People living informal settlements (i.e. slums) often pay 5-10 times more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city.

An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than the average person in a developing country slum uses for an entire day.

References

1. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2006). Human Development Report 2006, Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis.
2. United Nations World Water Development Report. (2009). Water in a Changing World.
3. Estimated with data from: Numbers 4 and 12.
4. WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation. (2010). Progress on Sanitation and Drinking-Water, 2010 Update.
5. WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation. (2012). Progress on Sanitation and Drinking-Water, 2012 Update.
6. Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). (2000). Linking Sustainability with Demand, Gender and Poverty: A study in community-managed water supply projects in 15 countries.
7. UN Water. (2008). Tackling a Global Crisis: International Year of Sanitation 2008
8. World Health Organization. (2008). Safer Water, Better Health: Costs, benefits, and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote health.
9. World Health Organization (WHO). (2002). The World Health Report 2002, Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life.
10. Estimated with data from The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)/World Health Organization (WHO). (2009). Diarrhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done.
11. World Health Organization. (2004). "Evaluation of the costs and Benefits of Water and Sanitation Improvements at the Global Level"
12. Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). (2010). Financing On-Site Sanitation for the Poor, A Six County Comparative Review and Analysis.

Source: http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water/