World Water Day is 22 March.
In 1993,
the United Nations General Assembly officially designated 22 March as World
Water Day. World Water Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with
governments and partners.
World
Water Day, on 22 March every year, is about taking action to tackle the water
crisis. Today, 1.8 billion people use a source of drinking water contaminated
with faeces, putting them at risk of contracting cholera, dysentery, typhoid
and polio. The
Sustainable Development Goals, launched in 2015, include a target to ensure
everyone has access to safe water by 2030, making water a key issue in the
fight to eradicate extreme poverty.
About 12% of the world population
lacks clean drinking water, and water-related diseases account for 3.5 million
deaths each year, more than car accidents and AIDS combined, according to the
World Water Council.
In Africa,
319 million people, representing 32% of sub-Saharan Africans, don’t have safe
drinking water. Nearly 27 million people do not have access to clean water in
Somalia, South Sudan, northeastern Nigeria and Yemen.
The 2017 theme for World Water Day
is wastwater: Why Waste Water?
Globally,
the vast majority of all the wastewater from our homes, cities, industry and
agriculture flows back to nature without being treated or reused – polluting
the environment, and losing valuable nutrients and other recoverable materials.
Instead of wasting wastewater, people
need to reduce and reuse it. In homes, people can reuse greywater on gardens
and plots. In cities, people can treat and reuse wastewater for green spaces.
In industry and agriculture, people can treat and recycle discharge for cooling
systems and irrigation.
Businesses
can use wastewater through ‘industrial symbiosis.’ Industrial water consumption
is responsible for 22% of global water use (UN-Water, 2012). In 2009 in Europe
and North America, water consumption by industries was 50% compared to 4-12% in
developing countries (WWAP, 2009). It is expected that in rapidly
industrialising countries, this proportion could increase by a factor of five
in the next 10-20 years. Therefore, there is a strong incentive to use wastewater
in-house and locally, based on cost savings alone.
Businesses
can directly use some wastewater, providing it is fit for purpose. For
instance, using process water for cooling or heating, or rainwater from roof
collection or concrete aprons for toilet flushing, irrigation or vehicle
washing.
Partly to
help maximise yields to meet demand, usage of chemical fertilizers and
pesticides has increased in recent years, both in industrial and small farming,
making agriculture a potential source of environmental pollution.
Pollution
of groundwater and surface water by agricultural use of untreated or
inadequately treated wastewater is a major issue in many developing countries
where such irrigation is practised.
Farmers are
increasingly looking into non-conventional water resources, mainly wastewater,
whether due to its high nutrient content or lack of conventional water
resources. If applied safely, wastewater is a valuable source of both water and
nutrients, contributing to water and food security and livelihood improvements.
Improved
wastewater management can improve the health of workers, especially in
agriculture, by reducing the risk of pathogen exposure. It can also create
direct and indirect jobs in water-dependent sectors and beyond.
MARTINA
NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and
the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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