1.1 billion - The estimated number of people worldwide who lack access to clean drinking water.
2.4 billion - The estimated number of people worldwide who lack access to sanitation. Most are in Africa and Asia.
2 billion - The estimated number of people who depend on groundwater worldwide (about one-third of the world's population). Countries around the worldface rapidly depleting groundwater resources, including parts of India, China, West Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the former Soviet Union and the western United States.
About 80 - The number of countries that had experienced serious water shortages by the mid 1990s. This makes up about 40 per cent of the world's population.
One-third - The proportion of the global population who live in countries with moderate-to-high water stress. Water stress occurs when water consumption exceeds 10% of renewable freshwater resources. West Asia faces the severest threat. More than 90% of the population in the region lives under severe water stress.
Two-thirds - The proportion of the global population that is expected to be living in water stressed conditions in less than 25 years.
40% - The increase in global water use expected by 2020.
$30 billion - The projected cost per year of bringing poor people universal access to water by 2015.
Source: United Nations Environment Programme, GEO-Global Environment Outlook 3, Past, Present and Future Perspective
2.4 billion - The estimated number of people worldwide who lack access to sanitation. Most are in Africa and Asia.
2 billion - The estimated number of people who depend on groundwater worldwide (about one-third of the world's population). Countries around the worldface rapidly depleting groundwater resources, including parts of India, China, West Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the former Soviet Union and the western United States.
About 80 - The number of countries that had experienced serious water shortages by the mid 1990s. This makes up about 40 per cent of the world's population.
One-third - The proportion of the global population who live in countries with moderate-to-high water stress. Water stress occurs when water consumption exceeds 10% of renewable freshwater resources. West Asia faces the severest threat. More than 90% of the population in the region lives under severe water stress.
Two-thirds - The proportion of the global population that is expected to be living in water stressed conditions in less than 25 years.
40% - The increase in global water use expected by 2020.
$30 billion - The projected cost per year of bringing poor people universal access to water by 2015.
Source: United Nations Environment Programme, GEO-Global Environment Outlook 3, Past, Present and Future Perspective
Water makes up 70% of our muscles, 90% of our lungs, and 85% of our brain.
5.9 billion people, or 87 per cent of the world’s population, and 84 per cent of the population living in the developing world now use drinking water from safer, improved sources. At current trends the world will meet or even exceed the water Millennium Development Goals target.
3.8 billion people, or 57 per cent of the world’s population, get their drinking water from a piped connection that provides running water in their homes or compound.
Sub-Saharan Africa and the Oceania are the areas that are lagging behind. Just 60 per cent of the population in Sub-Saharan African and 50 per cent of the population in Oceania use improved sources of drinking-water.
Sub-Saharan Africa and the Oceania are the areas that are lagging behind. Just 60 per cent of the population in Sub-Saharan African and 50 per cent of the population in Oceania use improved sources of drinking-water.
In China, 89 per cent of the population of 1.3 billion has access to drinking-water from improved sources, up from 67 per cent in 1990. In India, 88 per cent of the population of 1.2 billion has access, as compared to 72 per cent in 1990.
source: WHO/UNICEF joint monitoring report 2010: Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water
Water Resources Status
Only 0.0075% of the earth's water is available
Approximately 70% of earth's surface is covered with water. The amount of water on earth is estimated at 1,386 million ㎦, of which 1,351million ㎦ or 97.5% is seawater. Seawater, however, contains so much salinity that it can't be used. That doesn't mean that fresh water, which is about 2.5%, can be used as it is. 1.76% of fresh water is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps, and 0.76% is found in groundwater, with only 0.0086% present above ground in rivers or lakes. In other words, the water available for consumption in rivers or lakes accounts for just 0.0086% of the total volume of water on earth.
Water Resource Distribution Status
Classification | Volume(Million ㎦) | Percentage(%) | Note |
Total | 1,386 | 100% | |
Salt Water(ocean) | 1,351 | 97.5% | |
Fresh water | 35 | 2.5% | relative rate among fresh water |
Glaciers & Ice Caps | 24 | 1.76% | 69.55% |
Groundwater | 11 | 0.76% | 30.26% |
Lakes, Rivers, etc | 0.1 | 0.0056% | 0.39% |
Surface water available in lakes or rivers is only about 90,000 ㎦, which accounts for about 0.26% of fresh water. If we cover the surface of earth with the water found in lakes and rivers, the average depth will be about 1.82m. If we imagine the entire amount of water on earth would fit into a 5L bottle, the amount of available fresh water would be equivalent to just one teaspoonful of water.
Circulation of Water on Earth
The water on earth consistently circulates in the air, surface of the earth, under ground and in the ocean in the forms of vapor, water and ice. The sources of fresh water are formed by the vaporization of water from the surface of the oceans. Part of the water which falls to earth evaporates on the surface and part of it evaporates as it go through the lakes or forests. Some water enter into the ground but most of it flows to the oceans through streams or rivers.
Vaporized water returns to the Earth's surface as rain and snow. 80% of the all precipitation falls into the oceans, and 20% onto the land. Vaporized water from the ocean surface moves to the land and flows back to the ocean in the forms of rivers or groundwater. Through this circulation of water, the overall balance of water is maintained.
