Water Scarcity & Health
1 in 3 people worldwide lack access to this essential resource.
What is safe drinking water?
Two competing views on water see it as either a commodity or this.
What is a commons?
This economic shift transformed water from a shared public good to a private commodity.
What is privatization?
Corporate control of water often leads to these two negative consequences.
What are higher prices and poor quality?
Water aid programs focus on improving these two key areas.
What are clean water and sanitation?
By 2030, global water demand is expected to exceed supply by this percentage.
What is 40%?
This environmental impact is caused by groundwater depletion and excessive industrial water use.
What is desertification?
Water trading now treats water like these other tradable resources.
What are stocks, oil, or gold?
These entities now own and control significant portions of municipal water services.
What are private corporations?
The gendered impact of water scarcity primarily affects these two groups.
Who are women and children?
This number of people die annually from water-related diseases.
What is 3.6 million?
The unequal access to water is worsened by these three major factors.
What are privatization, high costs, and land/water grabs?
The bottled water industry profits by extracting this and selling it at high prices.
What is local water?
The bottled water industry is criticized for extracting water from local sources and selling it under these conditions.
What are high costs with little local benefit?
Sustainable solutions to water scarcity emphasize these two approaches.
What are community involvement and infrastructure development?
Waterborne illnesses are especially deadly for this group, with 1.5 million deaths each year.
Who are children?
Climate change and population growth are expected to lead to this crisis.
What are water refugees?
The move from community-managed water resources to corporate control mirrors the
privatization of these two other natural resources.
One of the key issues with privatization is that wealthier nations consume this many times more water than poorer ones.
What is 30-50 times more?
Investing in clean water systems leads to these two long-term benefits.
What are better health and economic growth?
Women and children collectively spend this many hours per year collecting water.
What is 40 billion hours?
A call to action includes these three policy measures for water sustainability.
What are policy changes, conservation, and equitable access?
This practice allows hedge funds and Wall Street investors to profit from water rights.
What is water speculation?
This movement fights against the privatization of water to keep it accessible as a public resource.
What are global grassroots movements?
Empowering local communities to do this ensures long-term success in water management.
What is maintaining water systems?