One of the main objectives of the World Water Council is to increase awareness of the water issue. One of the Millennium Development Goals is to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Yet in India, some households pay a staggering 25 percent of their income for water.
According to UN estimates, people need a minimum of 50 litres of water a day for drinking, washing, cooking and sanitation. Providing this basic minimum requirement by 2015 would take less than 1 percent of the amount of water we use today. But we’re a long way from achieving that.
70 percent water used in agriculture
Seventy percent of the water used worldwide is used for agriculture. And when the world’s population grows to the estimated figure of 8.9 billion by 2050, more water will be needed. This will be compounded as more and more people adopt Western lifestyles. Whereas in countries like India only three cubic metres of water is needed to cook cereals, one kilogram of grain-fed beef needs a minimum of 15 cubic metres.
World Water Day
Globally almost 1,500 cubic kilometers of waste water are produced every year. Though it is possible to reuse such water for energy and irrigation, in India and other developing countries 80 percent of all waste is discharged untreated. To address this concern UN-Water has chosen Communicating Water Quality Challenges and Opportunities as theme for World Water Day 2010. The objective of the World Water Day on 22 March 2010 is to raise awareness about maintaining water quality at the political level.
Some possible solutions
New technology such as treating waste water can help. With technology pollution can be cleaned up, making more water useable. In agriculture drought-resistant plants can help save much needed water. Water need can also be drastically reduced with drip irrigation.
In a study conducted by the UN, along with the World Agro Forestry Centre it was found that clean water problem can be entirely resolved with rainwater harvesting. According to the report, rain water harvesting could supply six or seven times the current need of water in some countries. It could also provide security against future droughts. Rain water harvesting is currently being done in India and other countries where there is adequate rainfall but conventional water resources are in short supply.
PPT on Water in India
Download PPT with graphs and stats on Water Resources in India:
http://www.india-reports.com/summary/water.aspx
