Water is our most fundamental natural resource but the world is now facing a crisis as fewer people have access to safe drinking water and our natural reservoirs are depleted at stunning rates. Here are some facts about water to help explain the importance of World Water Day.

Fact 1

By 2025, 2/3 of the world’s population – or 5.3 billion – will suffer from water shortages.

Fact 2

Right now, 1.1 billion people – or 1 in 6 people worldwide – do not have access to clean water.

Fact 3

Every year, 1.8 million children die from waterborne diseases – that’s 1 every 15 seconds. Water-related diseases caused by unsafe water and inadequate sanitation are responsible for 80% of all sickness in the developing world.

Fact 4

Seasonal runoff from glaciers provides drinking water for 1/6 of the world’s population, more than 1 billion people. But with global warming expected to permanently melt ¼ of the world’s glaciers by 2050. these natural frozen reservoirs are beginning to disappear.

Fact 5

Agriculture is easily the biggest user of water in the world today. Agriculture accounts for 70% of all fresh water used every year, far more than industry or domestic uses, and by 2050 farms will have to feed an additional 2.7 billion people.

Fact 6

1,374 square miles of land turns to desert every year, an environmental crisis that affects 200 million people and threatens the lives of many more. 1/5 of the world’s population and 1/3 of the Earth’s land surface (15 million square miles) is threatened by global desertification.

Fact 7

Half of the world’s 500 major rivers are seriously depleted or polluted by industrial, agricultural and human waste.

Fact 8

Four quarts of oil discarded during an average oil change can contaminate up to 1 million gallons of water.

Fact 9

Residue from antidepressants, birth control pills and antibiotics are found in 80% of US waterways and groundwater, according to the EPA.

Fact 10

Worldwide, 2 million tons of human, industrial and agricultural waste are discharged into rivers and lakes every day. On average, no more than 1/3 of the wastewater in developing countries is treated before being discharged into rivers, streams and lakes. 1 quart of untreated wastewater pollutes 8 quarts of fresh water.

Fact 11

Many water sources have become so polluted (worldwide, it is estimated that ½ of all major rivers are seriously polluted or depleted) and over-fished that 1 in ever 5 of the world’s freshwater species have become extinct, threatened or endangered in recent decades.

Source: Blue Planet Run - The Race to Provide Safe Drivinking Water to the World