World Water Day

About World Water Day
The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

The United Nations General Assembly designated 22 March of each year as the World Day for Water by adopting a resolution.This world day for water was to be observed starting in 1993, in conformity with the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development contained in chapter 18 (Fresh Water Resources) of Agenda 21.

States were invited to devote the Day to implement the UN recommendations and set up concrete activities as deemed appropriate in the national context.

[Read More:World Water Day]

Facts about water, drinking water, and water-related disease

Did you know...

1.1 billion people lack access to an improved water supply - approximately one in six people on earth.

2.6 billion people in the world lack access to improved sanitation.

Less than 1% of the world's fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water on earth) is readily accessible for direct human use.

A person can live weeks without food, but only days without water.

A person needs 4 to 5 gallons of water per day to survive.

The average American individual uses 100 to 176 gallons of water at home each day.

The average African family uses about 5 gallons of water each day.

Millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources.

Water systems fail at a rate of 50% or higher.

Every $1 spent on water and sanitation creates on average another $8 in costs averted and productivity gained.

Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water live on less $2 a day.

Poor people living in the slums often pay 5-10 times more for per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city.

[Read More:Water Facts]

Bottled water is one of the biggest scam, after Y2K

First San Francisco banned it. Then Chicago started taxing it. Now, the city of Seattle is taking action against bottled water; last week, Mayor Greg Nickels signed an executive order to stop the city from buying bottled water. That means no more bottled water at city facilities and events, which may sound like a small step, but it'll make a big difference; last year, the city spent $58,000 on the stuff (and that's not including the true cost and carbon footprint of bottled water). We're willing to bet that the city's taxpayers can probably think of about 58,000 ways to better spend that money.


[Read More:The Huffington Post]

First plastic bags, now bottled water; San Francisco is certainly setting an example. Mayor Gavin Newsom signed an order this week banning the use of City funds to purchase single-serving bottled water

[Read More:TreeHugger]

Hopefully in the near future: