A Fairer World :: Youth

Water Conservation

Make A Difference - Links - Did You Know?
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"Global water consumption has risen almost tenfold since 1900, and many parts of the world, including many parts of Australia, are now reaching the limits of their supply. World population is expected to increase by 45% in the next thirty years, whilst freshwater runoff is expected to increase by 10%. UNESCO has predicted that by 2020 water shortage will be a serious worldwide problem."

The Savewater Alliance

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United Nations: “Half the people in developing countries are suffering from water-related diseases.”

Climate Action Network: “With the onset of wide spread drought across many southern regions of Australia, water shortages are becoming increasingly common place in many cities. Expected climate change is likely to intensify the water crisis for many cities that are already vulnerable to water shortages, leading to significant declines in water for cities over the next 70 years (CSIRO 2002)...

In 1996/1997, each person in a typical Australian household consumed roughly 350 litres of water per day (DEH 2005). Here, gardening was responsible for up to 50% of total water use, with flushing toilets coming second consuming up to 25% (DEH 2005).
Starkly contrasting these figures, people in Asia, Africa and Latin America use between 50 to 100 litres per day, whilst water use in the USA averages 400 to 500 litres per person, per day (DEH 2005) .”

Pachamama, United Nations Environment Program: “Decorative imageSome areas have far too much water and suffer from floods, like Bangladesh and the flood plains of the Mississippi in the United States. Other areas, like Africa and West Asia, suffer severe droughts. The problem of water availability is most serious in Africa and West Asia. If water consumption continues at its present rate, by 2025 two out of three people will not have enough water for their basic needs.”

Nova: Science in the News: “Would you drink a glass of treated effluent? That question has become part of a heated national debate about water recycling, as people try to find solutions to the lack of water supplies brought about by climate change and a growing population.”

The Savewater Alliance: “Of all the water in the world, only 3% is fresh. Less than one third of 1% of this fresh water is available for human use. The rest is frozen in glaciers or polar ice caps, or is deep within the earth, beyond our reach... if 100 litres represents the world's water, about half a tablespoon of it is fresh water available for our use.”

United Nations, Water for Life: “A decade of action! The primary goal of the 'Water for Life' Decade is to promote efforts to fulfil international commitments made on water and water-related issues by 2015... These commitments include the Millennium Development Goals to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015 and to stop unsustainable exploitation of water resources... Among the themes that are central for the 'Water for Life' Decade are: scarcity, access to sanitation and health, water and gender, capacity-building, financing, valuation, Integrated Water Resources Management, trans-boundary water issues, environment and biodiversity, disaster prevention, food and agriculture, pollution and energy...”

River Landscapes: “...there is also abundant evidence that many Australian rivers are in poor condition, and their condition and ecological status continues to deteriorate.”

World Water Council: “...changes in food habits, for example, may reduce the problem, knowing that growing 1kg of potatoes requires only 100 litres of water, whereas 1 kg of beef requires 13 000 litres.”

Did You Know?

  • You might be surprised at how much water it takes to bring that hamburger to your plate…500g of beef requires 6,810 litres of water. www
  • An estimated six million hectares of productive land are lost every year because of desertification, land degradation and declining agricultural productivity. www
  • About 70% of the world's total freshwater is used in the production of food. www
  • Every year an estimated two million people die from waterborne diseases and many more suffer illness from drinking unsafe or contaminated water. www
  • 50% of the world's wetlands have been lost since 1900.  www
  • ...many women and children spend hours - in extreme cases up to six to eight hours - each day hauling water from rivers or wells. In cities, the poor often do not have water piped to their property; instead, they must buy or take water from other. www
  • Dryland salinity currently affects more than 5 million hectares of land, mostly in southern Australia and causes damage totalling $270 million each year. www
  • Australia is the highest user of water per capita in the world, despite being the driest inhabited continent. www
  • The poor pay more. A slum dweller in Nairobi –Kenya- pays 5 to 7 times more for a litre of water than an average North American citizen.
  • Every day, 2 million tons of sewage and other effluents drain into the world's waters. www

These sites have ideas on how to make a difference.

Ryan's Well Foundation: Be inspired by this Canadian boy who has built 238 water wells in eleven countries.

The Savewater Alliance: We each share responsibility for the sustainable management of our water resources, which means using less water at home, in the workplace, at school, on holidays, on the farm, ... everyone, everywhere, every time.

Teacher resources