Water Availability and Uses

Statistics:

-884 million people lack access to safe water supplies; approximately one in eight people. 

-A bathtub holds 151 litres of water, the average person in the slums gets about 30 litres for all of their daily needs

-3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease. 

-The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.

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

-An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than a typical person in a developing country slum uses in a whole day.

-Ancient romans had better water quality then 50% of the world today

-70% of the worlds fresh water supply is devoted to agriculture

-Only 63% of the world have access to at least minimal sanitation

The above gives an idea of the gravity of the water situation, how many people are effected and how severe the problems are.

Maps:

Map showing water use in each country.

(World Resources; Water)

Map showing the type of water available in each geographic region.

 

 (Climate.org; Water)

rd.com

 (Maps of the World; World Freshwater)

This next map shows population density, compared with the maps above, one can see that wealty countries have the highest density near fresh water, and the poorest countries are the densest countries lacking water.

(MIT; glabal change)

Jamie Banks- 08/11/2010

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"Fresh Water Mapped | Spatial Sustain." V1 Magazine - Promoting Spatial Design for a
     Sustainable Tomorrow. Web. 02 Nov. 2010.    
     http://vector1media.com/spatialsustain/fresh-water-mapped.html.

"MIT Global Change Joint Program Report 18." MIT. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. 
      <http://web.mit.edu/globalchange/www/rpt18.html>.

"Water and Climate Change." Climate Institute. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. 
       <http://www.climate.org/topics/water.html>.

"Water.org » Water Facts." Water.org. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. <http://water.org/learn-about-the-
       water-crisis/facts/>.

"World Freshwater Resources." World Map, Map of the World. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. 
       http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-freshwater-resources.htm.

(http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/)