Dirty Drinking Water Kills Millions

At least 5 million people die each year as a result of filthy drinking water and the suffering will only increase unless steps are taken to improve water purity, an international conference was told Thursday.

"Fresh water needed for human needs is rapidly getting scarce ... It is rare to find pristine water anywhere," Abu Zeid, head of the World Water Council, told delegates on the first day of the U.N. International Conference on Water and Sustainable Development.

About 1.2 billion people lack access to clean water now, Zeid said. Five to 10 million people die each year from water-borne diseases, and most of the victims are poor women and children.

Already, up to 300 million people in twenty-six countries face severe water shortages, and by 2050 two-thirds of the world's population could face water shortages, Zeid said.

The problem is aggravated by massive amounts of pollutants, including sewage, industrial wastes and hazardous fertilizers, being dumped into the world's lakes and rivers, he said.

The three-day conference at the Paris headquarters of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization aims to work out strategies to improve water quality and use the vanishing resource more efficiently.

"Clean water is indispensable to life," Dominique Voynet, the French environment minister, said in the keynote speech. "But we can't manage well what we don't understand."

Water covers 71 percent of the globe's surface, but 98 percent of it is too salty for humans to use without expensive, time-consuming purification.

It also is unevenly distributed, with 60 percent of the world's drinking water located in just 10 countries, including Russia, the United States, China, Indonesia and Brazil.

Industrialized countries use far greater amounts of water than rural ones, and rich countries use more than poor ones.

The United States is one of the most prodigious consumers. When total water consumption is divided by the population, each citizen on average uses 150 gallons a day compared to 50 gallons for Europeans and just 7 and 1/2 gallons for Africans.

A recent World Bank report found that only 40 percent of the world's population has enough water.

Water consumption has increased seven times since the beginning of the century and doubled in the last 20 years, Voynet told the delegates from 80 countries, urging them to adopt measures to increase public awareness.

She called for more research into ways to conserve water, use it better and clean it up, and even suggested legislation to penalize those who consume too much.

Zeid appealed to countries with shortages to work out water-sharing policies and improved distribution measures.

Water shortages are "endangering world peace and security," Zeid said.

Written by Deborah Seward
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