Lack of access to safe drinking water has dramatic repercussions for the health and quality of life of billions of people throughout the world. Here are a few figures that speak volumes:

• Over a billion people do not have access to water in sufficient quantity or quality.

• Over the past century, the world’s population has increased fourfold but our consumption of water has increased sevenfold.

• About three billion people, almost half the world’s population, drink untreated water. Untreated water causes the death of nearly 30,000 people each day.

• Every eight seconds, a child dies from a disease caused by drinking contaminated water—a total of four million children per year.

• Every year, about 10 million people die from causes related to drinking contaminated water.

• The amount of available water in the world is falling or is deteriotating at an alarming rate. In certain areas of the world, there is not enough water to meet basic needs for drinking, washing and farming.

• While in some parts of the world, people do not have access to the minimum amount of water required to meet their daily needs, in Europe, the average water consumption is about 200 litres per person per day, and in North America, the figure is 600 litres per person per day.

• A person needs about 50 litres of safe water per day to meet their needs.