crookedindifference: Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century The United Nations expects the world’s population to reach 7 billion on Oct. 31. Water use is predicted to increase by 50 percent between 2007 and 2025 in developing countries and 18 percent in developed ones, with much of the increased use in the poorest countries with more and more people moving from rural areas to cities. Over a billion people lack access to clean drinking water, and over 2 billion live without adequate sanitation, leading to the deaths of 5 million people, mostly children, each year from preventable waterborne disease. The problem is that 97.5 percent of [the water] is salty and … of the 2.5 percent that’s fresh, two-thirds of that is frozen. Only 8 percent of the planet’s fresh water supply goes to domestic use and about 70 percent is used for irrigation and 22 percent in industry.

crookedindifference:

Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century

The United Nations expects the world’s population to reach 7 billion on Oct. 31.

Water use is predicted to increase by 50 percent between 2007 and 2025 in developing countries and 18 percent in developed ones, with much of the increased use in the poorest countries with more and more people moving from rural areas to cities.

Over a billion people lack access to clean drinking water, and over 2 billion live without adequate sanitation, leading to the deaths of 5 million people, mostly children, each year from preventable waterborne disease.

The problem is that 97.5 percent of [the water] is salty and … of the 2.5 percent that’s fresh, two-thirds of that is frozen. Only 8 percent of the planet’s fresh water supply goes to domestic use and about 70 percent is used for irrigation and 22 percent in industry.