Statistics of the Water Crisis

• Nearly a billion, 884 million people do not have access to clean and safe water. 37% of those people live in Sub-Saharan Africa.²
• 1 in 8 people world wide do not have access to safe and clean drinking water.¹³
• 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related diseases.⁴
• In developing countries, as much of 80% of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions.⁵
• Half of the world's hospital beds are filled with people suffering from a water-related disease.⁸
• Girls under the age of 15 are twice as likely as boys their age to be the family member responsible for fetching water.²
• Over half of the developing world's primary schools do not have access to water and sanitation facilities. Without toilets, girls typically drop out of school at puberty.³
• Less than one in three people in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to a proper toilet.²
• 84% of the people who don't have access to improved water, live in rural areas, where they live principally through subsistence agriculture.²
• The average container for water collection in Africa, the jerry can weighs over 40 lbs when full. ⁹
• Almost two-thirds, 64% of households rely on women to get the family's water when there is no water source in the home.²
• Globally we use 70% of our water sources for agriculture and irrigation, and only 10% on domestic uses.¹
• Girls under the age of 15 are twice as likely as boys their age to be the family member responsible for fetching water.²
• Nearly 1 out of every 5 deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water-related disease.⁶
• The United Nations estimates that Sub-Saharan Africa alone loses 40 billion hours per year collecting water; the same as an entire year's labor in all of France!¹⁰
• Research has shown that for every 10% increase in women's literacy, a country's whole economy can grow by up to 0.3%.¹¹
• According to the World Health Organization, for every $1 invested in water and sanitation, there is an economic return of between $3 and $34!¹²
• By investing in clean water alone, young children around the world can gain more than 413 million days of health!⁷

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