Water Crisis
Dr Kenny Lynch
University of Gloucestershire
UN’s summary
of science-
based
projections of
MDG water
targets
The Population Clock is
ticking …
• 1bn - 1804,
• 2bn - 1927,
• 3bn - 1961,
• 4bn - 1974,
• 5bn - 1987
• 6bn - 2000.
• Now - 6.7 billion.
• 2011 - 7 billion (est.)
Threat of water shortages
for the poorest
The conditions here are terrible. There is
sewage everywhere. It pollutes our water.
Most people use buckets and plastic bags
for toilets. Our children suffer all the time
from diarrhoea and other diseases because
it is so filthy.
Mary Akinyi, Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya
(from the HDR 2006)
How much water does it
take to make a cup of
coffee?
Answer
140 litres
Water ‘Footprint’
• Producing 1kg beef requires 16,000 l. of water.
• One cup of coffee needs 140 litres of water.
• The water footprint of China is about 700 m 3 per
person per year.
– Only about 7% of the Chinese water footprint falls
outside China.
• Japan has a footprint of 1150 m 3 per person per
year,
– 65% of its footprint falls outside the country.
• The USA water footprint is 2500 m3 pppy.
Implications?
• Reduced diarrhoea => 272 million days
of school attendance
• Reduced diarrhoea => 3.2 billion working
days (15-59 yearolds
• Save US$1.7 bn per year spent on treating
water-borne infectious diseases
• Prevent deaths of >2 million up to 2015
…but
where safe sources do exist, they are only
available to those who can pay.
To fill a container can cost between US
$0.25 and $5.00,
… so for the 660million people who live on
only $2 a day, buying water is simply not
possible.
Collecting water from a stream in Freetown
The water
content in
the
product
Water
involved in
production,
e.g.
evaporation
Water polluted
as a result of
the process, eg
from chemical
input
Source: Water Footprint Network (2009)
Sir Nicholas
Stern’s summary
of the science-
based water
predictions
Child
water
sellers in
Freetown
Presentation of watering cans to producers groups in Freetown
Watering plots just outside Freetown, Sierra Leone
The time I have taken to give this
talk is the approximate average
time it takes a rural African to
collect water.
• Many of the water
collectors are children
• There is evidence of
longer term health
problems from carrying
such weights over long
distances
• Time spent collecting
water is time not spent on
farm production, going to
school or other things
Resources
Wired Magazine Peak Water article, and
video May 2008
Water Footprint Network (download the
water footprint manual here)
UNDP Human Development Report 2006
Water Rights report, video
3rd World Water Development Report, 2009