World Water Day

World Water Day

World Water Day, 22 March, draws attention to the essential role of water in our lives, the difficulties people face in getting it and solutions to these problems.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises.

Preparation

Water is vital. Between 55 and 60 per cent of the adult body is made of it and every living cell needs it to keep functioning. In normal conditions, the human body can only survive three or four days without water. We need water to stay alive, yet there are billions of people all over the world who do not have access to safe drinking water. 

World Water Day

The first World Water Day was celebrated in 1993. It was first proposed at the United Nations (UN) conference on environment and development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and has been celebrated annually on 22 March since then. Every year the UN releases its World Water Development Report on or around this date. Each year has a different theme, looking at things like the role of clean water in the world of work, ways to stop wasting water, finding ways to supply water to underprivileged groups and so on. 

Safe water is a human right

Clean drinking water is fundamental. But it is also vital for sanitation and hygiene. It is estimated that more than 700 children under the age of seven die every day from illnesses linked to unsafe water and poor sanitation. The right to water and sanitation was recognised as a human right by the UN General Assembly in 2010. However, there are still at least 2.1 billion people around the world who live without safe water in their homes. These include rural communities, people who have been displaced due to war and local conflicts and areas where climate change is making water more and more scarce.

The problems facing communities without water

Apart from the obvious health issues, a lack of accessible clean water means that people – often women and children – spend hours every day walking to and from distant water supplies. This means they don't have time to dedicate to work, studies and other domestic duties. The search for water becomes their main occupation. And people who are not able to walk to get their own water are particularly vulnerable.  

For many people, access to water has become increasingly difficult due to increased demand for a finite resource. According to figures released by the UN, around 4 billion people – nearly two-thirds of the world's population – experience severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year. It is believed that by 2030 as many as 700 million people worldwide could be displaced by intense water scarcity.

What are the solutions?

There are many charities working on creating sustainable supplies of clean water at a grass-roots level for different communities around the world, and this important work needs to continue and to expand. But the fundamental problem of increasing demand for a limited resource can only be addressed by more efficient use of water, especially in industry and agriculture. Waste-water recycling, capturing rainwater, more efficient irrigation techniques and reforestation are all examples of how water can be used more efficiently.

What we can do to help

As individuals, what we can do to help is support charities, raise awareness, take part in the World Water Day events that are happening all around the world and, of course, be careful with how we use water in our own lives. Visit the UN World Water Day website to find out about an event near you. Follow #worldwaterday on social media and help spread the word about this incredibly important issue.

Sources

Discussion

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Submitted by Dinh Xuan Truong on Sat, 31/08/2024 - 02:30

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The majority of water is used in my country industry and agriculture.
Unfortunately, the best way to waste water ,How did we use to water in the day.

Submitted by Youpenw on Wed, 29/05/2024 - 04:45

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Clean water and green mountain is huge wealth.

Submitted by Ibrahimyousef on Wed, 19/04/2023 - 13:17

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The majority of water is used in my country industry and agriculture.
Unfortunately, the best way to waste water ,How did we use to water in the day.

Submitted by meknini on Mon, 25/07/2022 - 06:15

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Wasting water has been a growing major concern. The wastage from doing household chores like cooking, washing and cleaning has not really been taken into account when talking about excess water use as we always tend to look more at industries that are water related as the major contributors. If we look at the number of global household, we would actually notice that there are millions of them. And, if each wastes a liter - that's looking at the lower quantity, how many million liters are we actually wasting in a day globally? In my view, households are the major culprits contributing to this problem. Knowing this, what should we do? I guess since all of us belongs to a household or lives with a family, we should be more mindful with our chores. If we could lessen water usage in our daily practices like bathing or showering, we are in a way helping. If we're mindful in all activities, don't you think this will help too?

Submitted by jyoti Chaudhary on Mon, 25/04/2022 - 12:21

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What can we do to make sure we don't wastewater?
water is a very significant role in our life without water we can't live in fact trees, and plants also need water if you don't give water they stop growing and die. we can save water easily when your tab leaks then you can properly tight the tap. and limited use of water when you bathe many people during the bath they open the shower for continuously 2 to 3hour. in my city, people waste t much water for cleaning and bathing. when rain is coming I just put a bucket on the roof and after raining I use this water for cleaning my roof. so I save water, I can't waste it. actually, I was born in Delhi but I lived in Manali for 2year and in this area, water is flowing near the mountain it is a natural here always water flow near a river so there is no shortage of water here.

Submitted by Thinthinmyoe on Sat, 19/06/2021 - 08:29

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We can use water efficiently in our lives

Submitted by PARIMALA MADIAZHAKAN on Sat, 27/02/2021 - 13:02

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We can do for dont waste water is use water when need only. This way is very suitable for everyone to save earth from scarcity water. Everyone must use water to filled up our need only. Another way to reduce waste of water is just reuse water that use for cook. For example, we can use cook water for washing our car. This way can reduce us to make waste.
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Submitted by danisep on Tue, 09/02/2021 - 18:27

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How the text said industries and agriculture use a lot of water. To feed for example the cows, it needs too much water to grow the grass or the cornfields also use too much water we could save water not washing the car constantly or not take tub baths every day or consuming less products like beef as in other personal ways. and to make sure, not waste too much water the use per month must be limited so if that limit is passed the billing cost must increase very high.
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Submitted by OlaIELTS on Thu, 28/05/2020 - 23:11

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We can make efficient use of water in order to avoid wastage through waste-water recycling, capturing rainfall, irrigation techniques and reforestation.

Submitted by Ezatullah on Sun, 03/05/2020 - 04:21

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yes! you writ a good information about water. i should tell you water is very important as you explain. lets try to aware that people that they dont know about how water is important and vital. to prevent from wasting of water around that area that we live. best regards