Yudu - SICK WATER? - The central role of wastewater management in sustainable development

World fresh water supply World fresh water supply

About 97.5% of all water on Earth is salt water

Only 2.5% of all the water on Earth is fresh water

Around 70% of fresh water is frozen in Antarctica and Greenland icecaps

Most of the remaining freshwater lies too deep underground to be accessible or exists as soil moisture

Only 1% of the earth's fresh water is available for withdrawal and human use

Sources: FAO, 2009. Sources: FAO, 2009.

Figure 1: Water is the life force of our planet, but only 1 per cent of all the freshwater on Earth is available for human use.

Water is crucial for all aspects of life, the defining feature of our planet. Ninety seven and a half per cent of all water is found in the oceans, of the remaining freshwater only one per cent is accessible for extraction and use. Functioning and healthy aquatic ecosystems provide us with a dazzling array of services – food, medicines, recreational amenity, shoreline protection, processing our waste, and sequestering carbon. At the begin- ning of the 21st century, the world faces a water quality crisis, caused by continuous population growth, industrialization, food production practices, increased living standards and poor water use strategies. Wastewater management or the lack of, has a direct impact on the biological diversity of aquatic ecosys- tems, disrupting the fundamental integrity of our life support systems, on which a wide range of sectors from urban develop- ment to food production and industry depend. It is essential that wastewater management is considered as part of integrat- ed, ecosystem-based management that operates across sectors and borders, freshwater and marine.

Access to safe water is a human right (UNDP, 2006). However, the right to pollute and discharge contaminated water back into