Water, Water Everywhere . . .

Over seventy (70%) percent of the world’s surface is covered with water. Only about 3% of that water is potable (World Atlas Website). It seems that the planet has more than enough water to help everyone get his or her needs met. Yet, water filtration procedures are not readily available in developing nations. And some of the water filtration technologies are just too expensive for wide spread application.

In late 1999, the World Bank estimated that US$600 billion is required to repair and improve the world’s water delivery systems (UNCSD, 1999). The lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation is directly related to poverty; and, in many cases, to the inability of governments to support and economically finance satisfactory systems. The direct and indirect human costs of these shortcomings can only be seen in the tremendous impact to human lives and daily suffering - including widespread health problems, poor access to hygienic waste disposal, and limitations for economic development (Gleick, 1995). Improved water and sanitation facilities, on the other hand, bring valuable benefits for both social and economic development and poverty alleviation (WHO/UNICEF 2000).

In Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, nearly 1 billion people in rural areas have no access to improved water supplies. Equally, almost two-fifths of the world’s population (2.4 billion people) lacked access to improved sanitation facilities (waste disposal facilities). The majority of these individuals live in Asia and Africa. Sanitation coverage in rural areas is less than half that in urban locations, even though 80% of those lacking adequate sanitation (2 billion people) live in rural areas.

In 1994, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated the number of people without access to clean drinking water was nearly 1.3 billion. By 2000, over 1.2 billion people lacked access to clean, potable drinking water. In 2006 water borne diseases were estimated to cause 1.8 million deaths each year while about 1.1 billion people lacked proper drinking water (CDC, 2006).

Water, water everywhere – water, water none to spare. HBI is working to bring clean, potable water to areas of need. To learn more about the HBI Water Filtration Projects, please visit our website.