A Statistical Glimpse of the Global Water Crisis

Overview of the Global Water Crisis

Adapted from Water Partners International 3.575 million people die every year from water-related diseases. 1.4 million children die every year from diarrhea. A typical U.S. five-minute shower uses more water than the average person living in a Global South marginalized community uses in a day. Many poor people from marginalized communities pay 5-10 times more per liter of water than wealthy people living nearby. Only 62% of the world has improved sanitation - a sanitation facility that ensures hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact. Worldwide, 2.5 billion people lack improved sanitation, including 1.2 billion people with no facilities at all. At any one time, more than half of the poor in the Global South are ill from causes related to hygiene, sanitation and water supply. Millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources. Some social and economic benefits of ensuring drinking-water and sanitation for all, around the world:

• 272 million more school attendance days a year
• 1.5 billion more healthy days for children under five years of age
• Health-care savings of US$ 7 billion a year for health agencies and US $340 million for individuals

To view the entire fact sheet and obtain references, see Water Partners International.

Impacts of Private Control of Public Water

Adapted from Food and Water Watch.

1. High Rates. Private water costs as much as 80 percent more than public water. Private sewer service costs up to twice as much as public service.
2. Bad Service. Many multinational water corporations cut corners to increase profits at the public’s expense.
3. Expensive Financing. Private financing is more expensive than public financing. Even the best-rated corporate bonds are 25 percent costlier than municipal bonds and 2.5 times costlier than State Revolving Fund loans.
4. Inefficiency. Private utilities are not more efficient than public utilities, according to several academic studies.
5. Profits and Taxes. In total, corporate profits, dividends and income taxes add 20 to 30 percent to operation and maintenance costs.
6. Cost Inflation. The profit motive can further drive up costs. A study of the construction of 35 wastewater treatment plants found that “choosing the privatization option is more costly than going with the traditional municipally owned and operated facility.”
7. Contracting Expenses. In total, contract monitoring and administration, conversion costs, charges for extra work and the contractor’s use of public equipment and facilities can add up to 25 percent to the price of a contract.
8. Limited Competition and Consolidation. The public has little room to negotiate with private water suppliers and can get stuck with bad and expensive contracts.
9. Lost Public Benefits. Municipal operation often has several additional benefits that cities lose when they privatize.
10. Lack of Accountability. Multinational water corporations are primarily accountable to their stockholders, not to the people they serve.

To view the entire fact sheet and obtain references, see Food and Water Watch.

Bottled Water and Corporate Control of Water

Adapted from Corporate Accountability International Coca Cola drains water from some of the poorest communities in India. In places like Mehdiganj, water levels have dropped by as much as 40 feet, leaving families and farmers without enough water to meet their basic needs. In the U.S., most people receive water from a public utility. Our public water systems have been great equalizers in our society and one of our greatest accomplishments providing services to everyone. Bottled water corporations are changing the way people think about water. Today, three of four Americans drink bottled water, and one in five drink only bottled water. Bottled water is one of the least regulated industries in the U.S. Tap water and bottled water use similar standards, but tap water is tested far more frequently and its standards are more rigorously monitored and enforced by the EPA. Leading brands like Coke’s Dasani, Pepsi’s Aquafina and Nestlé’s Pure Life are basically tap water, often sold for more than the cost of gasoline - more than one-quarter of bottled water is basically tap water. Scientific studies have shown that bottled water is no safer than tap water. Sometimes it’s less safe, containing elevated levels of bromate, arsenic, bacteria, and other contaminants. Worldwide, people spent $100 billion on bottled water in 2005. That’s almost enough to fund the $110 billion annual investment – approximately one-fifth of the world’s annual military expenditures - needed to assure that everyone on earth has access to water and adequate sanitation. To view the entire organizers kit and obtain references, see Corporate Accountability International.

Desalination Facts

Adapted from Food and Water Watch Ocean water desalination can be greater than ten times more energy intensive than other options and can be three or more times expensive what it costs to produce drinking water from traditional supplies. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, water intake structures on power plants, which are very similar to planned desalination intakes, kill at least 3.4 billion fish and other marine organisms annually. Contaminants such as boron, algal toxins (for example, red tide) and endocrine disrupters are found in ocean water and are concentrated through the desalination process. Desalination distracts from groundwater preservation and oes not encourage water conservation, which is essential to responsibly stewarding our water commons. To view the entire fact sheet and obtain references, see Food and Water Watch.