World Statistics

• One out of every eight people in the world, roughly 884 million, lacks access to safe water. (WHO/UNICEF)

• At least 2.6 billion people, about 41 percent of the global population, do not have access to latrines or any sort of basic sanitation facilities. (UN WATER)

• 1.8 million children die every year as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. This amounts to around 5000 deaths a day, one every 20 seconds. (UNDP)

• According to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) study, every dollar spent on improving sanitation generates an average economic benefit of $7.Providing water and hygiene education reduces the number of deaths caused by diarrhea diseases by an average of 65%. (WHO)

• 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related diseases. (UNDP)

• Worldwide, 18 percent of the population, or 1.2 billion people, rely on open defecation. (UNICEF)

• Every year, more than 200 million tons of human sewage goes uncollected and untreated, fouling th environment. Each gram of feces can contain 10 million virus particles, 1 million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 parasite eggs. (UN)

• At any given time, half the population of the developing world is suffering from one or more of the main diseases associated with inadequate provision of water and sanitation. (UNDP)

• The average North American uses more than 100 gallons of water each day, but the average person in the developing world uses less than three. (UNDP/WSSCC)