WATER SCARCITY

WATER SCARCITY & THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER

Clean, safe drinking water is scarce. Today, nearly 1 billion people in the developing world don't have access to it. Yet, we take it for granted, we waste it, and we even pay too much to drink it from little plastic bottles.

Water is the foundation of life. And still today, all around the world, far too many people spend their entire day searching for it.

In places like sub-Saharan Africa, time lost gathering water and suffering from water-borne diseases is limiting people's true potential, especially women and girls.

Education is lost to sickness. Economic development is lost while people merely try to survive. But it doesn't have to be like this. Its needless suffering.

WHAT IS WATER SCARCITY?

Simply put, water scarcity is either the lack of enough water (quantity) or lack of access to safe water (quality).

It's hard for most of us to imagine that clean, safe water is not something that can be taken for granted. But, in the developing world, finding a reliable source of safe water is often time-consuming and expensive. This is known as economic scarcity. Water can be found...it simply requires more resources to do it.

In other areas, the lack of water is a more profound problem. There simply isn't enough. That is known as physical scarcity.

The problem of water scarcity is a growing one. As more people put ever-increasing demands on limited supplies, the cost and effort to build or even maintain access to water will increase. And water's importance to political and social stability will only grow with the crisis. There are more than 26 million Filipinos without access to sanitary toilets, and only five percent of households are connected to sewer systems. Further, many poor households cannot connect to water systems due to high connection costs. Instead, they often rely on either unsafe water sources such as surface water or expensive sources such as informal water sellers.An assessment conducted by Water.org saw a significant interest in our WaterCredit model among microfinance institutions, water service providers and communities. Households are eager to invest in piped water connections, filters, wells, pumps, water tanks and toilets with septic tanks.The microfinance market in the Philippines has grown rapidly in recent years. Today, there are more than 90 registered microfinance institutions serving 5.1 million clients. Cooperatives, banks, nongovernmental organizations and non-bank financial institutions fuel continued microfinance sector growth, and sees great potential for the success of water and sanitation loans.

 ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER IMPROVES...

Education

When students are freed from gathering water, they return to class. With proper and safe latrines, girls stay in school through their teenage years.

Health

Safe water, clean hands, healthy bodies. Time lost to sickness is reduced and people can get back to the work of lifting themselves out of poverty.

Hunger

Access to water leads to food security. With less crop loss, hunger is reduced. Schools can feed students with gardens, reducing costs.

 Poverty

Access to water can break the cycle of poverty. The communities we serve are ready to grow. We can't wait to see how they choose to do it.