The Problem

Economic and societal growth is largely driven by the productive use of water. In fact, our growing world tripled its water use in the last 50 years alone. If we’re going to meet the agricul­tural, industrial and municipal needs of this growing world, we must use our water in effective, efficient ways. Our world population is climbing, yet we still share one water resource – and it’s limited. 

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One third of the world's population lives in water stressed areas (expected to increase 6 times in 20 years) and over a billion people lack access to water supplies (expected to double in 20 years). With 17% of the world's population drinking unsanitary water and 3-4 million people dying each year from waterborne diseases, the sustainability of freshwater supplies is a growing concern worldwide because of rapid urbanization, industrial expansion and agricultural intensification.

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By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world's population could be living under water stressed conditions. With the existing climate change scenario, almost half of the world's population will be living in areas of high water-stress by 2030, including between 75 million and 250 million people in Africa