2 Billion — Number of people worldwide who
do not have access to clean water as of 2015 .
You can do this experiment for a comparison : Fill a one-gallon milk jug with water . The jug represents all the water on the planet . Now measure out how much is safe to drink : one tablespoon .
Remember how we said this might get scary ? In the year 2015 , the United Nations said 2 billion people lacked access to a reliable source of safe drinking water . That ’ s almost one-third of the world population . Dirty water can cause disease , and across the globe , on average , one child dies every 15 seconds from waterborne disease .
With no medicine other than safe drinking water , estimates show we could save 2 million lives a year .
Besides disease , the lack of clean water causes other problems . In parts of Africa and India , it ’ s common for people to have to walk more than three miles to simply collect water . Then they have to carry that water back home . Five
6.1
Billion Year 2000 gallons of water weighs almost 42 pounds .
By one estimate , 40 billion hours are spent each year in Africa hauling water . That ’ s time taken away from other pursuits that could help fight poverty .
According to Colorado State University Extension , many Colorado residents use 170 gallons per day , most of it outside the home .
For survival , the average person requires approximately two quarts per day .
The Number One Threat
The number one threat to clean water in the United States is runoff pollution — the Contaminator .
Turn the page to see how everyday activities and events need to be managed to protect our source water .
|
|
|
The Colorado River |
|
Estimated Population in Billions
4
3
2
1
275 Million Year 1000
|
450 Million Year 1500 |
500 Million Year 1650
The earth ’ s surface is nearly 2 / 3rds water , but less than 1 percent of it is fit to drink !!
700 Million Year 1750
1.2 Billion Year 1850
4 Billion Year 1975
2.55 Billion Year 1950
|
system provides water to nearly 40 million people across the western United States and irrigates around 5 million acres of farmland . |
1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 Year
Watershed Defenders produced by Colorado Agriculture in the Classroom 7