We live in an age of swirling crises - economic crisis, energy crisis, food security crisis. What are the chances of a water crisis in the near future? And are we prepared to make the tough choices?
Consider the facts. Of all water on earth, only 2.5% is fresh water and the remaining 97.5% is salt water. Approximately 68.7% of fresh water is trapped in glaciers, 30% is in the ground, one per cent is frozen and the remaining 0.3% (yes, you read it correctly!) is found in lakes, rivers and streams on the surface of the planet. In other words, only 0.008% of the earth’s water is fresh and accessible to mankind. However, not all of this accessible fresh water is consumable due to urbanisation and industrialisation which have caused significant water pollution.
