United Nations — More than two billion people lack access to clean and safe drinking water, according to a new report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Although significant progress to ensure access to drinking water has been achieved, there is still a long way to go to ensure the quality of water–deemed free from pollutants and safe for drinking.
While many countries like India have made it a top priority, many others haven’t been able to emphasise the issue yet," Sanjay Wijesekera, Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at UNICEF, told IPS.
This puts lives, especially of young children, at great risk.
"Every day, 800 children under the age of five die from waterborne diseases like diarrhoea.
Wijesekera added.
A lack of access to clean drinking water is also bad news for hygiene and sanitary levels.
While the global drop in open defecation from 20 to 12 percent between 2000 and 2015 is a welcome fact, the rate of decline, at just .7 percent every year, puts pressure on governments to do more.
Still, some countries like Ethiopia have combatted the issue of open defecation successfully.
Critical building blocks like stronger policies at the government levels and dutiful allocation of funds can go a long way," Wijesekera said.

North Palm River homeowners closer to enjoying fresh drinking water from their homes.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – Palm River homeowners are one step closer to ditching plastic water bottles and drinking fresh water straight from their homes.
Hillsborough County began the North Palm River Drinking Water Project on Monday afternoon.
Crews will be installing five miles of 6- and 8-inch diameter pipelines and approximately 90 fire hydrants.
Here is what the Hillsborough County Water and Sewer Projects website says to expect: Hillsborough County selected a design-build construction method for this project which will save time and money while minimizing public inconvenience The design engineer and constructor will closely collaborate on all aspects of the project to ensure the best construction solutions and the least community impact Construction will generally take place on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and will involve heavy equipment and some excavation Maintaining access to homes will be a priority To minimize impacts to the neighborhood and homes, most of the pipelines will be installed using trench less a construction method called directional drilling Homeowner Kevin Anderson no longer drinks the water from his own home.
Anderson has been through four hot water heaters and three different water softeners.
"I’ve been through probably three different water softeners in the last 12 to 15 years," Anderson said.
The first phase began east of 54th street, south of 12th Avenue and west of 70th Street.
Hillsborough County says here’s what to expect: The project team will work closely with local and state transportation authorities to develop traffic plans to keep residents moving safely Detours and lane closures will be clearly marked and flag men will help direct traffic Hillsborough County will notify emergency services in advance of detours and lane closures The project team will work closely with the neighborhood and nearby schools to keep residents informed and involved Hillsborough County commissioner Lesley Miller has championed for this project for over a decade.
Residents in the area can sign up to be connected to the municipal drinking water pipelines during in person sign up events on July 18, August 1 and August 18 at the 78th Street Community Library.

Sindh’s polluted water.
RECENT analysis by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources of surface and groundwater samples from across Sindh reveals that water quality in the province has worsened — 80pc (from 75pc a few months ago) of sampled sources, including at educational institutions and tertiary-care hospitals, is now contaminated with pathogenic bacteria and unfit for human consumption.
Add to this the extent to which the creeks of the Indus delta have been polluted with heavy metals and emerging cases of multidrug-resistant typhoid, and we have before us an environmental and public health crisis of devastating proportions.
Unsafe water supply and inadequate sanitation are responsible for substantial economic and human losses.
Children are the most vulnerable to preventable water-related diseases such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis and polio; diarrhoeal diseases are the leading cause of infant and child deaths in the country.
This has placed a tremendous burden on the province’s already under-resourced public health sector.
But this is just a microcosm of a larger issue: the state’s abdication of its obligation — as mandated by its commitment to the UN’s SDGs as well as the Supreme Court — to provide safe drinking water and sanitation facilities to all its citizens.
The PCRWR estimates that 84pc of the country’s population lacks access to clean water.
The concomitant disease burden is already more than the country can bear.
Clean water is a fundamental prerequisite for Pakistan’s progress; no scheme to eradicate disease, ensure food and water security, improve livelihoods and boost the economy can succeed without a multidimensional policy to address environmental degradation, particularly the contamination of our most precious natural resource.

The UNDP Innovation Facility offers technical support to the UNDP and its collaborators across 170 countries and territories to explore new approaches to increasingly complex development challenges.
Within the ASEAN countries, the UNDP Innovation Facility has been involved in projects in Indonesia and Myanmar.
In 2016, UNDP Indonesia launched its first ever crowdfunding campaign: ‘Bring Water for Life’, in partnership with KOPPESDA, an NGO partner and Kitabisa.com, a crowdfunding platform based in Jakarta.
It achieved its funding target of IDR 350 million (USD 26,000) and the money was used to provide clean water access by building a solar-powered water pump system.
Future plans include working with partners to deliver a national workshop on social finance, expanding the crowdfunding campaign to support multiple development interventions through the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) platform, and preparing a blended finance proposal that provides investment to a structured portfolio of social enterprises in Indonesia.
UNDP and the Pulse Lab Jakarta (established through a partnership between the United Nations and the Ministry of National Development and Planning) brought together representatives from the city transportation agency (DISHUB), Pete-Pete association (ORGANDA), students, local designers and activists for a design workshop.
The most promising solution, Pasikola-eNassami, focuses on repurposing existing minivans to provide reliable transportation for school children.
The first of the repurposed vehicles would be tested in one school, adopting an iterative process of testing, learning, and readapting the solution.
UNDP supported the creation of iWomen – Inspiring Women—a free mobile application co-developed by women’s’ community groups.
The iWomen App inspires rural women by sharing personal stories written by women within Myanmar and across the world.

Coca-Cola, Global Communities Provide Safe Drinking Water to Rural Communities.
Speaking at the official turn over ceremony Friday, July 14, in Salala District, Bong County, the Communication and Public Affairs Director of Coca-Cola, Victor B.J.
George noted that the project is his entity’s way of giving back to the community.
Let us admonish you that as we invest in you, make us proud to use these facilities properly,” he asserted.
So this project also include women as part of WASH entrepreneur, as a way to demonstrate that women are capable to do whatever they want to do, with support as the same condition as men,” Tellez noted.
Keimbie explained that over 90 community members including women were trained as WASH entrepreneurs to manage and repair their facilities.
Sheriff both admonished the communities to take ownership of the facilities.
Mr. Sheriff averred that in the past, facilities constructed by NGOs and the government were misused and damaged because community dwellers were thought the basic skills to repair and managed them properly, but with skills acquired by the WASH entrepreneurs, the facilities will now be sustained.
The Coca-Cola/Global Communities WELL project came on a heel of a WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, which estimated that over 77% of Liberians lack access to safe water, adequate toilet, and proper hygiene; while, 6 out of 10 Liberians practice open defecation due to the lack of adequate toilet facilities.
Furthermore, the group stated that over 60% of all illnesses in Liberian are caused by or linked to poor water, inadequate sanitation and improper hygiene; further, concluding that over half of all hospital beds in the country are filled by people suffering from diseases related to water, sanitation and hygiene.

Coca-Cola, Global Communities Provide Safe Drinking Water to Rural Communities.
Speaking at the official turn over ceremony Friday, July 14, in Salala District, Bong County, the Communication and Public Affairs Director of Coca-Cola, Victor B.J.
George noted that the project is his entity’s way of giving back to the community.
Let us admonish you that as we invest in you, make us proud to use these facilities properly,” he asserted.
So this project also include women as part of WASH entrepreneur, as a way to demonstrate that women are capable to do whatever they want to do, with support as the same condition as men,” Tellez noted.
Keimbie explained that over 90 community members including women were trained as WASH entrepreneurs to manage and repair their facilities.
Sheriff both admonished the communities to take ownership of the facilities.
Mr. Sheriff averred that in the past, facilities constructed by NGOs and the government were misused and damaged because community dwellers were thought the basic skills to repair and managed them properly, but with skills acquired by the WASH entrepreneurs, the facilities will now be sustained.
The Coca-Cola/Global Communities WELL project came on a heel of a WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, which estimated that over 77% of Liberians lack access to safe water, adequate toilet, and proper hygiene; while, 6 out of 10 Liberians practice open defecation due to the lack of adequate toilet facilities.
Furthermore, the group stated that over 60% of all illnesses in Liberian are caused by or linked to poor water, inadequate sanitation and improper hygiene; further, concluding that over half of all hospital beds in the country are filled by people suffering from diseases related to water, sanitation and hygiene.

Congressman wants answers on toxins at TVA coal-fired plant.
Department officials said last week that the TVA has measured excessive levels of arsenic and lead in shallow wells that monitor pollution from coal ash ponds at the aging Allen plant.
Coal ash is the dirty byproduct of burning coal.
A layer of clay lies between the groundwater and the aquifer.
Still, the monitoring wells’ proximity to the deeper wells dug into the aquifer has raised concerns among officials and Memphis residents about the safety of the city’s drinking water.
The environment and conservation department, through spokesman Eric Ward, said it is "confident the contaminants found in TVA wells at the Allen Fossil Plant are not impacting drinking water."
However, the department has asked Memphis Light, Gas & Water — the city’s water utility — to test treated drinking water.
"We share the congressman’s concerns about the recent monitoring results at the TVA Allen Fossil Plant and are in the process of preparing answers to his questions," Ward said Monday.
Unlimited Digital Access for just $1.99.
Sign up now for full access to our website, the digital newspaper, apps and more!.

2.1B people lack access to safe drinking water at home: report.
“Safe water, sanitation and hygiene at home should not be a privilege of only those who are rich or live in urban centers,” WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Billions of people’s access to basic drinking water and sanitation services since 2000 don’t provide safe water and sanitation.
Numerous homes, healthcare facilities and schools still lack soap and water for handwashing, putting people, especially young children’s health at risk.
Around 361,000 children under five years old die due to diarrhea yearly.
Safe water and sanitation is especially linked to young children’s nutrition and ability to stay healthy and focused in school.
“In rural areas where poverty is high, inequalities are aggravated by this cycle of and link between the lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and poor health and low productivity,” she added.
Significant inequalities persist to decrease global inequalities, the new Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) launched in 2015 call for an end to open defecation, achieving universal access to basic services by 2030.
Open defecation is increasing in bus-Saharan Africa and Oceania due to population growth.
The Department of Health (DOH) has prioritized ending open defecation across the Philippines by 2022 as articulated in the current administration’s ’12 Legacies for Health’ agenda.

2.1B people lack access to safe drinking water at home: report.
“Safe water, sanitation and hygiene at home should not be a privilege of only those who are rich or live in urban centers,” WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Billions of people’s access to basic drinking water and sanitation services since 2000 don’t provide safe water and sanitation.
Numerous homes, healthcare facilities and schools still lack soap and water for handwashing, putting people, especially young children’s health at risk.
Around 361,000 children under five years old die due to diarrhea yearly.
Safe water and sanitation is especially linked to young children’s nutrition and ability to stay healthy and focused in school.
“In rural areas where poverty is high, inequalities are aggravated by this cycle of and link between the lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and poor health and low productivity,” she added.
Significant inequalities persist to decrease global inequalities, the new Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) launched in 2015 call for an end to open defecation, achieving universal access to basic services by 2030.
Open defecation is increasing in bus-Saharan Africa and Oceania due to population growth.
The Department of Health (DOH) has prioritized ending open defecation across the Philippines by 2022 as articulated in the current administration’s ’12 Legacies for Health’ agenda.

The Sahara could become one enormous oasis as scientists work on a new device to gather water – from desert air.
And that is aside from the loss of water due to wars such as the ongoing conflict in Yemen.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about 20 million Yemenis do not have access to drinking water because of the ongoing civil war.
More people will result in a greater need for food, meaning more water will be necessary for increased agriculture.
“The opportunity is to utilise the materials at low humidity ranges, below 30 per cent, which correlate best with places that are pretty arid such as North Africa and parts of China,” says Ms Wang.
“And if you count the fan, condenser and other items – that doesn’t end up being a huge cost of the overall device,” Mr Dinca says.
“The key is having enough sunlight and a reasonable humidity range.” The device works better in areas with humidity levels below 30 per cent, and the amount of material is important.
Ms Wang says that 4 litres of water could be produced per kilogram of material a day.
But for arid places like the Mena region, the scale up of this device could be beneficial.
The Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab initiative has been promoting water-related research since 2014 to help communities battle dwindling water and more demand.