WHO: 2.1 billion people lack safe drinking water.
Three in 10 people worldwide, or 2.1 billion, lack access to safe, readily available water at home, the UN reported on Wednesday.
According to a new report by World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, six in 10, or 4.5 billion, lack safely managed sanitation.
“Safe water, sanitation and hygiene at home should not be a privilege of only those who are rich or live in urban centres,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
Moreover, 844 million do not have access to a basic drinking water service.
Noting that young children risked exposure to diseases due to lack of safe water and sanitation, he said that every year, 361,000 children under five years of age died due to diarrhea.
Some 263 million people in the world have to spend over 30 minutes to collect water from sources outside the home, and 159 million still drink untreated water from surface sources, such as streams or lakes, the report said.
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WHO likely to cancel Yemen cholera vaccine shipment.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated that a pre-planned shipment of cholera vaccines to Yemen is likely to be cancelled over security concerns, issues with access and lack of proper logistical support.
Lindmeier said 500,000 cholera vaccine doses are currently waiting in Djibouti for possible delivery to Yemen, adding that officials from Yemen’s ousted government should determine where the vaccines should reach.
The WHO agreed last month to send one million doses of vaccine to Yemen.
The country has been devastated by more than two years of Saudi Arabia’a deadly campaign.
Thousands of people have been killed in airstrikes that have mostly targeted key civilian infrastructure, including health facilities.
The WHO announcement comes as an updated United Nations estimate about the spread of cholera in Yemen suggests that 313,538 in the country have contracted the disease.
The UN aid coordination agency has said that 1,732 people have died from cholera and that all 21 governorates in the country have now been affected.
The UN Security Council on Thursday will hear a video-conference report by the WHO’s new director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on the situation of cholera in Yemen.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday that te shipment of vaccines to Yemen, as agreed last month, would now have almost no preventive impact on the spread of the disease as there are many areas in the country where the trend line is moving up due to difficulties in access.

Union claims ‘summer of delays’ are ahead Tube drivers now have to take unscheduled breaks to get water.
A union has claimed passengers face a “summer of delays” across the London Underground network because drivers are being denied access to clean drinking water.
Train drivers’ union Aslef warned frontline staff will be forced to take unscheduled stops for water after TfL changed the contractor it uses to supply water coolers.
It also said drivers had been told they would have to wait until their break in future to go and get a drink due to the new measures.
Finn Brennan, Aslef’s organiser on London Underground, said: “When your working day is spent in a metal box deep underground, cool clean drinking water isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.
“Transport for London rightly reminds passengers to carry water with them in hot weather, but at the same time they are taking away the facilities where drivers can get water from during their duties.
“The inevitable result will be that drivers will be forced to take additional unscheduled breaks to avoid the serious dangers of dehydration.
“This will mean that trains are stuck in platforms and additional delays for passengers right across the Underground network.
In February, RMT members in east London also went on strike over plans to move seven members of staff from its Leytonstone and Hainault depots to other parts of the network.
The action shut down the Central line between Leytonstone and Epping.

“We’ve set performance standards for coal ash contaminants to ensure that families who use these filtration systems will have water that meets or exceeds federal and state standards.” On DEQ’s new list of standards is chromium VI, or hexavalent chromium, listing 10 parts per billion as the limit.
Scientists at DEQ and those at the Department of Health and Human Services disagreed on what was considered a “safe” level of chromium VI in drinking water.
In one of the meetings, DHHS scientist Ken Rudo advocated for permissible chromium VI levels at 0.07 parts per billion, 1,400 times more stringent than the federal standard.
DEQ at that time estimated that more than half of public water systems in the state would need to tell residents not to drink their tap water if Rudo’s standard was used.
Much to the dismay of DEQ, Rudo moved forward with sending “do not drink” notices to 400 homeowners, but later had to rescind them.
Cooper pulled the issue into a live campaign debate, saying he would have backed Rudo, supporting a chromium VI level that is much lower than that for bottled water.
“One of the things I’m going to do is listen to the scientists,” Cooper said during a televised gubernatorial debate in October 2016.
Chromium VI, however, is a carcinogen in high concentrations.
Recently, a California state court knocked back efforts to establish a chromium VI limit of 10 parts per billion.
In that case, the court ruled that the chromium level established by the state’s Department of Public Health was not economically feasible and efforts to comply with it would raise household water prices between $64 and $5,000 annually, depending on the size of their water system.

PODCAST: Galen Welsch Generates Safe Drinking Water and Jobs in Africa.
Listen to the full episode here: Audio Player Download File He’s not seeking glory as a hero of social enterprise.
Galen Welsch just wants to keep building his company, Jibu, which offers a market-based approach to solve basic social problems of emerging markets — like access to safe and affordable drinking water.
Jibu equips African entrepreneurs to co-invest in their franchise in order to get away from a donor dependency model.
These mostly young African business owners set up shop with the help of Jibu’s infrastructure to hire employees and bring clean drinking water to their local communities.
Andy Berndt of Community Blueprint (L-R) Alfred Edakasi, one of Jibu’s first franchisees in Uganda and Galen Welsch, CEO and co-founder of Jibu.
On this episode of Forbes Under 30, hear Galen Welsch talk about what motivated him to uproot himself to Africa, why he chose to create a for-profit social enterprise company as opposed to a non-profit and the obstacles he’s tackled to bring Jibu to fruition.

On 7 June 2017, World Health Organization (WHO) was notified of a cholera outbreak in Kwara State, Nigeria, where the event currently remains localized.
An important risk factor is the lack of access to clean drinking water and poor hygiene conditions.
Cases are being managed in local health care facilities in Kwara State.
Active case searching is ongoing in the affected and surrounding communities.
In order to improve laboratory investigations, cholera rapid diagnostic tests are being distributed to selected facilities and health care staff trained on their use.
Efforts to improve case management are ongoing.
On 15 June 2017, clinicians from the three most affected local government areas were trained on cholera case management, and infection prevention and control (IPC).
Environmental investigations are ongoing, and water samples (a local community well and household drinking water) have tested positive for Vibrio cholerae.
Laboratory response activities include the prepositioning and on-the-job training on use of rapid diagnostic tests in two health facilities.
This would include ensuring proper medical waste management by the State Ministry of Health and access to clean portable water by the Ministry of water resources.

July 12 (UPI) — Florida’s Lowell Correctional Institution, the largest women’s prison in the United States, has been without running water for several days, state officials confirmed, and some inmates said they have had to pay for drinking water.
Toilets and sinks are operational using non-potable water being brought in to the institution."
Non-potable water had been brought into the prison through a tanker provided by the Ocala, Fla., fire department until some running water had been repaired Tuesday.
But that water is not drinkable until more tests have been made, reported the Ocala Star Banner.
The Miami Herald reported Monday that inmates have told friends and relatives that they have had to pay for drinking water.
"They say they’re bringing water in but they’re telling the girls they have to buy it off the canteen,” a former Lowell inmate wrote on Facebook.
The mother of an inmate said kegs of water are being brought into 64-woman dorms every 3 hours, and prisoners with bottles are able to get more than those without.
Cook denied that description of the situation.
"Staff has continuously monitored the distribution of drinking water to ensure it is continuously supplied to all inmates equally," she said.
Built in 1956, it is one of the oldest women’s prisons in Florida.

On 7 June 2017, World Health Organization (WHO) was notified of a cholera outbreak in Kwara State, Nigeria, where the event currently remains localized.
An important risk factor is the lack of access to clean drinking water and poor hygiene conditions.
Cases are being managed in local health care facilities in Kwara State.
Active case searching is ongoing in the affected and surrounding communities.
In order to improve laboratory investigations, cholera rapid diagnostic tests are being distributed to selected facilities and health care staff trained on their use.
Efforts to improve case management are ongoing.
On 15 June 2017, clinicians from the three most affected local government areas were trained on cholera case management, and infection prevention and control (IPC).
Environmental investigations are ongoing, and water samples (a local community well and household drinking water) have tested positive for Vibrio cholerae.
Laboratory response activities include the prepositioning and on-the-job training on use of rapid diagnostic tests in two health facilities.
This would include ensuring proper medical waste management by the State Ministry of Health and access to clean portable water by the Ministry of water resources.

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Open daily 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. East boat ramp, boat inspection, picnic tables, fishing pier.
Meadow Park and Ski Beach 41220 Park Ave., Big Bear Lake.
Bear Valley Stage Lines Pedder Road at Pine Knot Avenue, Big Bear Lake.
Big Bear Charter Fishing Holloway’s Marina, 398 Edgemoor Road, Big Bear Lake.
Big Bear Queen boat tour Big Bear Marina, 500 Paine Court, Big Bear Lake.
Big Bear Speedway 42825 Big Bear Blvd., Big Bear Lake.
Big Bear Stables & Equestrian Center at Bear Valley Farms 1601 E. Big Bear Blvd., Big Bear City.
Fish Big Bear Charter Service Big Bear Marina, 500 Paine Court, Big Bear Lake.
Gold Rush Mining Adventures 40016 Big Bear Blvd., Big Bear Lake.

India’s capital is running out of water, and it’s not due to a lack of resources.
Unsustainable water policies Delhi’s current water policy, instituted by the ruling left-wing Aam Admi Party in 2015, promises 20,000 litres of free water per household per month.
Assuming a household has five members, this means some 130 litres per capita per day should be available every day.
In 2016, the Delhi Jal Board (the hindi word jal means water), which is responsible for the city’s drinking and waste water management, estimated total distribution losses of around 40%.
As a result, Delhi must actually produce daily 182 litres per person for individuals to receive their allotted 130 litres.
As the country’s middle class continues to grow, the need to build awareness of water as a scarce resource and instil conservation practices among the citizenry will grow more urgent.
The Yamuna river, near Delhi, is an important source of drinking water for downstream cities.
To fulfil such gargantuan tasks satisfactorily and develop a strategic plan for the future, a term of six to eight years would be more reasonable.
Making Delhi sustainable Here’s the good news: for the first time in at least two decades, the Delhi Jal Board seems to have competent and effective leadership.
Asit K. Biswas, Distinguished Visiting Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore; Cecilia Tortajada, Senior Research Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and Udisha Saklani, Independent Policy Researcher, National University of Singapore This article was originally published on The Conversation.