What is World Water Day ?
World Water Day , on 22 March every year , is about taking action to tackle the water crisis . Today , there are over 663 million people living without a safe water supply close to home , spending countless hours queuing or trekking to distant sources , and coping with the health impacts of using contaminated water .
The Sustainable Development Goals , launched in 2015 , include a target to ensure everyone has access to safe water by 2030 , making water a key issue in the fight to eradicate extreme poverty .
In 1993 , the United Nations General Assembly officially designated March 22 as World Water Day . World Water Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with governments and partners .
Why wastewater ?
Globally , the vast majority of all the wastewater from our homes , cities , industry and agriculture flows back to nature without being treated or reused – polluting the environment , and losing valuable nutrients and other recoverable materials .
Instead of wasting wastewater , we need to reduce and reuse it . In our homes , we can reuse greywater on our gardens and plots . In our cities , we can treat and reuse wastewater for green spaces . In industry and agriculture , we can treat and recycle discharge for things like cooling systems and irrigation .
By exploiting this valuable resource , we will make the water cycle work better for every living thing . And we will help achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 6 target to halve the proportion of untreated wastewater and increase water recycling and safe reuse .
Photo : Duda Arraes via Foter . com / CC BY-NC-ND
Photo credit : Asian Development Bank via Foter . com / CC BY-NC-ND
12 Africa Water , Sanitation & Hygiene • March - April 2017