World Water Day

Well, I didn’t have the best of luck out on the water over the weekend (0 fish caught). While I was out on the water it turns out the Saturday was International Water Day (as declared by the UN). It has also been declared by the UN and World Health Organization as the year of sanitation. While, building latrines and water pumps might not be some of the most glamorous work, there is plenty to be done. As the WHO points out

2.4 BILLION people (about 40% of the World’s population) live without access to proper sanitation.

From what I gathered from the few history classes I have taken, from Rome to London to New York great economic powers have been built on their ability to provide clean water to their citizens. Clean water to drink and wash is key to keeping people healthy, and a workforce or population needs to be healthy before economic development can take place.

This 10 things you should know about sanitation from the WHO provides a good overview or this website on world water day.

Now the tough question, how do you get clean water to 2.4 billion people?