1. The average African family uses about 5 gallons (23 liters) of water a day. The average American family uses more than 250 gallons (946 liters) a day.^e
2. One billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water.^c
3. According to the World Water Development Report (WWDR), many girls in developing countries cannot attend school because they are responsible for gathering domestic water. Additionally, schools lack separate toilet facilities.^c
4. Every 8 seconds, a child dies from contaminated water.^e
5. Twenty-five million people die each year from contaminated water. That is the entire population of Canada.^e

6. A person dies every 15 seconds from water-related illnesses

   Impure or contaminated water is the leading cause of epidemics in developing countries.^c
7. Contaminants in tap water, such as lead, can increase the risk of learning disorders.^a
8. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that Americans annually take 40 trillion gallons of water from the ground, and the rate of use is increasing 25% per decade. Scientists argue that ground water is being polluted and used at a rate that far outstrips nature’s ability to cope.^e
9. In Bellevue, Ohio, public and private wastes were dumped into sinkholes and wells beginning in 1872. Over 120 years later, those wastes still show up in drinking water. In some wells, raw sewage from that era, including un-decomposed toilet tissue, can still be found.^b
10. The EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Act (1974) regulates only 91 of the over 60,000 chemicals used in the United States. Even low levels of hundreds of legally allowed contaminants have been associated with a wide range of diseases, including cancer.^a
11. Widespread city infrastructures are decaying at a rapid rate, which increases the types of dangerous pollutants in the water.^e
12. The tap water of at least 41 million Americans has been found to contain a wide range of pharmaceuticals, including sex hormones and anti-seizure medicine.^d
13. A random study by the EPA revealed that employees of bottled water companies are not tested for disease, nor are they required to avoid the bottling area if they are sneezing from colds or have open cuts or infections on their hands.^b
14. Efforts to tighten drinking water standards that would regulate and restrict common drinking water contaminants such as perchlorate (a rocket fuel additive), tricholoethylene (a degreaser used in manufacturing), and perchloroethylene (a cleaning solvent) have been blocked by industrial and military lobbyists.^b

15. A massive amount of pollutants are released into drinking water supplies each year

    In the United States, a massive amount of new toxins totaling nearly 18 billion pounds are released into the groundwater, soil, and atmosphere annually.^e
16. Americans empty 2.5 million plastic water bottles an hour. Each one takes 500 years to decompose.^e
17. More than 62 million Americans since 2004 have been exposed to substandard tap water. This exposure has lasted for years for some people.^a
18. Scientists report that the severely outdated Safe Drinking Water Act (1974) cannot adequately prevent Americans from being exposed to serious health dangers in their drinking water.^a
19. Toxins in tap water can accumulate in the body for years, increasing the risk for developing cancer and all types of diseases.^e
20. An average water molecule will spend 9 days in the atmosphere, 2 weeks in a river, 10 years in a large lake, 3,000 to 5,000 years in an ocean, 10,000-100,000+ years underground, and 10,000 to 1,000,000+ years in an Antarctic ice cap.^e

-- Posted July 10, 2010

References

^a Duhigg, Charles. “That Tap Water is Legal, But May Be Unhealthy.”  December 16, 2009. Accessed: May 13, 2010.

^b Kupua A’o, Lono Kahuna. 1998. Don’t Drink the Water Without Reading this Book. Pagosa Springs, CO: Kali Press.

^c “The Millenium Development Goals and Water.” UNESCO. Accessed: May 13, 2010.

^d “Probe: Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water.”  CBS News. March 10, 2009. Accessed: May 13, 2010.

^e Roddick, Anita. 2004. Troubled Water. Boulder, CO: Chelsea Green Publishing Company.