Reading.

Dear learners,

You are doing fantastic:) Let's continue learning more about this fascinating topic: water!!

Now, you are going to read this interesting information. Let's find these words in your dictionary. 

KEY WORDS: Africa-bathe-crisis-irrigation-Typhoid- Agriculture-choler-Disease-pollution-asia-conserve-Drink- poverty-awareness-cook-groundwater-sewage.

In many places of the world, fresh water, both groundwater and
surface water, is being used faster than it can be replaced.  Already
about one-third of the world’s population lives in  countries suffering
from moderate-to-high water stress, according to the most recent
Global Environment Outlook (GEO-3) report.  Water stress is defined
as areas where water consumption is more than 10% of renewable
freshwater resources.  The GEO-3 scientists project that more than
half the people in the world could be living in severely water-stressed
areas by 2032.
  
A lack of safe drinking water brings an added burden of illness
to families already living in poverty.  Infectious waterborne diseases
such as diarrhea, typhoid, and cholera are responsible for 80% of
illnesses and deaths in the developing world.  Worldwide,
approximately 15 million children a year die from a waterborne
disease or related illness.
The amount of water a person needs can vary; obviously, a
person doing manual labor in the tropics will need more water than
someone who is sitting at a computer in a temperate zone.  The
World Health Organization (WHO) suggests 0.5 to 1 gallon of water a
day for drinking, and another 1 gallon for cooking  and food
preparation as the bare minimum for survival.  However, the bare
minimum quantity recommended by the U.S. Agency for International

Development for household and urban use is close to 26.4 gallons
per person per day.
Some two million tons of waste per day are disposed of in open
freshwater sources, including industrial wastes, human waste and
chemicals.  World Watch Institute, for example, estimates that every
minute, 300,000 gallons of raw sewage are dumped into the
GANGES River, the primary source of water for many Indians.    
In all of Asia, only about 35% of the wastewater is treated, and
about 14% is treated in Latin American countries.   A minimal
percentage of treatment has been reported in Africa.  Even in
industrial countries, sewage is not universally treated, according to

the UNEP (United Nations Environment Program).  

Freshwater resources are being further squandered due to
pollution and the way in which we use water.  Agriculture accounts for
an unbelievable 80% of world water consumption, and an estimated
60% of the water used for irrigation is wasted, lost to leaky canals,
evaporation, and mismanagement.  Fertilizer and pesticide residues
from farming also contribute to contamination of fresh water
resources.  Large cities waste their share of water due to leaky
systems.
Conserving and managing freshwater resources is politically
and socially difficult; many rivers, lakes, and underground aquifers
cross national boundaries and are used by several countries, all with

differing laws and beliefs about rights to use and ownership. 
“This crisis is one of water governance, essentially caused by
the ways in which we mismanage water,” conclude the authors of the
UN’s World Water Development Report issued in March of 2007. 
According to Brian Morris, principal hydro-geologist at the British
Geological Survey, “What is needed is pragmatic management such
as increasing public and government awareness, properly resourcing
the agencies that manage groundwater, supporting community
management, and encouraging the use of incentives and
disincentives particularly in poorer countries and rural areas.  It is vital
we give groundwater value like any other scarce resource”.