Clean water is a human right but even today not everyone has access to it. Increased access to clean water is essential for improving living standards around the world. Clean and safe water is needed for drinking and cooking as well as for hygiene and sanitation services. 71% of earth's surface is covered with water and the oceans hold about 96,5% of all the water on earth. Hence, less than 3% is fresh-water and we need to take proper care of the resources that we have both above and below ground.
Contaminated water is estimated to cause more than half a million deaths per year. Dysentery and cholera are very deadly diseases that are easily spread via contaminated water sources. Water can be contaminated both through natural processes and through pollution that is caused by man. Most water therefore needs to be treated before use. This can be done either in a centralized way or directly at the point of use. However, both methods need technological solutions to improve the water quality.
The distribution of safe water is a task that needs a well-functioning infrastructure - although it can vary from distribution through complex systems of water pipes or through simple plastic containers. There are major problems connected to the infrastructure today and water is lost through leakage, it is contaminated along the way or in some cases the water does only reach certain areas. There is a need both for investment but also for new solutions.