Today, March 22, is World Water Day 2021, recognized by the United Nations and people around the world as a time to focus on the goal of available clean water for all.
Clean water for drinking is essential for our existence. A human can only survive without water for about three days.
While water is essential for life, the need goes beyond simple consumption. As is true of so many things, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the need for sanitation—being able to wash our hands, our clothes and ourselves with clean water, being able to rinse foods and a safe means by which to dispose of, or recycle the dirty water afterwards. And, even the need to monitor wastewater to help track infectious disease outbreaks.
World Bank and Sustainable Development Goal #6 (#SDG6)
The World Bank provides an extravagance of data on their sustainable development goal #6, Clean Water and Sanitation, noting the importance of water “for health, the environment and sustainable development”.
To add to the needs surrounding water and its scarcity, the World Bank states that:
Despite gains, more than half the world’s people lack access to safely managed sanitation services.
