Background and History Water is arguably the most important natural resource and it is indispensable to maintain life. This resource has been fundamental to the development of human civilisation. Human survival is dependent on the water since people need to drink adequate amounts of water or else they risk to die. In addition to direct human consumption, water is used by industries and to move human-generated waste. As such, water is necessary for the socio-economic development of the society. While humans have always needed water, the deep relationship between mankind and water started when the first permanent human settlements were built. With the establishment of permanent settlements, humans took up agriculture to increase their food security. Early human settlements were located near freshwater supplies since no efficient water delivery systems had been developed at the time. Over time, humans realised that they needed to develop ways to move water from its source into urban areas. This would reduce the need for having to locate cities in close proximity to water supplies. The ancient Greeks were the first to develop elaborate water delivery systems. These Europeans implemented underground sanitation and water supply system that was able to deliver clean water to the cities while taking away the water produced waste from households. These advances were improved by the ancient Romans who developed aqueducts that supplied water from reservoirs to individual houses. These advances in water distribution contributed to the growth and prosperity of the Roman Empire. The Romans were able to experience social and economic development due to their water engineering projects. By building effective water supply infrastructures, the Roman society was able to thrive despite water scarcity in their geographic location. No significant advances were made in the water supply systems until the Industrial revolution era of the 18th century. During this significant period in the history of human civilisation, great advances were made in technology. Innovative devices such as the water pump were created making it possible for large quantities of water to be moved to reservoirs and then distributed to the population. The availability of clean tap water contributed to the rapid growth of urban centres during the 19th and 20th century. Goals and Objectives For centuries, people assumed that the water resources were unlimited and therefore paid little attention to the water usage. Water is one of the most abundant natural resources, considering the fact that 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered in this substance. However, most of this water is saline and therefore unusable by humans. It is estimated that only 1% of the planet’s water reserves are fresh and readily available for human use. This shows that, contrary to common perceptions, water is a scarce resource. Humans must look for ways to improve water use and bring about sustainability. Hodson (2014) admits that a major problem with water sustainability is that this resource is provided cheaply in most developed nations. Due to the low cost of the resource, people lack an economic incentive to control its usage. The government cannot implement a significant inc