The World faces a worsening series of local and regional water quantity and quality problems, largely as a result of poor water allocation, water wastage and increasing degradation of water resources. Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of the population increase during this century. Water shortages and pollution are causing widespread public health problems, limiting economic and agricultural development and harming a wide range of ecosystems. The number of regions in the world where demands are outstripping available water supplies is growing. This affects particularly the poorer part of the population.
Many households purchase water at considerable cost from local water vendors.
Often this water involves a high sanitary risk, being contaminated during collection or transport, or because of insufficient protection of the water source. Faced with the challenges of the coming decades the water and sanitation sub sector in the context of integrated water management must mobilise all the human, organisational and financial resources available. It must do so at all levels, within communities, organisations of society, private sector, local authorities and sector agencies. It must seek to find innovative ways to create synergies within the sector and across sectoral boundaries. Access to unbiased information about technologies, methods and approaches is one of the most crucial ingredients to enable informed decision making about strategies, innovations, institutional change, strengthening organisations and investment in suitable technology for sustained development.