It is likely that the costs for clean-up and sustainable management will be greater for water than for any other resource. Although technology is already available or is being developed, the issue is the application of resources to the task and the development and implementation of appropriate water management structures. Of these, domestic sewage is the most important. Presently there is limited or no sewage treatment in major Asian or Latin American cities. In Latin America as little as 2 per cent of sewage receives any treatment.
Most domestic sewage is dumped untreated into surface water, posing obvious health dangers.
Residents, particularly the poor, devote considerable resources to boiling water for domestic use and purchasing bottled water. Many water bodies near cities receive industrial effluents from expanding manufacturing industries. Increasing production from industries such as chemicals, electronics, electroplating and machinery has meant heavy metals and non-degradable toxic and hazardous wastes have been added to rivers. Agricultural and mining activities are also polluting water sources. Run off from agrochemicals and leaching of tailings add to the degradation of water sources.