WHO's goals for 2015 call for improved sanitation access for 2.2 billion more people. That is a lot of money but it is less than a tenth of what Europe spends on alcohol every year. Most of them lived in Asia and Africa. In Asia, for example, water rates are only about 70 percent of what it costs to distribute the water. Rural water supplies frequently don't work at all.
Sewage is left untreated throughout the world, even in industrialized countries.
But in Latin America, only 14 percent of wastewater gets treated. Delivering water is also a problem. In developing countries' urban areas, about 40 percent of water doesn't make it from the pumping station to customers' faucets. Even more gets lost on its way to rural areas. This is a problem of dignity and respect for basic human rights.