Chapter and author info
1. Introduction
Water covers more than two-thirds of the earth’s surface, but mostly salty and undrinkable. The available freshwater resource is only 2.7% of the available water on earth but only 1% of the available freshwater (in lakes, rivers and groundwater) is accessible. Most of the available freshwater resources are inaccessible because they are in the hidden part of the hydrologic cycles (deep aquifers) and in glaciers (frozen in the polar ice), which means safe drinkable water on earth has very small proportion (~3%) in the freshwater resources. Freshwater can also be obtained from the seawater by desalinization process. In some countries, sufficient freshwater is not available (physical scarcity). In some countries, abundant freshwater is available, but it is expensive to use (economic scarcity).
South Africa receives about 450 mm annual rainfall and is classified as a water-stressed country [1, 2]. The available freshwater resource can sustain 80 million people only. Some African countries (Ethiopia, Congo and Papua New Guinea) have excess freshwater resources, but they are having water shortage due to economic reasons. Ethiopia, the second populous countries in Africa, is the water tower of east Africa due to the availability of abundant water (nine major river basins). However, the country is among the few countries in the world affected by chronic water problem. The water scarcity in the world is further aggravated by the reduced water quantity (or an increased water demands) due to population growth and the declining of water quality by pollution.
As a criterion, an adequate, clean and safe drinking water supply has to be available for various users [3]. There is no universally accepted definition of “safe drinking water.” Safe drinking water is defined as the water that does not represent any significant risk to health over a lifetime of consumption [4]. The safe drinking water must be delivered that is pure, wholesome, healthful and potable. Safe water is not necessarily pure, it has some impurities in it. It contains some traces of salts such as magnesium, calcium, carbonates, bicarbonates and others. The degree of purity and safety is a relative term and debatable. Clean/pure water has no minerals and it only contains H and O. According to the Monitoring organizations under the supervision of the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), “safe drinking water” is defined as water from an “improved water source,” which includes household connections, public standpipes, boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs and rainwater collections. According to the same organization, “access to safe drinking water” is defined as the availability of at least 20 l per person per day from an “improved” source within 1 km of the user’s dwelling.
Safe drinking (potable) water is the water that can be delivered to the user and is safe for drinking, food preparation, personal hygiene and washing [3]. The water must meet the required (chemical, biological and physical) quality standards at the point of supply to the users [5]. Therefore, safe drinking water is a relative term, which depends on the standards and guidelines of a country; the standards set for the different quality parameters are different. The standard of WHO is not exactly the same as that of USA, Canada, European Commission, Russia, India, South Africa, Ethiopia, and so on. The term “safe” depends on the particular resistance ability of an individual. Water that is safe for drinking in some African countries might not be safe in European countries. Some African countries already developed resistance to some of the water-related diseases.
Safe drinking water is anonymously accepted as an international agenda and priority, which is evident from the MDGs and SDGs of the United Nations (UN) initiative and vision (MDGs 7 and SDGs 6). Despite the MDGs effort, still many people lack access to safe drinking water, even lack access to basic water. Globally, more than 1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water. According to the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) report [6], contaminated/dirty water is killing more people than cancer, AIDS, wars or accidents. Population of the world is increasing and the available freshwater resources almost remain constant. The number of people without access to safe drinking water is increasing. This is mostly related to the ever-increasing population growth in the developing countries and the inability (or unwillingness) of governments (local and national) to provide adequate water supply facilities in these countries [7].
2. Drinking water safety and access
2.1. Access to safe drinking water
Water is connected to every form of life on earth and is the basic human need, equally important as air. Water is connected to every aspect of human day-to-day activities directly or indirectly. At a basic level, everyone needs access to safe water in adequate quantities for drinking, cooking, personal hygiene and sanitation facilities that do not compromise health or dignity. Therefore, access to safe and dependable (clean and fresh) water is the fundamental/basic right of humans [8]. The UN and other countries declared that access to clean, safe drinking water is a basic human right, and an essential step toward improving living standards worldwide. Access to water was one of the main goals of UN-MDGs and it is also one of the main goals of the UN-SDGs. The South African constitution declares “access to water and food for all” as the main goal in the constitution following the 1998 National Water Act [9]. Despite these facts, still there are inequalities in access to safe drinking water in South Africa and in the world, the problem has more impacts on the poor, women and children. There are also inequalities within and among nations [6]. For instance, the population with access to safe drinking water in Congo was 77% for rural dwellers and 17% for rural dwellers by the year 2002 [6]. Inequalities in access to water and sanitation are morally unacceptable, but they are prohibited under international law [3].
Globally, it is estimated that 89% of people have access to water suitable for drinking [10]. According to UNDP [11] report, one out of six people do not have access to clean water, that is, about 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water. In some countries, especially in Africa, almost half of the population do not have access to safe drinking water and hence, is afflicted with poor health [12]. The number of people without safe drinking water is more than the number reported by UNDP [11]. This is due to the fact that most of the water supply facilities initiated during the MDGs in developing countries are not functioning properly.
2.2. Benefits of safe drinking water
Water of satisfactory quality is the fundamental indicator of health and well-being of a society and hence, crucial for the development of a country. Contaminated water not only has the potential to pose immediate threat to human, but also can affect an individual productive rate [13]. According to the WHO [14] report, an estimated 1.1 billion people in the world drink unsafe water. Approximately 3.1% of the global annual death (1.7 million) and 3.7% of the annual burden (disability) (54.2 million) are caused by the use of unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation and hygiene.
Water provides a number of benefits and services for humans and the ecosystem. As reported by OECD [15], the benefit of water is not documented sufficiently, resulting in low political priority for water issues and in suboptimal levels of investment in water infrastructures. The same document also indicates that the benefit of water is mostly hidden in other technical documents. Most researchers have indicated that the benefit-cost ratio of access to water is more than 2, and in some cases, it can reach 7.0. In developing countries like Africa, the benefit-cost ratio of access to water is very high (more than 5:1 ratio) because it is related to every dimension of developmental activities (agriculture, energy, industry, etc.). In such areas, the return on investment in water services usually result in a substantial economic
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