Those brain cells of yours worked it out yet?

Good - clean water is the right answer. And while many folk take it for granted, one in eight of the world’s population does not have access to it.

Concentrating? Good because you need to hear this. In developing countries, around a billion can’t get near safe drinking water and around 2.5 billion lack adequate sanitation. Worse still, estimates say this leads to 5,000 children a day dying from diarrhoeal diseases.

If that’s not made you put more value on water nothing will.

But thankfully wheels are in motion to get this mess sorted.

Back in ‘92 World Water Day (www.worldwaterday.org) launched. Introduced to go toe to toe with water related issues, WWD have given the 1 billion plus without access to water hope. March 22 is World Water Day so get it scribbled in your diaries. Right now would be good.

Another company that’s earned a shout-out are Red Button Design. Their Reverse Osmosis Sanitation System (ROSS) is a two in one water carrier/purifier, and is going down a storm across the four corners. If it’s ringing bells with you, you’re not losing it. It graced Dragon’s Den recently and snatched the best deal in the show’s history. The evidence is here: www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/games/roleplay.shtml

This film about water today is well worth of your attention: http://faraday.theiet.org/worldwater

If the world of water, sanitation and health have struck a chord with you, the World Health Organisation (WHO) website is where you need to be looking: www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/en

You could help in providing supplies of clean drinking water as:

• An ecologist researching long-term sanitation methods for reusing waste water* for crop production
• An agricultural scientist researching the effects of the cleaned waste water on crops
• A chemical engineer developing processes in third world countries to purify water on a large scale, to enable it to be safe to drink
• A biochemist examining levels of pollutants in waste water, for example detergents, pesticides and pharmaceuticals, and finding methods of reducing these to safe levels
• A geoscientist exploring new supplies of water from underground
• A product designer or civil engineer designing and installing systems to pump and carry water to where it is needed
• An health psychologist working to embed water conservation behaviours into populations
• A fundraiser in international aid organisations with a scientific understanding applying for grants to improve water management.

  Waste water* = water generated in households, not including the water containing human urine or faeces, but including water from kitchens, bathrooms and washing rooms.

  Check out this website for a film about water in the world today and tackle the ‘Tomorrow’s water’ challenge.

  If you are interested to learn more about water, sanitation and health, check out the World Health Organisation (WHO) website.