Where is the dirtiest water in the world?

There’s approximately 1,386,000,000 cubic kilometres of water on Earth. With 2.5 per cent being freshwater, you’d think there’s enough clean, healthy water for everyone to enjoy.

That isn’t the case:

• 703 million people––1 in 11 worldwide––lack access to clean water.
• 2.2 billion people do not have access to safely managed drinking water services.
• Women and girls globally walk an average of six kilometres to haul 44 pounds of water.

This happens all over the world. Every. Single. Day.

It’s against this backdrop that World Vision Canada examines exactly where is the dirtiest water in the world.

Central African Republic

The Central African Republic is landlocked. Geography, along with conflict and instability, have left millions with some of the dirtiest water in the world.

Its population is 6.7 million people. Yet:

• Only three per cent of people have access to running water of any kind.
• Wells and pumps have been destroyed by violence or contaminated by dead bodies.

Around 57 per cent of people need immediate water assistance, and yet, only six per cent have clean water access. Tap water is unsafe, and families can’t prepare cassava, a staple food.

Cassava must soak before cooking to remove cyanide. Water shortages reduce this treatment, forcing families to ingest the toxins contained within.

In the Central African Republic, clean water is a far-off luxury enjoyed by far too few.

It shouldn’t be this way.

Haiti

Ravaged by earthquakes. Plagued by instability. Devastated by hurricanes. Seemingly, water infrastructure is torn down faster than it’s rebuilt.

As a result, Haiti may have some of the dirtiest tap water in the world.

Water in Haiti is often contaminated with cholera and typhoid. Water containing human waste is sometimes used for cooking and drinking. Because of this:

• Over 9,700 people have died from cholera since 2010.
• Roughly 16 per cent of deaths for children under five are due to waterborne diseases.
• Over 70 per cent or people don’t have access to safe water.

In Haiti, unsafe water is dangerous. And expensive. In some areas, the average family spends 10% of their income simply to access water.

(Canadians spend less than 1% of their income on water).

Imagine spending that much. Just to have water of any kind available.

Chad

Chad has some of the dirtiest water in the world. In a country of about 21 million people:

• Only five per cent have access to safe, clean water.
• Less than one in two children have access to safe drinking water.
• Roughly 63 per cent do not have a toilet.

The crisis is especially clear in two parts of the country.

Lake Chad has shrunk 90 per cent since the 1960s due to climate change. Pollution and waste have also damaged the water.

Ouaddaï province is home to 40,000 Sudanese refugees. People have just six litres of water per day for all their needs (drinking, cooking, washing, etc.) That’s far below the recommended 20 litres per day.

When water is that scarce, drinking is the priority over washing and sanitation.

• Lake Chad Basin emergency: Over 11 million people in the Lake Chad Basin are impacted by violence, climate change and poverty. Learn how World Vision is helping and how you can, too.

India

Water scarcity is an issue in India.

It has 4 per cent of the world’s freshwater and 18 per cent of the population. This imbalance means up to 70 million people may be displaced by water scarcity by 2050.

Much of the available water is dangerously polluted. Consider:

• Seventy per cent of India’s surface water is unsafe to consume.
• Ninety-five million people lack access to clean water nearby.

And every day, 36 billion litres of untreated wastewater are dumped into rivers and lakes.

Additionally, groundwater in India contains arsenic and other toxins. In southwest Punjab, studies found women who drank polluted water had cancer rates three times greater than India’s national average.

Right now, in India, drinking water is a luxury or a risk.

Or both.

It should be neither.

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is one of the world’s wettest countries:

• Roughly two per cent of its surface area is covered in water.
• There’s an estimated 801 billion cubic metres of renewable water resources.
• Some areas can experience 10,000 millimetres of rain per year.

Water quantity isn’t the problem. Quality and safety are.

Because of factors like pollution and poor sanitation, Papua New Guinea has some of the dirtiest water in the world.

Fewer than 20 per cent of people have toilet access. Nearly five million people (out of 11 million) lack access to safe water.

The results are devastating.

At one point, dirty water killed over 360 people every six weeks. Even now, over 200 children under five die each year from diarrhea caused by dirty water and poor toilets.

• Helping Papua New Guinea thrive with WASH: Through World Vision’s Wa ter S anitation and H ygiene services, communities along the Pahoturi River are reclaiming its water for everybody.

Indonesia (Citarium River)

In West Java, Indonesia, the Citarum River stretches nearly 300 kilometres long and provides water for around 35 million people.

It might be the most polluted river in the world. Each day, 20,000 tons of waste enter the water.

Over 2,000 factories, mostly textile plants, release toxic dyes, too. Besides making water unsafe:

• Over 60 per cent of aquatic life in the Citarum have died.
• Detected water pH levels of 14 can burn human flesh.

Only 10 per cent of homes in the region have safe sanitation. So, many people use the river for daily washing and bathroom needs.

Drinking this water can result in diarrhea or dysentery. Bathing in it can lead to rashes and infections.

Cleanup programs are in place to restore the Citarum from “toxic soup” that’s drowning in plastic.

Success cannot come soon enough.

Burkina Faso

Water in Burkina Faso faces threats from many sides.

1. Pollution. It has some of the dirtiest drinking water in the world due to illegal dumping and poor sanitation. Over 33 per cent of boreholes are polluted and 14 million people lack access to a proper toilet.

2. Conflict. Water is often targeted during violence. In 2022, 58 water points were attacked and 830,000 people lost access to clean water.

3. Climate . Surface water is scarce. Groundwater is tough to extract. Rainfall is inconsistent. Some areas face prolonged droughts.

All told:

• Over 4,500 children under five die each year from diarrhea linked to unsafe water and toilets.
• More than 12 million people live without clean water.
• Up to 2,000 millimetres of dam water is lost annually from heat and evaporation.

The numbers tell the story of life without clean water.

And what’s possible with it.

• What happens to humans without clean water? Water is a human right and essential for survival. Learn about the impact on people and communities when clean water becomes a rarity.

Niger

Niger ’s water crisis is a study in compounding problems.

It has some of the most unsafe water in the world. Over ten million people lack clean water and 17 million lack toilet access.

The challenge grows because 80 per cent of Niger’s population use agriculture for food and income. Farming requires reliable water supplies.

Yet drought, climate change and instability strain already limited water resources.

Water is scarce. Polluted. Much of what remains is needed for farming and under constant threat.

The results:

• Over 11,500 children under five die yearly from diarrhea caused by dirty water and poor toilets.
• Twenty million people cannot wash their hands at home.
• More than 60 per cent of well water samples are polluted.

For Nigeriens, each water crisis compounds the next. And communities worry about the challenges to come.

• Two sisters. Two worlds. One need. Firdaoussou and Mahana are sisters in Niger. Their lives will unfold differently, yet their shared needs and responsibilities around water bring them together.

Russia (Lake Karachay)

Lake Karachay in Russia may have once had the dirtiest water in the world.

It might still be the most polluted spot on Earth.

The lake was a dumping ground for nuclear waste. Small (0.5 square kilometres) and shallow (maximum depth was 3.4 metres), radioactive material often floated near the surface.

How bad was it? Well:

• Standing on its shore for 50 minutes could deliver a fatal dose of radiation.
• Between 1951 and 1993, contamination shrank the lake by 70 per cent.
• In 1978, winds blew radioactive dust from the lakebed and affected roughly 500,000 people.

Imagine the intensity of Chernobyl, concentrated in an area the size of the Rogers Centre.

The lake is now filled with concrete and rocks. It’s also in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most radioactive lake.

Ever.

Pacific Ocean (The Great Pacific Garbage Patch)

It floats between California and Hawaii. It’s about twice the size of Texas.

It contains over 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic and debris and discarded fishing gear.

It’s the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). And there’s nothing great about it.

It was first discovered in the 1970s. Since then, 80,000 tons of plastic have concentrated in a swirling, moving, soupy mass called a gyre.

And it still grows:

• Each year, 1.2 million tons of plastic join the patch.
• Microplastics smaller than 0.5 millimetres make up 94% of the total pieces of plastic in the GPGP.
• Larger plastics like fishing nets and packaging account for 75 per cent of patch’s mass.

Most of the plastic comes from countries bordering the Pacific Rim.

But it’s a reminder that collectively, we can do our part to curb the world’s pervasive plastic problem.

Help clean the dirtiest water in the world

Clean water is a human right. It’s essential for life. For 1.7 billion adults and children, they have nothing but contaminated water to drink.

Together, we can change that. Here’s how:

Help drill a well

• With wells, 57 per cent of the world’s total groundwater could be accessible. Your gift provides equipment, parts and engineers to drill the well, and training to maintain it.

Supply water purification and hygiene kits

• Help families access clean water for cooking, drinking and sanitation. Your gift supplies water filters, purification tablets, soap, toothpaste and more.

Donate to the Clean Water Fund

• Give safe drinking water to protect against worms, cholera and other waterborne diseases. Your gift helps build pipelines, handwashing stations, pumps and more.

• A pipe dream comes true. For over 50 years, a chieftain in the Philippines fought to bring clean water to her village. When it finally came, it signaled a better future for everyone.

Help build latrines

• Your gift helps build and install latrines and provide hygiene education. Improve sanitation, dignity and even school attendance for children, families and communities.

• Toilets for all. What happens when everyone has a safe place to go? For families around the world, the beautiful benefits of sanitation are life-changing and life-saving.