By Benedict Mayaki SJ

“Saving water might seem to be a small thing, but it is actually big when everybody does their part… when you are saving water, you are not just protecting the lake or the stream in your neighbourhood; you’re doing much more than that for ecosystems for the climate and for the planet.”

Richard Connor, Editor in Chief on the United Nations’ World Water Development Report, has this message for everyone on World Water Day celebrated annually on 22 March. He invites us to be conscious about our use of water in order to protect and manage this essential resource.

Water and sanitation

The annual observance of World Water Day is to draw awareness for the over 2 billion people currently living without access to safe water, including the poorest around the world.

Mr. Connor highlights the water crisis which is particularly pronounced in some areas in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, where many people do not have access to safe water supply.

Another aspect of this crisis, he notes, is sanitation, as an estimated 4 billion people do not have access to safe sanitation facilities and over 800 million still practice open defecation – a figure that underlines that we have a long way to go to meet the sustainable development goals for water and sanitation.

Groundwater

The theme for World Water Day 2022 is “Groundwater – making the invisible visible.”

The theme shines the light on groundwater which exists in aquifers and saturated zones beneath the land surface. Groundwater is one of our most valuable resources even though we probably never see it or realize it is there, hence the theme dedicated to making the invisible visible.

Mr. Connor explains that groundwater is the major, affordable source of water in many rural populations and plays a crucial role in the development of these communities. Therefore, it is important to ensure that it is made available at an affordable price or for free. Even in cities, the reliance on groundwater is increasing as roughly 50 percent of urban populations now rely on groundwater.

Sustainable use of groundwater

While saltwater, which makes up most of the water on the planet, is not readily fit for human consumption, 99% of consumable freshwater is groundwater which has the advantage of being of high quality and requires very low levels of treatment.