World Water Day on 22 March 2018 provided yet another timely reminder that water is humanity’s most precious resource – and that we must strive ceaselessly to ensure access to it for as many people as possible.
Communities in many areas of the world will face growing difficulties in supplying their people with high-quality water. The water shortages problem will be particularly acute in large cities. For example, in Rome in late July 2017, the municipal government narrowly avoided imposing rationing and switching off the taps for eight hours a day. The crisis was caused by two factors: climate change seriously reducing the amount of rainfall, and a leakage rate of 45% in the water supply system.
Urban demand for water is expected to grow by 80% by 2050, while, at the same time, climate change is altering the geography of where water is found.
