GLOBAL SCALE
PROBLEM
Climate change is the main threat to humanity. Draughts and water shortages are surely on of the most complex and harsh effects of global warming.
Water Stress by Country: 2040
Ratio of withdrawals to supply
Low (<10%)
Low to medium (10-20%)
Medium to high (20-40%)
High (40-80%)
Extremely high (> 80%)
NOTE: Projections are based on a business-as-usual scenario using SSP2 and RCP8.5. For more: http://ow.ly/RiWop
3.600 million people worldwide live within areas suffering from water shortage at least 1 month a year. By 2050 the number could reach 4.800 to 5.700 million people [UN Water 2019]
Between 2017 and 2040 water demand will grow 55% [UN Water 2019]
Around the world, approximately 35% of available drinking water is lost somewhere during the distribution phase
An estimate of 250 to 500 million cubic meters (m3) of drinking water is lost in mega cities each year. This amount of water is enough to provide an additional 10 to 20 million people with safe drinking water [UN 2010].
Water losses are closely related to the amount of pressure inside water networks [Chen, et. al, 2014]
Water networks face multiple stress factors such as: earthquakes, corrosion, material fatigue, amongst others. All of which favours inefficiency.
Moreover, our current access to information on water consumption is poor and incomplete. In most cases the only source of information are water utilities bills.
