Clean Water and Sanitation - Planet Health Check

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

The official wording for Goal 6 is: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. Water which supports the life of both terrestrial and aquatic organisms, covers about 75% of the planet but less than 3% of this amount constitutes fresh water, and with regard to this very small percentage, most of this water is not directly accessible to the world population and, while some 2.1 billion people still do not have drinking water at home, high-income populations are used to wasting this precious limited resource.

Clean water is of paramount importance for sanitation also. Worldwide two out of five people do not have a basic hand-washing facility with soap and water. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the critical importance of sanitation, hygiene and adequate access to clean water for preventing and containing diseases. As a result SDG 6 represents one of the most fundamental targets to satisfy: the achievement of this goal is not only vital for our good health but also, more pragmatically, clean water is necessary for social and economic well-being.

Economic growth and productivity are closely linked to a good sustainable management of water resources: a freer access to drinking water and a faster and more widespread access to clean water needed to guarantee basic sanitation are the “keystone” of the entire target. A better water management makes the agricultural and food sectors richer and more resistant to the variability of rainfall and makes healthier the national economy of each country. Monitoring and protecting ecosystems and biodiversity ensures greater water purification and, consequently, provides higher standards to water quality itself.

Today 1 in 4 health care facilities lacks basic water services.
3 in 10 people lack access to safely managed drinking water services and 6 in 10 people have no access to safely managed sanitation facilities.
At the end of 2019 acute food insecurity affected almost one in ten people worldwide, is it to say approximately 750 million people.
Women and girls are responsible for water collection in 80 per cent of households without access to water on premises.
Water scarcity affects more than 40 per cent of the global population and is projected to rise. Over 1.7 billion people are currently living in river basins where water use exceeds recharge.
More than 80% of the wastewater resulting from human activities is discharged into rivers or sea without any pollution removal.
2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services, such as toilets or latrines.
Approximately 70 per cent of all water abstracted from rivers, lakes and aquifers is used for irrigation.

Target 6.1 Safe and affordable drinking water

By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.

Target 6.2 End open defecation and provide access to sanitation and hygiene

By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons.

Target 6.3 Improve water quality, wastewater treatment and safe reuse

By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.

Target 6.4 Increase water-use efficiency and ensure freshwater supplies

By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity.

Target 6.5 Implement integrated water resources management

By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate.

Target 6.6 Protect and restore water-related ecosystems

By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes.

Target 6.A Expand water and sanitation support to developing countries

By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies.

Target 6.B Support local engagement in water and sanitation management

Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management.

Challenge: unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and insufficient hygiene kill 3.5 million people every year;
Solution: stop dumping chemicals and waste into the environment, invest in sanitation and raise awareness on best hygiene practices.

Challenge: 80% of wastewater is released into the environment untreated. Degrade the environment and you destroy nature’s ability to provide safe drinking water;
Solution: protect natural resources and avoid water pollution.

Challenge: water scarcity affects more than 40% of the global population;
Solution: restore ecosystems to secure access to safe water.

What can we do to help achieving SDG 6? As a matter of fact today we are already experiencing water shortages and we should urgently prevent water pollution and water waste. The world’s governmental and non-governmental organizations, but also common people all together, must work towards the achievement of SDG 6 which represents an important common interest for the entire humanity. Governments and civil society must be empowered to invest in research, development and protection of water and to promote better management of water resources linked to a more conscious and intelligent use of it. Each of us has to get active and do their part: that’s why being involved in the campaigns of World Water Day and World Toilet Day is essential: their celebration serves to make people aware of the importance of this precious resource and provide information to act on hygiene issues.

What can I do?

…reduce my water consumption.
…reduce my “water footprint“ with the utilization of alternative products: avoid, for example, buying jeans (it takes about 10 thousand liters of water to dye a pair of jeans!)
…drink drinking tap water.
…collect and encourage the collection of rainwater.
…cultivate flowers (marigold, poppy, Chinese lilac, etc…) and plant trees (laurel, wisteria, cactus, etc…) that require little use of water resources.