Today, March 22nd, 2010, is annual World Water Day, originally declared by the United Nations in 1993.
Some water facts (Source: unwater.org):
- 2 million tons af raw sewage and other waste (ag or industrial) are dumped into the world's water every day.
- 2.5 billion people worldwide lack adequate sanitation and, worse yet, 18% of the world's population defecate in the open.
- Poor countries with access to clean water and sanitation services experienced faster economic growth than those without.
- More people die from unsafe water each year than from all forms of violence, including war.
- City tap water can have no confirmed E. coli or fecal coliform bacteria. FDA bottled water rules include no such prohibition (a certain amount of any type of coliform bacteria is allowed in bottled water).
- Between 2/3 to 3/4 of the bottled water sold is in the state it's bottled in. Most likely you are consuming water with no affiliated federal regulations to assure its safety.
- About a million plastic bottles are disposed of daily, it is one of the major culprits when it comes to pollution.
- In 2006, bottled water manufacturing had one of the highest rates of workplace injury and illness. With one incident for every 11 workers, bottled water workers are injured and fall sick more than twice as often as the typical private sector worker. The injury rate of bottled water workers is also 50 percent higher than both the broader manufacturing industry and the construction industry.
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