United States and Partners Work Toward Clean Water for All

New guidance provided on clean water problems and solutions

The United States, the World Health Organization and other international partners are launching a new initiative to help countries deliver safe drinking water to their citizens.

Announcement of the campaign came March 20 from the Fourth World Water Forum under way in Mexico City. The event, March 16-22, coincides with World Water Day March 22.

The campaign focuses on an Internet resource, the WS Portal, which offers access to health-based risk assessments that identify problems in a water system and offer corrective actions to address those problems, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Poor water quality causes diseases in more than 3 billion people worldwide each year, with children under age 5 the most severely affected group. E. coli, salmonella and cholera are among the diseases that can be transmitted through water.

"March 22 is World Water Day, and I am pleased that the U.S. can now announce a new tool for countries to address a very serious global problem," said Judith E. Ayres, the EPA's assistant administrator for the Office of International Affairs.

"For countries to move forward in providing a better life for their citizens," she added, "clean water and adequate sanitation are essential first steps."

The WS Portal is considered a first step in the widespread dissemination of best practices for delivering safe drinking water through the use of Water Safety Plans (WSP). The EPA has provided initial financial assistance in developing the Web site and is involved in WSP demonstration projects in Jamaica and India.

Other partners in the clean water initiative are the World Bank Water and Sanitation Program, the Australian Agency for International Development, the United Kingdom Department of International Development, the New Zealand Ministry of Health, the International Water Association and Water for People.

World Water Day, initiated at the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development - the Earth Summit - in Rio de Janeiro, has been recognized internationally since 1992.

In 2006, the theme is water and culture, emphasizing the key role that water has played in the history of civilization and the daily conduct of people's lives.

Source: U.S. Department of State

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