Summary

In this study session, you have learned that:

1. Water is essential to sustain life and a satisfactory (adequate, safe and accessible) water supply must be available to all human beings.
2. Waterborne, water-washed, water-based and water-related diseases are the four main types of disease associated with water.
3. Water is in continuous motion by the processes of the hydrological cycle.
4. Improved access to clean water can reduce diarrhoea and waterborne diseases. The provision of safe water and sanitation is a key mechanism required to break the cycle of poverty, particularly for women and girls.
5. Sufficient, physically accessible, affordable and safe water are the main criteria for measuring whether your locality has satisfactory water provision or not.
6. Your local community's access to water can be assessed as no access to water, basic access, intermediate access or optimal access.
7. The poor, women and children, and people who are sick or elderly are more vulnerable to lack of safe, adequate and accessible water.
8. Rapid population growth, poverty, climate change and globalisation are likely to have negative impacts on the provision of safe, adequate and accessible water.
9. Capacity and finance are the major barriers that inhibit the enhancement of provision of safe, adequate, affordable and accessible water supply.