Keeping our freshwater fresh - let's quench our thirsty planet

This document summarizes global freshwater pressures and health risks, linking degraded water quality to drivers such as expanding food and energy production, resource extraction, infrastructure development, pollution, natural disasters, and climate-change-driven saltwater intrusion, with consequences for human health, biodiversity, and the suitability of water for agriculture and energy. It reports that only 2.5% of Earth’s water is fresh, 80% of wastewater is discharged untreated, 1.8 billion people consume contaminated drinking water, and 2.4 billion lack basic sanitation. It notes widespread river pollution in Latin America, Asia, and Africa—pathogenic in about one-third of rivers, organic in one-seventh, and moderate salinity in one-tenth—outlines key freshwater sources and uses, and lists practical individual actions aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 6.