World Water Day 2023: groundwater photo stories
A showcase of groundwater use from around the world highlighting how developing groundwater has benefited the lives of many people.
22/03/2023 By BGS PressThis collection of photo stories celebrates the way groundwater development has benefited many people.
Groundwater is fundamental to everyday life: spring water, wells and boreholes have provided safe drinking water and reliable water supplies for irrigation and industry for millennia. Today, half the world’s population is estimated to use groundwater for drinking and a third of the world’s irrigation comes from groundwater. However, the hidden nature of groundwater often means that its important role, both historically and in the present, is overlooked.
By showcasing examples of groundwater use from around the world, we hope to encourage efforts to develop and manage groundwater sustainably and to protect the supplies of the most vulnerable. These photographs are the finalists from a competition run by the International Association of Hydrogeologists and BGS for the UN Groundwater Summit in December 2022.
Jatrabari, Bangladesh
Téhini, Côte d’Ivoire
Mompiano, Italy
Kachchh, India
Nyiragiseke, Rwanda
Nigeria
Mangochi, Malawi
Alxa Province, China
Malta
Madagascar
Zambia
Madagascar
Orvieto, Italy
Segou region, Mali
More information
WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere, within a generation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 28 million people with clean water and nearly 29 million people with decent toilets.
- 771 million people in the world – one in ten – do not have clean water close to home
- Almost 1.7 billion people in the world – more than one in five – do not have a decent toilet of their own
- Over 300 000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation; that’s more than 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes
- Investing in safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene services provides up to 21 times more value than it costs
[1] WHO/UNICEF (2021) Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2020. Joint Monitoring Programme. Geneva: World Health Organisation.
[2] WHO/UNICEF (2021) Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2020. Joint Monitoring Programme. Geneva: World Health Organisation.
[3] WaterAid calculations based on: Prüss-Ustün A, et al. (2019). Burden of Disease from Inadequate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Selected Adverse Health Outcomes: An Updated Analysis with a Focus on Low- and Middle-Income Countries. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. vol 222, no 5, pp 765-777. AND The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2020) Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Seattle, WA: University of Washington.
[4] WaterAid. (2021) Mission-critical: Invest in water, sanitation and hygiene for a healthy and green economic recovery.
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