Humanity needs water, and every drop is precious. World Water Day, on 22 March every year, is a day to focus our attention on the importance of fresh water.
We all need water
Did you know that in the UK every person uses about 150 litres of water every day and most of the water we use is to flush the toilet?
The truth about water
We may be lucky enough to have clean water whenever we want, but this is not the case for many people around the world. Around 750 million people do not have clean water to drink; that's around 1 in 10 of the world's population.
But what does this mean?
If we drink dirty water or we can't wash our hands when we go to the toilet, we can catch diseases from the bacteria. Every year over 500,000 children die from diarrhoea from dirty water. That's around 1,400 children every day!
Water for everyone
In 1993 the United Nations established World Day for Water. On 22 March every year, countries around the world hold events to educate people about the importance of fresh water and water-related challenges. People organise events to raise money and help support communities that don't have access to clean water.
At one UK school, to mark World Water Day, children walk 6km with 6 litres of water so that they can see how it feels to walk a long distance carrying heavy bottles of water. People give them money to do these things, and all the money helps get clean water to as many people as possible around the world.
Activity 1 - Vocabulary matching
Match the vocabulary with the correct definition and write a - e next to the numbers 1 - 5.
1...... to hold an event a. to put lots of water into the toilet to clean it
2...... bacteria b. to become sick
3...... dirty water c. organisms that affect your health
4...... a disease d. to have a special day that people can come to
5...... to flush the toilet e. water that is not safe to drink
Answers 1. d; 2. c; 3. e; 4. b; 5. a
To find more English language activities visit www,britishcouncil.org/learnenglishteens
(c)British Council 2018
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