the clear benefits of improving water sources (a who study showed a potential economic benefit of $3–34 usd for every us$1 invested), aid for water improvements have declined from 1998 to 2008 and generally is less than is needed to meet the mdg targets. in addition to increasing funding resources towards water quality, many development plans stress the importance of improving policy, market and governance structures to implement, monitor and enforce water quality improvements. reducing the amount of pollution emitted from both point and non-point sources represents a direct method to address the source of water quality challenges. pollution reduction represents a more direct and low-cost method to improve water quality, compared to costly and extensive wastewater treatment improvements. various policy measures and infrastructure systems could help limit water pollution in developing countries. these include: improved management, enforcement and regulation for pre-treatment of industrial and agricultural waste, including charges for pollution policies to reduce agricultural run-off or subsidies to improve the quality and reduce the quantity needed of water polluting agricultural inputs (e.g. fertilizers) limiting water abstraction during critical low flow periods to limit the concentration of pollutants strong and consistent political leadership on water land planning (e.g. locating industrial sites outside the city) water treatment main articles: portable water purification, self-supply of water and sanitation, and water treatment water treatment technologies can convert non-freshwater to freshwater by removing pollutants. much of water's physical pollution includes organisms, metals, acids, sediment, chemicals, waste, and nutrients. water can be treated and purified into freshwater with limited or no constituents through certain processes. the processes involved in removing the contaminants include physical processes such as settling and filtration, chemical processes such as disinfection and coagulation, and biological processes such as slow sand filtration. a variety of innovations exist to effectively treat water at the point of use for human consumption. studies have shown treatment to point of use sources reduces child mortality by diarrhea by 29%. home water treatments are also a part of the united nations' millennium development goals, with the goal of providing both clean water supply and sewage connection in homes. although these interventions have been evaluated by the united nations, various challenges may reduce the effectiveness of home treatment solutions, such as low education, low-dedication to repair, replacement, and maintenance, or local repair services or parts are unavailable. current point of use and small scale treatment technologies include: nadcc, sodium dichloroisocyanurate boiling water solar disinfection (sodis) chlorine global programs central asia water and energy program central asia water and energy program (cawep) is a world bank, european union, swiss & uk funded program to organize central asian governments on common water resources management through regional organizations, like the international fund for saving the aral sea (ifas). the program focuses on three issues: water security, energy security and energy-water linkages. it aims to foster balanced communications between central asian countries to achieve a regional goal, water and energy security. to ensure their goal, the program works closely with governments, civil and national organizations. most recently, the program helped organize the global disruptive tech challenge: restoring landscapes in the aral sea region. this competition was created to encourage bright minds to come up with revolutionary solutions for land degradation and desertification in the aral sea region, which used to be home to one of the largest lakes in the world and has since been reduced near to nothing. there were several winning projects that centered around agriculture and land management, sustainable forestry, socio-economic development and globally expanding people knowledge and access to information on the issue. sanitation and water for all aimed at achieving the united nation's sustainable development goal 6, sanitation and water for all (swa) was established as a platform for partnerships between governments, civil society, the private sector, un agencies, research and learning institutions, and the philanthropic community. swa encourages partners to prioritize water, sanitation and hygiene along with ensuring sufficient finance and building better governance structures. to ensure that these priorities remain so, the swa holds “high level meetings” where partners communicate the recent developments made, measure progress, and continue the discussion on the importance of sustainable development goal 6. the water project the water project, inc is a non-profit international organization that develops and implements sustainable water projects in sub-saharan africa like kenya, rwanda, sierra leone, sudan, and uganda. the water project has funded or completed over 2,500 projects and 1,500 water sources that have helped over 569,000 people improve their access to clean water and sanitation. these projects focus heavily on teaching proper sanitation and hygiene practices, as well as improving water facilities by drilling boreholes, updating well structures, and introducing rain water harvesting solutions. un-water main article: un-water in 2003, the united nations high level committee on programmes created un-water, an inter-agency mechanism, "to add value to un initiatives by fostering greater co-operation and information-sharing among existing un agencies and outside partners." un-water publishes communication materials for decision-makers that work directly with water issues and provides a platform for discussions regarding global water management. they also sponsor world water day on 22 march to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and sustainable freshwater management. country examples overview water supply and sanitation by countryafghanistanalgeriaangolaargentinaaustraliaazerbaijanbangladeshbelgiumbelizebeninbhutanboliviabrazilburkina fasocambodiacanadachilechinacolombiacosta ricacubademocratic republic of the congodenmarkdominican republicecuadoregyptel salvadorethiopiafrancegeorgiagermanyghanagreecegrenadaguatemalaguyanahaitihondurasindiaindonesiairaniraqirelandisraelitalyjamaicajapanjordankenyakuwaitlaoslebanonlesotholiberialibyamalaysiamalimexicomoroccomozambiquenamibianepalnetherlandsnew zealandnicaraguanigeriaomanpakistanpalestinepanamaparaguayperuphilippinesportugalrussiarwandasaudi arabiasenegalsierra leonesingaporesolomon islandssouth africasouth sudanspainsudansyriataiwantanzaniathailandtrinidad and tobagotunisiaturkeytuvaluugandaunited kingdomunited statesuruguayvenezuelavietnamyemenzambiazimbabwe water pollution by countryafghanistanalbaniaalgeriaaustraliabangladeshbelgiumbrazilcanadachilechinacolombiacroatiadenmarkdominican republicegyptel salvadorgeorgiaghanaguatemalahondurasindiaindonesiairanjapankazakhstankenyakuwaitlebanonliberialibyamexicomongolianepalnew zealandnicaraguapakistanparaguayperuphilippinespolandrussiaserbiasingaporesri lankasyriataiwanthailandturkeyugandaunited statesuruguayuzbekistanvenezuelavietnamzimbabwe india main article: water supply and sanitation in india india's growing population is putting a strain on the country's preciously scarce water resources. according to the world bank, the population of india as of 2019 was roughly 1,366,417,750 people. although this number has increased since then, india's population count has made it the second-most populated country in the world, following close behind the first most populated country, china. the country is classified as "water stressed" with a water availability of 1,000–1,700 m3/person/year. 21% of countries' diseases are related to water. in 2008, 88% of the population had access and was using improved drinking water sources. however, "improved drinking water source" is an ambiguous term, ranging in meaning from fully treated and 24-hour availability to merely being piped through the city and sporadically available. this is in part due to large inefficiencies in the water infrastructure in which up to 40% of water leaks out. in unicef's 2008 report, only 31% of the population had access and used improved sanitation facilities. a little more than half of the 16 million residents of new delhi, the capital city, have access to this service. every day, 950 million gallons of sewage flows from new delhi into the yamuna river without any significant forms of treatment. this river bubbles with methane and was found to have a fecal coliform count 10,000 times the safe limit for bathing. the inequality between urban and rural areas is significant. in rural areas, 84% can access safe water while only 21% for sanitation. in contrast, 96% of people in urban areas have access to water sources and sanitation which meet satisfying quality. additionally, there are not enough wastewater treatment facilities to dispose of wastewater discharged from the growing population. by 2050 half of india's population will account for urban areas and will face serious water problems. surface water contamination, due to lack of sewage treatment and industrial discharge, makes groundwater increasingly exploited in many regions of india. this is aggravated by heavily subsidized energy costs for agriculture practices that make up roughly 80% of india's water resource demand. in india, 80% of the health issues come from waterborne diseases. part of this challenge includes addressing the pollution of the ganges (ganga) river, which is home to about 400 million people. the river receives about over 1.3 billion litres of domestic waste, along with 260 million litres of industrial waste, run off from 6 million tons of fertilizers and 9,000 tons of pesticides used in agriculture, thousands of animal carcasses and several hundred human corpses released into the river every day for spiritual rebirth. two-thirds of this waste is released into the river untreated. kenya main article: water supply and sanitation in kenya kenya, a country of 50 million population, struggles with a staggering population growth rate of 2.28% per year. this high population growth rate pushes kenya's natural resources to the brink of total depletion. 32% of the population don't have access to improved water sources whereas 48% cannot access basic sanitation systems. much of the country has a severely arid climate, with a few areas enjoying rain and access to water resources. deforestation and soil degradation have polluted surface water, and the government does not have the capacity to develop water treatment or distribution systems, leaving the vast majority of the country without access to water. this has exacerbated gender politics, as 74% of women must spend an average of 8 hours per day securing water for their families. low income has worsened the situation. it is estimated that 66% of the total population lives to earn less than $3.20 per day. despite its poor quality and unreliableness, costs for water in local areas are 9 times higher than that of safe water in urban areas. this regional inequality makes people in rural areas difficult to obtain water on a daily basis. furthermore, even in urban areas, which are equipped with piped water systems, it's hard to produce a reliable constant flow of water. practical solutions are needed in the entire country. the sand dam is one of the decentralized rainwater harvesting infrastructures to deal with this unbalanced water distribution. this low-cost infrastructure has a simple and understandable structure, conserving surplus water for later use, increasing efficiency and rural regions' water access by saving people's time to gathering water on a long road. there are already about 1,800 sand dams in kitui county. the growing population and stagnant economy have exacerbated urban, suburban, and rural poverty. it also has aggravated the country's lack of access to clean drinking water which leaves most of the non-elite population suffering from disease. around 240 million people suffer from schistosomiasis which occurs because of parasitic worms that may be contracted through drinking infested waters. this leads to the crippling of kenya's human capital. private water companies have taken up the slack from kenya's government, but the kenyan government prevents them from moving into the poverty-stricken areas to avoid profiteering activities. unfortunately, since kenya's government also refuses to provide services, this leaves the disenfranchised with no options for obtaining clean water. bangladesh this section is an excerpt from water supply and sanitation in bangladesh. with abundant water resources, bangladesh faces various water contaminations mainly caused by pollutants, bacteria, and pesticides. historically, water sources in bangladesh came from surface water contaminated with bacteria. drinking infected water resulted in infants and children suffering from acute gastrointestinal disease that led to a high mortality rate. according to unicef, 38.3% of bangladeshis drink unsafe water from bacteria-contaminated sources. bangladesh is facing an acute reliable drinking water scarcity. bangladesh's surface and ground water are highly saline due to rising sea levels. available options for providing safe drinking water include deep wells, traditionally dug wells, treatment of surface water, and rainwater harvesting. between 2000 and 2010, the government installed those safe water devices in arsenic-affected regions of bangladesh. between 2000 and 2012, the proportion of bangladesh population who drink water with arsenic had decreased from 26.6% to 12.4%. there are 19.4 million bangladeshis still drinking arsenic-contained water. panama this section is an excerpt from water supply and sanitation in panama. water supply and sanitation in panama is characterized by relatively high levels of access compared to other latin american countries. however, challenges remain, especially in rural areas. panama has a tropical climate and receives abundant rainfall (up to 3000mm per year), yet the country still suffers from limited water access and pollution. intense el niño periods, periodic droughts, reduce water availability. multiple factors like urbanization, impacts of climate change, and economic development have decreased water resources. the high frequency of floods in recent years and the lack of corresponding measures resulted in tension among the local population. rapid population growth in recent decades led to an unprecedented increase in freshwater demand. regional inequality exists in water resources and water governance. an estimated 7.5-31% of panama's population lives in isolated