Chinese philosopher once said, "Water is good; it benefits all things and does not compete with them." That's the good news. The bad news is that water, especially the lack of it, causes competition. Even the most prudent pundits fear that the competition may escalate into regional warfare. This pessimism is caused by the relentless growth in the world's population with the concomitant increase in demand for water resources for agriculture, industry, drinking, and sanitation. Since 1900, Earth's population has tripled to 6 billion people. During that same period of time, water use has increased sevenfold. More than a billion people in developing countries lack access to safe drinking water, and 3 billion do not have adequate sanitation. The result—more than 5 million people die each year from waterborne diseases and millions more are incapacitated.
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