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As the earth warms, the combination of shrinking glaciers, reduced snowpack and erratic rainfall raises fears of water shortages, particularly in the world’s most vulnerable regions. Water is essential for many aspects of human development like health, food and nutrition and well-being. This led to the inclusion of a specific water-related target in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set a target to reduce by half the number of people living without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. The MDGs’ target was a part of the International Decade for Action, Water for Life for the period of 2005 to 2015 (Ludi 2009). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also set the target to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030 (SDSN 2015). This shows that the supply of safe water still remains unsatisfactory, although the importance of water is not only related to drinking as it also plays a crucial role in washing, bathing, cooking and other domestic activities. In fact, about 6 to 8 million people die annually from the consequences of disasters and water-related illnesses, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene practices (Majuru et al. 2011).
Globally, access to safe and adequate water resources remains one of the major challenges in developing countries nowadays. Poor provision of safe and adequate water resources has the potential to trigger a global food crisis of the 21st century. This has to do with the fact that everyone has a right to access potable water (United Nations 2010) and that water is one of the most important public goods. Water constitutes over 70% of the human body and is considered as the most vital component of life after oxygen (Doe 2007). Report by UNESCO (2013) highlighted that about 783 million people globally lack access to clean water supply while about 2 billion individuals do not have access to adequate sanitation.
Water is central to life. It is part of the five basic human needs: air, water, food, light, and heat. Water is a common factor to the other four. It is therefore not an understatement to say water is life, because it forms an appreciable proportion of all living things including man. Water constitutes about 80% of animal cells. The human body by weight consists of about 70% water and several body functions depend on water (UNDP Human development report, 2006). In the General Assembly of the human right to water and sanitation, the Assembly established the right of every human being to have access to sufficient water for personal and domestic uses (between 50 and 100 litres of water per person per day), which must be safe, acceptable and affordable (water costs should not exceed 3% of household income), and physically accessible i.e. the water source has to be within 1,000 metres of the home and collection time should not exceed 30 minutes (Hope, 2006).
Elimelech (2006) and UNICEF/WHO (2013) stated that over 1 billion people lack access to potable water and all of them live in low-income countries. WHO (2015) found out that about 663 million people worldwide have no access to adequate drinking water supplies. Kelay et al. (2006) and Segrave (2007) stated that urban areas all over the world are currently experiencing a range of dynamic global and regional pressures. These cities are facing difficulty in managing scarce water resources as well as in delivering water supply and sanitation services.