Safe drinking water becoming scarce

Some recent water pollution-related incidents have roused serious concerns across China. The latest one occurred in Lanzhou, Gansu province, on April 11: excessive levels of benzene were detected in the city's tap water. Local authorities later said crude oil leaking from a pipeline had contaminated tap water supplied to 2.4 million people in the city. Benzene levels in the water returned to normal only on April 14.

The Lanzhou case is just one example of the looming water crisis in China. In 2011, water in more than half of China's largest lakes and rivers was deemed unfit for human consumption. Last year, the Ministry of Environmental Protection conceded that, "toxic and hazardous chemical pollution has caused many environmental disasters, cutting off drinking water supplies...leading to severe health and social problems'."

Worldwide, the water crisis is even more alarming, but it hasn't drawn enough attention. In 2012, the UN announced that the Millennium Development Goals' target of halving the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water had been achieved well ahead of schedule, with only 783 million people still lacking access to clean water. But the Third World Center for Water Management estimates that at least 3 billion people worldwide still drink water of dubious quality. AquaFed, which represents private water companies, puts this figure at 3.4 billion - nearly half the world's population. This suggests that the UN's declaration of victory was premature.