Troubled Water

To get a glass of water, a third of humanity turns on the tap. The rest improvises.

You drink it, wash in it, cook with it, bathe in it, swim in it, float on it, make your morning coffee with it. The Earth is 70 percent water, and so is the human body.

For many of us, water is so ubiquitous that it is easy to waste or take for granted. But we do so at our own peril. Humanity is putting greater demands on this precious, limited resource than ever before.

--Facts from Troubled Water

Around the world, one billion people lack access to clean water. Droughts, floods, and waterborne diseases kill tens, perhaps hundreds, of millions of people (mostly children) every year. And huge multinational corporations see a profit opportunity unparalleled even by oil or gold. From Bolivia to Britain, water supplies are being privatized and sold for profit, cutting millions off from the single most crucial human need.

Meanwhile, consumers in industrialized countries such as Italy, Britain, Australia, and the United States eagerly drink millions of liters of bottled water every day--some of which is less pure than the stuff flowing from their taps at home--at a cost of about one thousand times what tap water costs. In America, beef-flavored bottled water for dogs is sold; in Nigeria, you can buy a bottle of water guaranteed to make men more virile.

Why are the politics of water so skewed, and what's being done about it? This book explores the problems and the solutions, and provides resources for ordinary readers to get involved.

About the Author

Anita Roddick

Dame Anita Roddick started The Body Shop in 1976 in Brighton, England. What distinguishes The Body Shop and Roddick from other global businesses and entrepreneurs is a core dedication to community trade and human rights. Roddick is a key pioneer of socially responsible business, proving that commerce with a conscience is not only a moral imperative. She was named a Dame of the Order of the British Empire in 2003. Her Web site is www.AnitaRoddick.com. ...

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