Abstract
A case for universal access to safe and sustainable water and sanitation can be made on economic as well as moral, public health and environmental grounds. The development of water and sanitation services and technologies is surveyed along with their impact on public health. The economic and health costs of poor access are set out along with the financial benefits of safe access. Sustainable Development Goal 6 is the culmination of three decades of initiatives.
The European Union’s environmental and water quality directives are seeking to transform the management of Europe’s water. They set standards that are being mirrored elsewhere and not just in developed economies. Population growth and urbanisation are making water scarcity more extensive and increasingly severe at the river basin level. This is being exacerbated by climate change.
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Lloyd Owen, D. (2020). The Case for Universal and Sustainable Access. In: Global Water Funding. Palgrave Studies in Natural Resource Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49454-4_1
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