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 Between 1990 and 2010, pollution caused by viruses, bacteria and
other micro-organisms, and long-lasting toxic pollutants like
fertilizer or petrol, increased in more than half of rivers across
the three continents, while salinity levels rose in nearly a third,
UNEP said in a report on Tuesday.
Population growth, expansion of agriculture and an increased amount
of raw sewage released into rivers and lakes were among the main
reasons behind the increase of surface water pollution, putting some
323 million people at risk of infection, UNEP said.
"The water quality problem at a global scale and the number of
people affected by bad water quality are much more severe than we
expected," Dietrich Borchardt, lead author of the report, told the
Thomson Reuters Foundation.
However, a significant number of rivers remain in good condition and
need to be protected, he said by phone from Germany.
About a quarter of rivers in Latin America, 10 percent to 25 percent
in Africa and up to 50 percent in Asia were affected by severe
pathogen pollution, largely caused by discharging untreated
wastewater into rivers and lakes, the report said.
Some 3.4 million people die each year from diseases such as cholera,
typhoid, polio or diarrhea, which are associated with pathogens in
water, UNEP said.
It estimated that up to 164 million people in Africa, 134 million in
Asia and 25 million in Latin America were at risk of infection from
the diseases.
It said building more sewers was not enough to prevent infections
and deaths, adding that the solution was to treat wastewater.
Organic pollution, which can cause water to be completely starved of
oxygen, affects one kilometer (0.6 mile) out of seven kilometers
(4.4 miles) of rivers in Latin America, Africa and Asia, threatening
freshwater fisheries, UNEP said.
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Severe and moderate salinity levels, caused by the disposal of salty
water from mines, irrigation systems and homes, affect one in 10
rivers on the three continents, making it harder for poor farmers to
irrigate their crops, it said.
The trend of worsening water pollution was "critical", Borchardt
said.
"It is much more expensive to clean up surface water from severe
pollution than to implement proper management which includes
prevention of pollution," he said. "Tools are available but the
challenge is to implement them."
(Reporting by Magdalena Mis; Editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit
Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters,
that covers humanitarian news, women’s rights, corruption and
climate change. Visit news.trust.org)
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