Less than one percent of Earth's water is safe to drink.
All 7.4 billion people on our planet need this water to survive. While the amount of fresh water on the planet has remained fairly constant over time—continually recycled through the atmosphere and back into our cups—the population has exploded. This means that each year, challenges surrounding the quantity and quality of global freshwater supplies intensify.
By 2025, an estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity, with two-thirds of the world's population living in water-stressed regions as a result of consumption, growth and climate change. The future of human civilization quite literally depends upon finding sustainable solutions.
CEE at Illinois researchers at the University of Illinois are not only leading the way in providing solutions, but they are also changing the paradigm through which the world approaches the global water crisis. A feature by the College of Engineering dives deeper into the story. Learn about the problems, the solutions, the professors and students involved, and the way Illinois researchers are working to make water safe and sustainable no matter the location. (read full story)
Top: Professor Benito J. Mariñas with residents of Orumutoma Village, Isinghero District, Uganda