NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- More people die from polluted water every year than from all forms of violence, including war, the U.N. said in a report Monday that highlights the need for clean drinking water. The report, launched Monday to coincide with World Water Day, said an estimated 2 billion tons of waste water -- including fertilizer run-off, sewage and industrial waste -- is being discharged daily. That waste fuels the spread of disease and damages ecosystems. ":Sick Water": -- the report from the U.N. Environment Program -- said that 3.7 percent of all deaths are attributed to water-related diseases, translating into millions of deaths. More than half of the world's hospital beds are filled by people suffering from water-related illnesses, it said. (23 images)
Follow The Frame on Twitter at sacbee_theframe
A woman praying on the banks of the River Ganges fills water into a copper vessel for a ritual, on the eve of World Water Day in Allahabad, India, Sunday, March 21. Clean Water for a Healthy World is the theme for World Water Day 2010 that will be celebrated on March 22. AP / Gurinder Osan
4,000 baby bottles containing polluted water stand on the Bundesplatz in Bern, Switzerland, Monday, March 22. The action was organized by the Swiss association for International Cooperation Helvetas to highlight the UN's World Water Day. AP / Peter Klaunzer
Protestors wearing masks depicting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown queue in front of a giant toilet outside the Houses of Parliament in London, on March 22. Protestors urged the Prime Minister to tackle the global sanitation crises as they observe World Water Day. AFP / Getty Images / Ben Stansall
Water is pumped into a bucket held by a woman in the eastern German city of Dresden on March 22, World Water Day, a day on which advocates try to draw attention to the amount of people in the world who do not have access to water. AFP / Getty Images / Norbert Millauer
A passer-by checks out an outdoor toilet placed in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on March 22. The protest action organized to coincide with World Water Day, wants to draw attention to the amount of people in the world who do not have access to water. AFP / Getty Images / Timur Emek
A Cambodian villager waters a farm field near Chriev village in the Kandal province about 15 miles northwest of Phnom Penh, Sunday, March 21. The United Nations General Assembly observes International World Water Day on March 22. AP / Heng Sinith
An Indonesian woman does her laundry in Ciliwung river in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, March 22. AP / Tatan Syuflana
Villagers carry drinking water in plastic containers Sunday March 21, in Dela Township, Yangon, Myanmar. AP / Khin Maung Win
An Afghan woman walks along with donkey carrying jerry cans filled with water in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 22. AP / Rafiq Maqbool
An Afghan man carries jerry cans filled with water in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 22. AP / Rafiq Maqbool
Afghan children fill jerry cans with water at a hand pump in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 22. AP / Rafiq Maqbool
Surrounded by other youths, a Pakistani boy looks out of a water reservoir while taking a shower, on World Water Day in the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, March 22. AP / Muhammed Muheisen
Pakistani women head back to home after collecting fresh water from a water point on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, March 22. AP / Anjum Naveed
An Indian village boy runs through a parched field on World Water Day in Berhampur, Orissa state, India, Monday, March 22. AP / Biswaranjan Rout
Indian workers wash clothes on World Water Day in Allahabad, India, Monday, March 22. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
Shakeel dives into a polluted section of the River Yamuna to scavenge for ornaments and coins left by Hindu rituals at the river bank, in New Delhi, India, Monday, March 22. Officials say factories are ignoring regulations and dumping untreated sewage and industrial pollution, turning toxic the river that gives the capital much of its drinking water. AP / Gurinder Osan
A construction worker sprinkles water onto a newly constructed site on the outskirts of Amritsar, India, Monday, March 22. AP / Altaf Qadri
Indian women queue to fill water from a water tanker at a shanty town in Calcutta, India, Monday, March 22. AP / Bikas Das
A villager bathes under a hose pipe used for the irrigation of rice field, as his son, left, looks on, on the outskirts of Amritsar, India, Monday, March 22. AP / Altaf Qadri
A man stands on the banks of the River Ganges as smoke, background, rises from farm waste being burnt in a field, on the eve of World Water Day in Allahabad, India, Sunday, March 21. AP / Gurinder Osan
A man looks for reusable items in the polluted water of River Sabarmati in Ahmadabad, India, Sunday, March 21. AP / Ajit Solanki
People fill water containers at a public water supply at Siddharth Nagar slum in Mumbai, India, Monday, March 22. AP / Rajanish Kakade
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men stand next to a well as they fill canisters with water to use for baking special Matzoh, a traditional handmade Passover unleavened bread, in Jerusalem, Monday, March 22. AP / Bernat Armangue
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.