Ahead of the Water Forum in Istanbul focussing on the globe's freshwater crisis, we bring you some facts on this precious resource.

• Saltwater comprises 97.5 percent of the Earth's water. Freshwater comprises the remaining 2.5 percent. Seventy percent of freshwater is locked up in the polar icecaps.
• Irrigation accounts for around 70 percent of use of available water.
• With a global population growing by 80 million people a year, demand for water is increasing by 64 billion cubic metres annually, roughly equivalent to Egypt's yearly water demands.
• Water scarcity is a major problem in the Middle East, China, Australia and parts of the United States.
• Climate change and the consequences of water abuse will worsen hydrological stress. By 2075, between three and seven billion people will live in regions with chronic water shortage.
• Half of the world's wetlands have been lost since 1900.
• Environmental damage in the Middle East and North Africa, the world's most water-stressed region, amounts to some $9-billion a year, or between 2.1-7.4 percent of GDP.
• People in rich countries consume between 30 and 50 times as much water per capita as people in developing economies.
• To produce a kilo of meat requires as much water as an average domestic household does over 10 months, on the basis of 50 litres per person per day.
• Around 1.1 billion people live without clean drinking water, while 2.6 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation. Nearly 4000 children die every day from water-borne diseases.
• Between $92.4-billion and $148-billion are needed annually to build and maintain water supply systems, sanitation and irrigation. China and developed countries in Asia alone face financial needs of $38.2-51.4 billion each year.

AFP