Every day the most important news on water and sanitation from around the world, compiled by the Blue Community Network, defending water as a common, public good and a human right.
Today: Africa, India, Pakistan, PFAS, Publication, Right2Water, SouthAfrica, Tanzania, UK, US, WASH, WaterCrisis
As India’s groundwater runs dry, calls for reform grow
The worsening water crisis highlights an urgent need for better groundwater governance in India.
Last month, the southern Indian city of Bengaluru faced an early start to the monsoon and experienced its wettest May ever. Beneath the heavy rains and floods, water shortages may seem a far cry. Yet they are a common problem.
Just last year, a weak monsoon the year before led to dry conditions that created a water shortage for about 4 million inhabitants, mostly on the outskirts, who rely on groundwater extracted via borewells. This led to snaking queues of residents buying water from tankers.
Read Eco-Business / Tags: India – WaterCrisis
UK: River Action granted permission to proceed with legal challenge against Ofwat
UK: River Action granted permission to proceed with legal challenge against Ofwat(The Water Services Regulation Authority for England and Wales) Ofwat has forced customers to pay twice for water industry failures – and we are calling for urgent regulatory reform.
We are taking water regulator Ofwat to a full court hearing, to challenge the approach Ofwat took when it set the price that water companies like United Utilities can charge their customers.
Ofwat’s approach was unlawful and, as a result of regulatory failings, the financial burden of water industry infrastructure neglect has been pushed onto customers – rather than those responsible.
Read Riveraction / Tags: UK
Water Alternatives: Archive
Water Alternatives: ArchiveAccess over 600 Open-Access articles at Water Alternatives through its interactive map. Location of all places and countries analyzed in articles published in Water Alternatives. Water Alternatives is an interdisciplinary journal addressing the full range of social and political issues that water raises in contemporary societies.
Access here / Tags: Publication
US: Wisconsin Supreme Court delivers win for environmentalists in fight over ‘forever chemicals’
The Wisconsin Supreme Court delivered a victory for environmentalists on Tuesday in the fight over “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.
The liberal-controlled court ruled that state regulators can force landowners to clean up emerging pollutants such as PFAS before they are officially designated as hazardous substances.
The 5-2 ruling is a defeat for the state’s powerful group representing businesses and manufacturers, which had argued the state couldn’t enforce regulations on substances before they were officially designated as hazardous.
Read AP Associated Press / Tags: PFAS – US
Pakistan: Once a Thriving Ecosystem, Pakistan’s Largest River Delta Is in Peril
Pakistan: Once a Thriving Ecosystem, Pakistan’s Largest River Delta Is in PerilFrom bustling trade ports to dying villages, the lower course of the Indus in Sindh province has been pushed to the brink.
The Pakistani TikToker Shah Mehran’s videos were racking up thousands of views in April, some exceeding a million. The most popular one, with over 1.7 million views, was a history lesson on the Indus Valley civilization, punctuated with a call for protest over the water crisis in the Indus River, Pakistan’s largest river and a water lifeline for the country. “The people of Sindh have a relationship with the Sindhu river,” Mehran said in the video, referring to the Indus’ local name. The clip was overlaid with footage of a parched riverbank. “Why are we [the people of Sindh] the only ones fighting for it?”
Read New Lines Magazine / Tags: Pakistan
The Water Grab in Africa
The Water Grab in AfricaAcross Africa, corporations and financial institutions are pushing to privatise and commodify our water sources. The aim is to turn a basic human right into a profit-making scheme. We must resist the trend of water privatisation and protect public and community-controlled water systems. This was one of the urgent discussions at the Africa Movement Building Space, led by the Africa Water Justice Network.
Power Shift Africa is a climate & energy think tank providing policy analysis, advocacy & communications from an African perspective. Tags: Africa
The right to water is out of reach for many South Africans: case study offers solutions
The right to water is out of reach for many South Africans: case study offers solutionsSouth Africa’s constitution says “everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food and water”. In reality, however, this right is not enjoyed by all. Many places experience regular water shortages or cut-offs. Some people struggle to access water for drinking, household use and commercial use (mines, factories and agriculture).
In many places, tap water is of poor quality, with dangerous waterborne illnesses, such as cholera, typhoid fever and diarrhoeal diseases resulting. Water protests and dehydration are commonplace.
Read The Conversation / Tags: SouthAfrica – Right2Water
Thirsting for Justice: why clean water is still a luxury for millions
Thirsting for Justice: why clean water is still a luxury for millionsNearly 2 billion people still do not have access to clean drinking water.
Imagine two kids carrying jerry cans heavier than their bodies for kilometers in the blazing sun, while a luxurious hotel with lush gardens and water fountains is located just over the hill. This is our contemporary world’s paradox.
Nearly 2 billion people still do not have access to clean drinking water, despite tremendous economic and technological progress (UNICEF, 2020). This contradiction reveals a serious breakdown in global priorities and justice.
Read The Express Tribune / Tags: Right2Water
Safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene indispensable for wellbeing
Safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene indispensable for wellbeingThe world experiences improvements in safe and clean drinking water, as well as in sanitation and hygiene for healthy life expectancy.
According to United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)’s report titled “World Population Prospects 2024: Summary of Results” globally, life expectancy at birth reached 73.3 years in 2024, an increase of 8.4 years since 1995 and reductions in mortality are projected to push healthy life expectancy to 77.4 years in 2054.
In Tanzania, life expectancy reached 66.8 years last year, an increase of 0.13 years from 66.67 years in 2023. Life expectancy in the East African Community (EAC) region as of 2025, according to https://www.statista.com/, is as follows: Rwanda which leads the region (67.54 years), followed by Tanzania (66.81 years), Kenya (66.76 years), Uganda (65.99 years), Burundi (64.01), South Sudan (58.57), Somalia (53.95). In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), life expectancy is projected at 62.2 years this year, according to Macrotrends and Worldometer.
Read ipp media / Tags: Africa – Tanzania – WASH
