WaterCan supports projects that help people in Africa gain improved access to clean water supplies for better health and lives. Try out this quiz to test your water knowledge (answers are below).

1. What percentage of the world’s water supply is freshwater?
a) 20% b) 9% c) 3%

2. What is most common type of freshwater?
a) Glaciers with Icecaps & permanent snow b) Lakes c) Groundwater

3. Roughly how many people daily depend on groundwater as their main source of drinking water?
a) 1 billion b) 1.5 billion c) 2.5 billion

4. In Canada virtually everyone has easy access to clean drinking water. What percentage of people in Africa do not?
a) 9% b) 25% c) 38%

5. In developing countries, what percentage of illnesses are caused by using unclean water?
a) 10% b) 50% c) 80%

6. In developing countries, what is the most common illness caused by using dirty water?
a) Typhoid fever b) Diarrhea c) Malaria

7. Almost all Canadians also have access to sanitation facilities such as toilets or latrines. What percentage of people in Africa do not?
a) 72% b) 41% c) 19%

8. In rural Africa, who is primarily responsible for fetching water for the household?
a) Women b) Girls c) Men

Answers

1. c) 2.5% of the world’s water is freshwater. The rest is mostly undrinkable saltwater such as oceans and seas.
2. c) Glaciers & year-round snow make up about two-thirds of the world's freshwater. Most people rely on lakes and groundwater for drinking water.
3. b) Wells and springs are the most common ways people tap into groundwater.
4. c) 38% or about 302 million people in Africa do not have access to safe water supplies such as wells or piped water. Instead they have to use polluted sources such as rivers, ponds, and unprotected springs that cause various common illnesses.
5. c). Common sources of unclean water supplies include polluted rivers, streams and ponds for drinking and bathing.
6. b) Infants, children and the elderly in particular can get seriously ill from diarrhea it causes problems of dehydration and malnutrition.
7. b) 41% or about 318 million people in Africa do not have access to toilets and other sanitation facilities. As a result common drinking water sources such as groundwater, rivers and streams are vulnerable to pollution.
8. a) & b) Generally, women and girls are responsible for fetching water. It is quite common for them to walk two or three hours each day to get water, which they then bring it in pots and cans carried on their heads or backs.

Sources: Environment Canada (2002); WHO/UNICEF (2000)