I wanted to take the time to share with you all some crazy facts that I have been learning about the clean water crisis around the world.

In many parts of the world, the lack of clean water is a devastating problem. 1.2 billion people globally lack safe water to consume and 2.6 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation. Most women and children have to walk 3 – 6 miles every day just to get water, so they miss out on pursuing an education, maintaining their households and the opportunity to earn additional income. About 4,000 children die every day, one every 8 seconds, because of the effects of unclean water. That means that at least 2 million people, mostly children, die every year from water-borne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, hepatitis and malaria. In most cases, these diseases would be preventable by having access to clean drinking water and proper sanitation. Over half of the hospital beds in the developing world are occupied by people suffering from preventable diseases caused by unclean water and inadequate sanitation. Dirty water poses a greater threat to human life than war or terrorism.

Bet you didn’t know this one:

Just one toilet flush in the West uses more water than most Africans have to perform an entire day’s drinking, cooking, washing and cleaning.

And finally:

Meeting the UN goal of reducing by half the percentage of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015 would cost about $4 billion a year for 10 years. That amount represents just one month’s spending on bottled mineral water in Europe and the US.

We want to take the time to thank each and every one of you who has bought a S’well bottle for your contribution to start ending this global clean water crisis.