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 The UNEP Magazine for Youth
 for young people · by young people · about young people
W ATER
What price water?Going withthe grainIdeas on the moveHidden waterWater works
 
 UNEP promotesenvironmentally sound practicesglobally and in its own activities. Thismagazine is printed on 100% recycled paper,using vegetable-based inks and other eco-friendly practices. Our distribution policy aimsto reduce UNEP’s carbon footprint.
2
TUNZA 
Vol 6 No 3
TUNZA 
 
the UNEP magazinefor youth. To view currentand past issues of thispublication online,please visit www.unep.org
United Nations EnvironmentProgramme (UNEP)
PO Box 30552, Nairobi, KenyaTel (254 20) 7621 234Fax (254 20) 7623 927Telex 22068 UNEP KEE-mail uneppub@unep.orgwww.unep.orgISSN 1727-8902
Director of Publication
Satinder Bindra
Editor 
Geoffrey Lean
Special Contributor 
Wondwosen Asnake
 Youth Editor 
Karen Eng
Nairobi Coordinator 
Naomi Poulton
Head, UNEP’s Children and Youth Unit
 Theodore Oben
Circulation Manager 
Manyahleshal Kebede
Design
Helen de Mattos; Edward Cooper,Ecuador 
Production
Banson
Front cover 
 
photo
Shehzad Noorani/MajorityWorld/Still Pictures
 Youth Contributors
Aleksandra Aceska, FYRMacedonia; Jamal Alfalasi, United Arab Emirates;Sinem Erdogdu, Turkey; Nienke Flederus,Netherlands; Oscar Gálvez, Chile; Claire Hastings,Canada; Zartash Javaid, United Kingdom; Alex Lindsay, United Kingdom; Nominater Mpala,Zimbabwe; Naw Tsai Blut Moo, Myanmar; Guy Jayce Nindorera, Burundi; Aoife O’Grady, Eire;Clarisse Quimio, Philippines; Charlotte Sullivan,United Kingdom; Angharad Thomas, UnitedKingdom; Dana Weidemann, Netherlands; WhaYoung Cha, Republic of Korea; Yumi Chang,Republic of Korea.
Other Contributors
Natalija Aceska; JaneBowbrick; Biksham Gujja, WWF; KyungEun Kim,Bayer Korea; Fred Pearce;
Rosey Simonds andDavid Woollcombe, Peace Child International;
Wayne Talbot, Volvo Adventure; Mel Tompkins,WaterAid; Yao Ming.Printed in the United Kingdom
The contents of this magazine do not necessarilyreflect the views or policies of UNEP or the editors,nor are they an official record. The designationsemployed and the presentation do not imply theexpression of any opinion whatsoever on the partof UNEP concerning the legal status of any country,territory or city or its authority, or concerning thedelimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
CONTENTS
 Editorial 3Hidden water 4TUNZA answers your questions 6Star pupils 7Water works 8Going with the grain 10Respect! 10Where’s the water? 12How it works 12Water in the 21st century 13Embrace the tap 14Going for green 15Eco-Camp Korea 16Ideas on the move 17Silent menace 18What price water? 19Keeping it simple 20Unite to combat climate change 20Seven watery wonders 22At the beginning of time 24
 UNEP and Bayer, the German-basedinternational enterprise involvedin health care, crop science andmaterials science, are working together to strengthen young people’senvironmental awareness and engagechildren and youth in environmentalissues worldwide.
The partnership agreement, renewedto run through 2010, lays down abasis for UNEP and Bayer to enlargetheir longstanding collaboration tobring successful initiatives to countriesaround the world and develop newyouth programmes. Projects include:TUNZA Magazine, the InternationalChildren’s Painting Competition onthe Environment, the Bayer YoungEnvironmental Envoy in Partnershipwith UNEP, the UNEP TunzaInternational Youth/Children’sConference, youth environmentalnetworks in Africa, Asia Pacific,Europe, Latin America, North Americaand West Asia, the Asia-Pacific Eco-Minds forum, and a photo competition,‘Ecology in Focus’, in Eastern Europe.
 
C
herrapunjee, high in the northeast Indian state of Meghalaya,is famous for being the wettest place on Earth. As a boldyellow sign on the way into the small town boasts, it averagesa staggering 12,028.6 millimetres of rain annually. Yet for a third of each year its people are now short of water. In the dry months, fromNovember to February, women and children have to go down intothe valleys to get it, trudging back uphill under backbreaking loads.For the springs that used to gush with abundance all year roundare drying up because the mountain forests, which used to trapthe rainfall and allow it to percolate down to the water table, havebeen felled.All over the world, the poor are making similar daily treks, often tobring back only dirty water. In all, a billion or more people lack accessto steady, safe supplies. As a result some 5,000 people, mainly children,die every day from diarrhoea and other diseases – the equivalent of more than 15 jumbo jets crashing daily. If everyone in the world hadsafe water and adequate sanitation, the global incidence of death anddisease would be cut by three quarters. It is one of the greatest scandalsof history that these have not already been supplied.At the same time, water is becoming scarcer and scarcer as thenumber of people on the planet increases and the vital services thatnature provides to conserve and supply water are ignored, abusedand destroyed. Already, a third of the world’s people live in countriessuffering water scarcity; by 2025 this proportion is expected to haveshot up to two thirds.There are some signs of hope. Much is being done to provide cleanwater where it is needed. The world may yet meet the target – set byits governments in the Millennium Development Goals – to halve theproportion of the world’s people without access to clean water by2015. But hundreds of millions will still not have it. Meanwhile, thedestruction of the world’s natural systems – and the loss of their vitalrole in providing water – continues apace. There are few tasks moreurgent or important than conserving the world’swater supplies and making sure that they areavailable to all. We must pledge ourselves toensure that these are achieved.
EDITORIAL
COOL:
Make a low-flush lavatory by put-ting a plastic bag filled with pebbles, abrick, or a plastic bottle of water in thecistern. This could save up to 1,135 litresof water per month. 
COOLER:
Harvest and store water witha rainwater butt collecting runoff fromthe roof. Use it for watering the garden,flushing lavatories, in washing machinesand for washing cars, or even filtered asdrinking water.
COOLEST:
Build an aquaponics system – acombination of aquaculture (fish farming)and hydroponics (farming without soil)– in the garden or garage or even on theroof. Wastes produced by the fish nourishthe plants, which in turn purify the water.
COOL:
Keep a bottle of clean tap water inthe refrigerator for drinking. This avoidsrunning the tap until the water cools,which can save more than 300 litres amonth.
COOLER:
Carry a refillable water bottleto replenish rather than buying – anddiscarding – new bottles.
COOLEST:
Go and see
Flow: For the Love of Water 
, which argues that waterdistribution should be based on needand environmental sustainability – notcommercial gain – and stresses that noone can go on taking water for granted.
COOL
&
 
COOLER
3
Water 
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