Now is not the time to turn off the tap...
This final instalment in my blog series will take a look to the future, where I will unpack the topic of water and sanitation in relation to the pressing issue of climate change. Several climate change studies predict that there will be fewer light precipitation events and more frequent heavy precipitation events, where this is particularly exaggerated in the tropics. According to Cann et al. (2013) , one of the detrimental effects of climate change on water and sanitation is the rise in water-borne diseases due to more frequent and intense flood events. The o utbreaks of disease were associated most frequently with contamination of drinking water supplies (57.3%) . Flooding can lead to contamination through the widespread spillage of faecal matter into the environment , (as can be highlighted in Figure 1) as well as the risk of damage to sewers and wastewater treatment plants. The contamination of water supplies poses an enormous risk to developing countr...