In the next ten minutes, forty children around the world will have died because they didn't have enough clean water or sanitation facilities.

In the world today, over a billion people lack safe drinking water. As tension mounts between states competing for diminished supplies of "blue gold," the global water industry is expected to become a trillion-dollar-a-year operation within a decade.

Up until now, no single publication has given shape and meaning to statistics about water use, re-use, and control. With a range of maps of startling clarity and richness of detail, The Water Atlas brings together the latest findings to show water distribution worldwide, the real cost of use in water-rich countries, and the dangers of a future where privatization and profit dictate availability. The atlas covers a wide range of topics, from consumption and scarcity to areas of political tension and looming catastrophes. Including detailed profiles of vulnerable regions—such as California, the Middle East, and India—as well as bold summaries of the global picture, The Water Atlas will be a unique resource for general readers as well as health professionals, advocates, and students.