The CAFOD "Water Challenge"

Hundreds of shoppers turned up to take the CAFOD "Water Challenge" to see if they could taste the difference between bottled, tap and treated tap water and to find out more about CAFOD’s water projects around the world.









Shoppers take part in the 'CAFOD Water Challenge' which highlights the fact that over a billion people do not have access to safe drinking water

Paying more for "designer" water

CAFOD held the "Water Challenge" to highlight the fact that over a billion people have no safe drinking water after it was revealed that Coca-Cola’s latest designer drink Dasani is sourced from the tap.

Martha Clarke, CAFOD’s Head of Media, said: “The results of the challenge were very mixed. Some people were able to tell the difference straight off while many struggled and got the answers completely wrong. But the shoppers were very surprised that so many people around the world are forced to survive with no clean water, when here in the UK we have access not only to tap water but a host of other bottled mineral waters as well."

Spending exceeds need

In the UK consumers spend over a billion pounds a year on bottled water while 1.2 billion people in the developing world have no access to safe drinking water at all. Over 2 million children die each year from drinking dirty water.

...people are willing to pay so much for designer water when so many people have no clean water at all.

Pamela O'Reilly

Pamela O’Reilly, who does not buy bottled water herself, said: “I am outraged that people can sell little more than tap water at a huge profit and that people are willing to pay so much for designer water when so many people have no clean water at all.

Water is something that people must, must have”.

Angelita McKenzie, said: “I am not shocked by the figures, but we do all walk around with our eyes closed. It doesn’t have to be like this, the world can provide enough so that everyone can have clean water but it just doesn’t happen. What’s needed is for us to face reality and be honest and share. It’s about sharing the world’s resources. “

While 30-year-old, Karen Heldoorn, another shopper who took the challenge at the ASDA store in London, said: “I think it’s terrible that so many people do not have access to the water they need. It’s ridiculous that people buy bottled water. If they just gave that money to a charity it could mean everyone could have clean water”.

For the price of a £1 bottle of mineral water you could provide 600-700 bottles of clean water for an Eritrean.

Millennium Development Goals and Water

Access to clean water is one of the main Millennium Development Goals - a set of targets agreed by the UK Government and the rest of the international community.

One goal is to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015. But at current rates of progress in sub-Saharan Africa, this won’t be reached until 2050.

CAFOD spends around a quarter of a million pounds a year on water projects around the world. Helping partners to improve water and sanitation in villages, schools, hospitals and community centres is an integral part of CAFOD’s holistic approach to rural development.

The water projects are designed to meet the needs of the communities like the one in Jello a village in Ethiopia. Here villagers no longer have to walk for miles for fresh water but can collect it from a well near their homes. The well also provides a piped supply to a trough for their animals.

For more information or photos please contact Martha Clarke on 0207 326 5557 or 0777 980 4254 for more details.