World Water Day 2016: Latin American Countries With Best And Worst Reputation For Water Quality

March 22 is known as World Water Day and each year, the UN focuses on a different aspect of water for World Water Day; for 2016 the theme is 'Water and Jobs'. This day has been observed on this date since 1993, it was declared by the United Nations General Assembly. There has been a significant growth ever since it started being celebrated. The general public has shown support throughout the years, and is encouraged to not use their taps throughout the whole day, as well as try to live one day on 10 liters, and of course donate to the charities devoted to this crucial cause.

The UN devotes this day to implementing recommendations and promoting activities within their countries regarding the world’s water resources. As in every continent, there are some countries in Latin America that have better water quality than others, a poll conducted by Gallup in 2008 showed. The site explains the situation is far from ideal within these countries, but the overall satisfaction with the quality of water is considerably high: “In the water-rich Latin America and the Caribbean region, regional median satisfaction with the water quality is relatively high at 72%. But water access in this region is extremely unequal and its vast resources are prone to exploitation and contamination.”

BEST (by percentage of satisfaction): Uruguay 91, Paraguay 89, Costa Rica 87, Venezuela 87, Panama 83, Chile 82, Bolivia 80 Brazil 79 Colombia 77 Trinidad and Tobago 72 Ecuador 71 El Salvador 70 Mexico 70

WORST (by percentage of satisfaction): Haiti 44, Guyana 54, Dominican Republic 55, Cuba 58, Belize 59, Nicaragua 63, Peru 65, Argentina 65, and Honduras 69.

A more recent study by Gallup showed seven out of ten countries are satisfied with the quality of their water, but say, “satisfaction remains stubbornly low in sub-Saharan Africa, as the region attempts to meet the U.N.'s 2016 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the number of people without access to improved drinking water sources.”

TheRichest.com also published a list with the top ten countries to drink tap water in, with New Zealand holding the tenth spot and European nations occupying the top spots. "One of the most important factors of a clean environment is the availability of clean drinking water for everyone," read the article.