Speaking about toilets sounds like a very messy and dirty issue, but did you even know that there is a World Toilet Day?

Well, World Toilet Day is commemorated on the 19th of November, so this year it will take place on this coming Saturday.

Therefore, this week we will focus on trying to understand why do they commemorate this day and then later in the week, we will look at various aspects regarding the etiquettes and proper use of the toilets.

World Toilet Day 2022 focuses on the impact of the sanitation crisis on groundwater.

This observance, held annually since 2013, celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 3.6 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation. It is about taking action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: sanitation and water for all by 2030.

The 2022 campaign ‘Making the invisible visible’ explores how inadequate sanitation systems spread human waste into rivers, lakes and soil, polluting underground water resources.

However, this problem seems to be invisible. Invisible because it happens underground. Invisible because it happens in the poorest and most marginalized communities.

Groundwater is the world’s most abundant source of freshwater. It supports drinking water supplies, sanitation systems, farming, industry and ecosystems. As climate change worsens and populations grow, groundwater is vital for human survival.

The central message of World Toilet Day 2022 is that safely managed sanitation protects groundwater from human waste pollution. Currently, the world is seriously off track to meet the promise of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.2: to ensure safe toilets for all by 2030.

The campaign urges governments to work on average four times faster to ensure Sustainable Development Goal 6.2 is achieved on time. Policymakers are also called upon to fully recognize the connection between sanitation and groundwater in their plans to safeguard this vital water resource.

Did you know?

· 3.6 billion people live without access to a safe toilet. (WHO/UNICEF 2021)

· Groundwater accounts for approximately 99 per cent of all liquid freshwater on Earth. (UN-Water 2022)

· Groundwater provides half of all water withdrawn for domestic use, including the drinking water for the vast majority of the rural population. (UN-Water 2022)

· Globally, at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces. (WHO 2019)

· Every day, over 800 children under age five years old die from diarrhoea linked to unsafe water, sanitation and poor hygiene. (UNICEF 2021)