reeves84
March 5th, 2003, 4:05:42 PM
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993458
Belgium has the dirtiest water in the world, according to a new report. The European nation's water quality was placed last in a list of 122 countries, ranking below India, Jordan and nine African countries that make up the planet's hydrological dirty dozen.
The assessment is made in the United Nation's first World Water Development Report, published by UNESCO on Wednesday.
Belgium is host to many of the European Union's institutions and its bureaucrats are used to castigating member states for their dirty rivers and beaches. But no other member of the EU appears even in the bottom half of the rankings. The next worst, in 57th place, is Germany.
Examining the top of the table brings a surprise - Britain, the EU nation most frequently charged with water-quality infringements, turns out to have the world's fourth cleanest water. The top three are Finland, Canada and New Zealand, with the US 12th and Australia 20th.
The water quality index scores countries according to the cleanliness of their rivers and underground water, the amount of treatment that they give to sewage and the way they enforce anti-pollution laws.
Belgium has the dirtiest water in the world, according to a new report. The European nation's water quality was placed last in a list of 122 countries, ranking below India, Jordan and nine African countries that make up the planet's hydrological dirty dozen.
The assessment is made in the United Nation's first World Water Development Report, published by UNESCO on Wednesday.
Belgium is host to many of the European Union's institutions and its bureaucrats are used to castigating member states for their dirty rivers and beaches. But no other member of the EU appears even in the bottom half of the rankings. The next worst, in 57th place, is Germany.
Examining the top of the table brings a surprise - Britain, the EU nation most frequently charged with water-quality infringements, turns out to have the world's fourth cleanest water. The top three are Finland, Canada and New Zealand, with the US 12th and Australia 20th.
The water quality index scores countries according to the cleanliness of their rivers and underground water, the amount of treatment that they give to sewage and the way they enforce anti-pollution laws.