International World Water Day: 22 March

International World Water Day is celebrated on 22 March, an annual celebration as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. The 2012 theme is 'Water and Food Security' - linking the importance of healthy eating and water resources.

Statistics say that each of us drinks from 2 to 4 litres of water every day, however most of the water we ‘drink’ is embedded in the food we eat: producing 1 kilo of beef for example consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat ’drinks up’ 1,500 litres.  

Music and water are often intricately linked. The Ocean of Song, a branch of Sing for Water, urges people to sing together to raise waves of funds and awareness for WaterAid. It sees a truly oceanic collective of choirs and performers sing songs for water. On 23 March at St John at Hackney, top choirs such as the Croydon Community Choir, Hackney Empire Community Choir and performers including Carina Coen will perform specially chosen songs for water, closing in a truly oceanic collective finale directed by founder of Sing For Water, Helen Chadwick. 

Additionally, February saw the launch of a joint venture between Ethiopian-American singer-songwriter Meklit Hadero and Egyptian ethnomusicologist Mina Girgis in a large-scale collaboration known as the Nile Project. The project is now fully underway as the team sets sail down the River Nile with musicians such as Al Sarah.  

If you can't join in with these projects, be mindful of your own water footprint this World Water Day.