Iraq's thirst for fresh water grows

On a scorching summer day in Baghdad, Qassim Dakheel squats in his yard and looks anxiously at his water hose, waiting for the water to flow. In Dakheel's poor neighborhood, the International Committee of the Red Cross delivers 140,000 liters of water a day by truck, without which 7,500 families would have no water. The government's network of water pipes does not reach their homes. Dakheel's family of 27, which includes 10 children and 15 grandchildren, consumes 1,000 litres of water a day from the ICRC. But it barely meets their needs. "We depend on this water truck. If it did not come for any reason, on that day a glass of water would be as precious as a human soul ... we would be left without anything. No bathing and no drinking water," said Dakheel, 47. According to government statistics cited by the ICRC, one in four of Iraq's 30 million people does not have access to safe drinking water, a persistent problem seven years after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.