The G8 goal is to halve the number of people without safe drinking water by 2015 and a £4bn figure will be held up as real progress on a problem that claims two million lives a year in deaths from water- related disease. But aid agencies say the figure underlines the gross disparity between the world's rich and poor when compared with the £31bn spent on bottled water in developed countries last year. The brand that sold the most was Evian. The amount spent on 500ml bottles of Evian by 10 customers at the Mur Blanc restaurant in Evian - the host town of the G8 summit - at lunchtime would have funded the water and sanitation costs of one child in the developing world for life.
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* Evian water plan undrinkable, say activists
http://www.foei.org/media/2003/0528.html