The new Alliance, which will comprise more than 50 organizations, will provide governments and other stakeholders relevant evidence-based assessment, scenarios, solutions and services on water quality issues. The motivation for founding the WWQA is given by the growing concern about the worsening global freshwater crisis, which is documented by estimated 80% of waste water being released directly into water bodies without treatment.
The poor quality of surface water bodies in lakes and rivers, the primary sources of drinking water for millions of people around the world, leads to diarrheal diseases, which are among of the leading causes of death and disease worldwide. In the developing world, upstream pollution may trigger reductions of up to 30-40% in annual GDP growth downstream.
The member organizations of the WWQA, UN agencies, research institutions and space agencies, bring together a wide range of expertise in fields of water quality science, technology innovation, governance and diplomacy to seek solutions.
At the third UN Environment Assembly, countries adopted a comprehensive resolution to address water pollution to protect and restore water-related ecosystems. Among other things, the resolution calls for better data collection, water monitoring and technologies to recycle and reuse waste water.
"I am so pleased that UNEP has been able to catalyze the World Water Quality Alliance which brings diverse disciplines together to translate science on water quality into action. I cannot highlight enough the importance of the task at hand: because improving water quality is central to environmental sustainability and to ensuring healthy ecosystems, healthy people and a healthy planet," said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme. 
More information is given on the UNEP website.