A two-day water conservation campaign attracted some 20,000 people from more than 10,000 households in Beijing over the weekend in celebration of the 2012 World Water Day.

The campaign appealed for every household to save 30 liters of water every day — about 10,000 liters a year.

There were exhibitions as well as various games during the event that was designed to stimulate ideas and action for more efficient use of water.

"Urgent action is needed," said Jia Feng, deputy director of the Center for Environmental Education and Communications. "It's necessary we continuously involve the society and get the message about the need for water conservation across to people."

The event was jointly held by the center and Beijing Xicheng district government. Another two campaigns will be launched in Shanghai at the end of the month and Chengdu, capital city of Southwest China's Sichuan province, in April.

A global water crisis could be triggered by an increase in population, rising living standards and dietary changes, according to a United Nation World Water Development Report in March 2009.

The report also warned that nearly half of the world's people will be living in areas of acute water shortage by 2030. As many as 884 million people will be unable to get safe drinking water. A total of 1.5 million children under 5 years old will die due to lack of safe drinking water.

The world's population is forecast to exceed 9 billion by then, with most of the growth in developing countries — many in regions where water is already scarce. The growth rate means demand for fresh water is increasing by 64 billion cubic meters a year, the report said.

According to the 2010 China Environment Bulletin, the country is confronted with a grim situation regarding water resources and the rapid development of commercialization and urbanization.

"It's now or never to take action," said Jia.