The ‘water cooler moment’ will take place in the city’s Albert Square as part of Tearfund’s Make Life Flow campaign, which is raising funds to tackle the global water and sanitation crisis.

Campaigners will gather at the water cooler dressed in business suits and reading mocked-up newspaper ‘The Scandal’ as UN leaders meet to review progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals to halve global poverty.

The water cooler will be filled with dirty water to draw attention to the fact that one child dies every 20 seconds because of poor sanitation and unclean water.

The UN estimates that as many as 2.5 billion people lack basic sanitation and do not have a safe place to go to the toilet, and that 900 million people live without clean water.

Tearfund’s Make Life Flow campaign warns that half the hospital beds in the world are filled with people who have preventable water-related diseases.

Mike Chesterton, Tearfund’s Regional Manager, said that it cost as little as £4 a month to provide one person with essentials like clean water, a basic toilet and hygiene education.

“Two of life’s most fundamental necessities are clean water and a safe, private toilet to use,” he said.

“It’s scandalous that so many people around the world have neither, and that it takes such a toll on their health and economies.

“That’s why we’ve launched the Make Life Flow campaign this year – to raise funds to address this scandal that is needlessly costing lives.”