The Effects Of Drinking Water On Human Health

To understand the current state of the safe water issue for our First Nation people, it is important to look at some current statistics. The Council of Canadians (2015) reports that “as of January 2015, there have been 169 drinking water advisories in 126 First Nation communities. With Ontario having the highest number 79, followed by British Columbia 35, Saskatchewan 24, Alberta 17, the Atlantic 7 and Quebec 2.” (p. 6) The graphic below helps us see the severity of the issue by showing the drinking water

Water contamination is vastly becoming an alarming issue across the world. We rely on clean water to survive, yet right now we are heading towards a water crisis. Changing climate patterns are threatening lakes and rivers, and key sources that we tap for drinking water are being overdrawn or tainted with pollution (www.nrdc.org). Clean and plentiful water is the cornerstone of prosperous communities. Yet as we enter the 21st century, swelling demand and changing climate patterns are

According to the Canadian Council of Social Justice, poor water quality and unsanitary living conditions have cause over 1000 residents to be evacuated in some cases and over 21 communities are considered high-risk for water contamination (Safe Water for First Nations, n.d.). There are different levels of risk within the accessible water issue which are a boil water advisory, do not consume and advisory (Eggerston, 2015). Within Ontario specifically, there were 158 water systems that were tested and 46% were considered high-risk and 16% are low overall risk (Dupont et al., 2014). Within in Canada there is a slew of

Living Canada, it is hard to believe what it would be like to not have a virtually unlimited supply of freshwater. In places and areas where freshwater is not that easy to get, such as the drought in California that is so highly talked about, as well as places in Africa who wonder if they will have enough fresh water to last the rest of the week. Being a country of high strength in this resource we have to think if we are going to help some to these countries or not. This piece writing will explain what freshwater really is and whether Canada should export our water to the United States of America and why we should not.

In conclusion, upstream communities should also be concerned about how water resources are managed in the watershed because of acid rain, and possible contamination of their drinking water. Acid rain not only damages infrastructure, but also tampers with ecosystems, exposing already weak trees and plants to the stressors of nature and negatively influences soil qualities, affecting farmers. The Flint water crises shows that even upstream communities should be concerned about contaminated

Companies have the technology and the knowledge to divert or sell water in a way that is safe on the environment. Part of the Canadian population has been misled to believe that Canada will not have enough water for its residents if it sells water to the United States. This is a myth. Toronto MP Dennis Mills says, “Many people just don’t understand the issue. They have this idea that the Americans are going to build the biggest pipeline the world has ever seen and drain the Great Lakes dry.” There are many proposed diversion schemes that would have minimal effect on ecology. The water diversion scheme in Manitoba is an example of this. It proposes that an insulated pipeline be stationed at the mouth of the Nelson River just before it empties into Hudson Bay. This scheme would allow the Nelson River to run its full, natural course and only divert 1% of the fresh water that is currently being emptied into Hudson Bay. The Canadian people have being misled that the world is going to run out of water. According to cbc.ca, the amount of water on the earth has stayed the same for the last four billion years, and will not change. Canadians have enough water especially compared to many other countries. According to The Globe and Mail, Maude Barlow has said “…31 countries are facing water stress and scarcity and more than a billion people lack adequate access to clean drinking. By the year 2025, as much as two-thirds of the world’s population will be

The Earth is a huge planet this is covered by 70 percent water. Astonishingly from this 70 percent the human population can only use 1 percent of the world’s water the rest of it is salt water, frozen, or in some way unattainable (Santa Clara Valley Water District, 2016). Humans have found many different ways to obtain this 1 percent of fresh water they need, but the techniques vary depending on location. In San Jose, California we obtain our water from 3 major sources: groundwater, imported surface water, and local mountain surface water. These 3 sources contribute different amounts of water to the San Jose community. Imported surface water composes about 50 percent of our water supply, while ground water composes roughly 40 percent, and local mountain surface water composes approximately 10 percent (Santa Jose Water Company, 2016). However, these percentages can change due to factors such as weather and global warming.

The Mackenzie River Basin covers 1.8 million square kilometres, making it Canada’s largest river system and home to nearly 400,000 people with 15% of those belonging to indigenous communities. It is a valuable resource that supports rich aquatic life, wildlife, vegetation and human life.

Throughout Canada, people live lavishly, surrounded by all the human necessities needed to survive, and all the materialistic items that one could ever want, guaranteed a decent education and life. While they live their lives without ever encountering the desperate need for clean water, their First Nations neighbours live in stark, sad conditions, likened to those of a 3rd world country. If a community is lucky enough to have running water, then it is probably to dirty to drink. Most reserves are under a drinking water advisory, and some have even been boiling their water for over 20 years, such as the Neskantaga reserve. The government doesn’t do anything for the fatally thirsty people in a country that they call fair, equal and developed. They have devoted time and money to show that they are trying to staunch a crisis that shouldn’t be happening, but First Nations communities still have dirty, undrinkable water.

national identity, but most of the time, they represent the community’s own views. The way

Around the world, many people believe that there is a great deal of water that can be shared. However, the reality is that if we keep living our lives by this mentality, we will experience water shortages. In the future, wars will be fought over water, and since Canada is blessed with such a large amount of fresh water, we will have a major impact in these battles. In the Great Water Debate, Canada is in the opposition side of it. The Canadian government believes that our water is a Canadian resource and is not shared with all of North America’s. Canada does not want to transfer their water as it is a great resource for our Country and gives us more sustainability.

“Drinking water is like washing out your insides. The water will cleanse the system, fill you up, decrease your caloric load and improve the function of all your tissues.” – Kevin R. Stone --

Researchers have been studying the causes and effects of contaminated water on human life. Water is to be considered a major and important resource on the planet, but it can also be a major health risk towards human life especially on young children. Young children are more vulnerable to diseases because their immune systems are experiencing everything for the first time. These health risks can include diarrhea, dental fluorosis, or toxicant. Diarrhea can be life threatening due to fluid loss. In 1998, diarrhea was estimated to have killed 2.2 million people, most of whom were under 5 years of age (WHO, 2000). It is more common when there is a shortage of clean water for drinking. Dental fluorosis is a defect of the teeth marked by the increased porosity of the enamel. The longer one has dental fluorosis the more their teeth begin to rotten and crumble. The water sources that can be contaminated are ponds, lakes, seas, oceans, or reservoirs. All these sources are what we use for drinking and bathing. But having clean water cannot be achieved everywhere. Africa, especially, has a poor water quality. Africa does not have the resources for clean water like the United States does. Humans need to be careful of where they get their source of drinking water because of the health risk that contaminated water possesses on humans, but mostly young children.

The Carlsbad desalination idea is not a practical way to get drinking water for the people of California. Obviously, it is a serious risk to the environment, and comes with many more cons than pros. Why damage our world long-term not that we haven’t done that already when we can just find other ways to get water for the Californians?

Have you ever wondered if our drinking water is actually safe to drink? The topic of safe drinking water according to my research isn’t a topic that it’s given that much attention even though there have been events and statistics that have impacted our drinking water. There have been important events such as the chemical spill in Charleston, West Virginia and the ash sludge in Kingston Tennessee in 2008, these kind of events even though they have happen a few years ago still have an impact on our drinking water today. Lauren Russell is an important person because she stated that climate change is another factor that can affect our drinking water because it can impact the quality of the water since climate change is a main world problem it affects everyone 's drinking water. Another big factor of drinking water is what kind of chemicals are in our water that makes it safe for us to drink? I feel like people and I should be informed of the risks that human and natural disasters can do to our sites that we get our drinking water from. And we should also be inform if the chemicals that they put in our drinking water are one hundred percent safe. The reason why I chose this topic is because water is a necessity for every human so if we all get informed about this topic we can enforce better laws that can ensure us the best water quality for us to drink.