Water Pollution : The Possibility Of Water And Drinking Water

According to the Millennium Development Goals Report 2012, “783 million people, or 11 per cent of the global population, remain without access to an improved source of drinking water. Such sources include household connections, public standpipes, boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs and rainwater collections.” (United Nations, 2012) The United Nations Water Conference in 1977 along with a few other conferences, addressed helping approximately “1.3 billion people in developing countries gain access to safe drinking water.” (United Nations, 2012) While there is progress being made, we see that various regions without clean drinking water. Reports show, “In four of nine developing regions, 90 per cent or more of the population now uses an improved drinking water source. In contrast, coverage remains very low in Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa, neither of which is on track to meet the MDG drinking water target by 2015. Over 40 per cent of all people without improved drinking water live in sub-Saharan Africa.” (United Nations, 2012) It is shown that rural areas still lack drinkable water as opposed to urban areas. Consistent improvement has been made to supply populated areas with a reliable source of drinking water. However, research shows, “Coverage with improved drinking water sources for rural populations is still lagging. In 2010, 96 per cent of the urban population used an

Unsafe water supplies are often contaminated with infectious agents, toxic chemicals, and radiological hazards. In 2000, the World Health Organization and UNICEF identified some 2.4 billion people who did not have basic sanitation facilities, and 1.1 billion people without a safe drinking water supply. (Wagner, 2009) Some communities experienced diarrhea, caused by a variety of parasites, viruses, and bacteria that infect people as a result of contaminated drinking water or poor hygiene. In India, more than 500,000 children die from diarrhea every year. Like other tropical diseases, when diarrhea does not kill, it weakens, leaving people more susceptible to other infections, such as tuberculosis and HIV. (Whitman, 2008).

Are you ever thirsty for a nice cold glass of clean water? Most privileged people can find decent drinkable water in at least three places in the average kitchen. It’s a gift we commonly undermine. Unfortunately, many adults and young children aren’t granted this privilege. Striving each day to find clean water and still worry if it is safe enough to drink. All around the world some of the deadliest bacteria, diseases, and germs are alive in the water. Underprivileged countries do not have clean running water or even a decent well to draw from; this results in drinking from stagnate rivers, salty oceans, and contaminated puddles. Each year, thousands of people die from the bacteria living in unclean water. Sorrowfully, many of those numbers are young children! When a child becomes sick from bacteria found in their drinking water, an entire daily system becomes thrown out of balance. They cannot attend school or work, and it affects friends and family around them! Moreover, economical issues arise. Humans around the world have their whole lives ahead of them. Everyone should have daily access to clean drinking water to keep them healthy and growing. In this fallen world that’s not always the reality. The cycle that contaminated water brings is almost unstoppable.

Main Point: Third world countries lack accessibility to clean water exposing them to disease and harmful toxins that result in 2.4 million deaths annually (Bartram, 2010).

Around the world people are suffering from the problem of having a safe and clean water, there are more than 633 million people lack access to safe water. Remote countries in Africa are mostly the victim of having unsanitary water sources.

Having had the chance to travel to some the most primitive areas around the world for missions work, lack of clean water affects the health and hygiene of a people. Improper disposal of human waste and trash are key contributors to water contamination in underdeveloped countries. “In 2016, 143 communities and 57 schools received clean water in Sierra Leone, Kenya and Uganda” (“2016 Annual Report”). Organizations, like The Water Project, are making great efforts around the world to make a difference in these areas by installing wells and providing water purification systems. Until the proper infrastructure is in place, bottled water is the perfect stopgap. Bottled water can provide those living in these unreached areas a way to get their daily intake of water without fear of sickness.

Thanks to the United Nations general assembly recognizing the need for clean water in Resolution 64/292, the states and international organizations have been called on to provide funding and resources to help developing countries provide safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water to all. This is a step in the right direction, seeing as women and children in some countries have to walk more than 30 minutes to collect water- if there is any water to collect at all.

Many populations, the majority being in Africa, face many water-borne diseases mainly due to pollution of water resources. The option then becomes to either drink polluted water or not have anything at all. Continual Human development such as population growth and industrial growth have further drained water resources, causing a shortage of drinking water. As a result, there are many conflicts over ownership of water resources and these lead to injuries or fatalities.(2) As mentioned before, this shows why it is so important to find a solution to the issue of water shortage.

Water-borne diseases are caused by the ingestion of water contaminated by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites. These pathogens are spread through the feces or urine of an infected individual (africaneeds). The most common diseases are cholera, guinea worm and typhoid. People can easily contract these diseases if there is no system of sewage collection and treatment. In fact, almost 2.5 billion people worldwide do not have access to adequate sanitation (UN water). Climate change can also impact the water crisis in Africa. Water is necessary for survival, and when areas get

Unclean water is a growing phenomenon that is immensely occurring in Latin America. Water is an important necessity in life. There are over 70 million people who have no access to clean water. Many families in Latin America cannot afford to send their children to school, so the children drop out of school to help work at the home. Many of the children who stay home to work walk for hours to get to the nearest water source, and most of the time, the water is unclean and not safe to drink. The unclean water is the only water accessible to families in Latin America. With the unclean water available, sanitation was not. It is very rare to find any form of sanitized water in most households in Latin America. Over 100 million people are not

Water is an essential basic human need. Clean, safe drinking water is scarce and there are millions of people around the world that spend a full day searching for the resource. Worldwide access to clean, safe drinking water is a simple human right and an essential step towards cultivating living standards worldwide. Yet, more than one in nine people still lack dependable access to this valuable source. It is estimated that every person needs 20 - 40 liters of clean, safe water for drinking, cooking, and other factors that affect your health. (Editorials, 2010) The lack of access to improved water affects those living in poor, developing regions; however, even populations living in countries with exceptional water

Water and sanitation: Around 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhea diseases caused by lack of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. At any one time about one-half of all people in developing countries are suffering from diseases associated with water. Diseases may be caused by drinking water contaminated by human or animal waste, insects which breed in water or parasites. The energy expended carting water long distances also has a health and time cost on women and children. Improved access to water and a knowledge of hygiene and management practices can lead to improved

In the many death cases that have been researched, most of the accidents that occurred in these rural areas has some type of relations to water. Inadequate water can lead to illnesses, diseases, and sometimes death. Along with the exponential population growth in West Africa, this epidemic is becoming more of a harsh reality every single day. With 94% of the 1.4 million deaths every year due to Diarrhea, a search for a better cost-effective and sanitary water treatment is an emergency that needs to be taken care of

However, that was just not the root of access to clean water, but rather the underlying cause of the issue was financial instability in most of the developing world. As the American nonprofit developmental aid organization, Water.org, states that “1in 9 people lack access to safe water and 1 in 3 people lack access to a toilet,” is the underlying social problems that are slowing the economic prosperity of developing countries from moving forward to achieve quality life for their citizens (Water.org). Furthermore, the nonprofit states that in addition of these numbers, about one million people lose their lives due to water-related disease every year, 2.3 billion people still lack access to improved sanitation, and 844 billion people are in need of safe drinking water in the world today (Water.org). The effect of lack of access to safe clean water and sanitation affect most women and young

Water is of great significance to us. Our body is mainly composed of water and we are constantly losing water by sweating, urinating, and a lot more. Because of all of these ways of losing water we also need ways of gaining water each day. If you don’t drink enough water you become dehydrated and not having enough water in your system could result in you not being able to get rid of poisonous chemicals in your body. Waterborne illnesses are illnesses caused by contaminated or untreated water, so the greatest contributor to waterborne diseases is inadequate sanitation. Some countries don’t have enough water to use for toilets, so they dump their waste in their water, not knowing that it’s contaminating their drinking water. (Parks 23). The United