Water Safety Plan Essay

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

“Access to safe water is a fundamental human need and, therefore, a basic human right. Contaminated water jeopardizes both the physical and social health of all people. It is an affront to human dignity.” — Kofi Annan, prior United Nations Secretary-General

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.

There is a water crisis which faces many parts of the world and it is a threat to survival of human beings since humans are primarily dependent on water. Shortage in drinking water is beginning to show its effects in first world countries, but is a current major problem facing lesser developed countries which have not taken drastic steps to harvest water and purify it to make it safe for human consumption. In developed countries the population growth has strained available water resources and stretched the ability of governments and private firms to provide safe drinking water to the vast majority of the population. Seventy one percent of

A fifth of the world’s population (1.2 billion people) lack access to safe water today.

The water and sanitation problem in the developing world is far too big for charity alone. Water.org is driving the water sector for new solutions, new financing models, greater transparency, and real partnerships to create lasting change. Their vision: Safe

This research paper will focus on the social determinant of health involving access to clean water. We have focused our research on the accessibility of safe water intake on First Nations Reserves in Canada, we all know of the issues with limited access to safe water in other countries but we often forget about our own issues at home here. Over a billion people in the world lack safe drinking water, something that many of us in the Canada take for granted on a daily basis. As pointed out by Peter Gleick, “nearly three billion people live without access to adequate sanitation systems necessary for reducing exposure to water-related diseases”5. Throughout this paper we will explore different solution options in order to prevent the spread of dangerous diseases through unsanitary water conditions. Our research is going to express the importance of focusing on the issue we have at hand here in Canada and increasing awareness for the issues here before worrying about other countries over seas. Outbreaks of water-borne infections include but are not limited to; E’coli, Salmonella, Schistosoma, Cholera vibrios and Hepatitis A. Thousands of people die every day worldwide from water-related diseases; these deaths include mostly children and elderly, with some of these incidents taking place in Canada.

Water Quality & Contamination Abstract My report was based on how ground water may be affected by many containments present in our surroundings. I believed that all of the water samples would have been contaminated once mixed with the soil. As I predicted vinegar filtered through the soil and came out fairly clean.

Two out of every five people living in Sub-Saharan Africa lack safe water. A baby there is 500 times more likely to die from water-related illness than one from the United States. This is a serious ongoing issue that requires the rest of the world to take action. Water spreads diseases easily if the necessary precautions are not taken. Many developing African countries don’t have sewage treatment, or the people don’t have methods to filter and disinfect. Once a person is sick either there is no way to cure them, or medical care is too expensive, so they are left untreated with a high risk of death. Although many believe that the fight for sanitary water in Africa is insurmountable, people in these developing countries can overcome their challenge to access clean water and avoid water-borne diseases through proper sewage treatment facilities, universal water filtration and medical care.

During the late 60’s and early 70’s a series of studies were conducted on public water supplies due to health concerns, which concluded that many treatment facilities were inadequate (2000). In an effort to address public health concerns, Congress enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974, which was amended in 1986 and 1996 (2000). The SDWA outlines the federal standards for public drinking water, waste management, protection of drinking water sources, and the financial infrastructure for projects (Tiemann, 2014).

"Treat the Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children."    Kenyan proverb.

Access to clean water is a basic human right and yet people around the world don’t have that right and they struggle to survive without it. The many uses of clean and potable water include water for drinking to cooking other daily purpose. It is reported that over 1.1 billion people lack access to an improved water resource and three million individuals, and majority of them children, suffer and die from water-related disease. The need to improve water quality and providing clean water should be major project for developed countries like the US and so called “well developed countries”.