Clean Water

Photo Source: Geotimes.org

Clean water is essential to human health, and the constant availability of clean water from tap is virtually taken for granted in where we are staying, I mean the developed urban paradise we are living. In the developing world it is the reverse. According to WHO and UNICEF, we have more than 1 billion people — about one sixth of the world's population — do not have access to safe drinking water – and it also suggest that this number could quadruple by 2025. Most of them are in rural Africa and Asia, and millions of children and leaving millions more on the brink of survival.
However, around the world our supplies of freshwater are increasingly threatened by pollution, overuse and climate change. Problems with access are most severe in the developing world but even wealthy and relatively water-rich nations, like the U.S., need to take action to ensure that their water supplies can meet looming threats.
Prescription For Survival is a science documentary that I watched tonight. It is the trigger that makes me to think about the clean water issue now. The program is a six-part documentary series and one of the topics is the clean water. It told a case of one small village in Uganda. In that remote village, the only source of fresh water for the villagers is an open pound, where is also a water source for their cattle and other animals. The only water system there is plastic water containers, children and adult. No doubt that the water is not clean and unsafe to drink. As far as I saw from TV, the water they drink is dirtier than the water I used after cleaning the floor yesterday. It makes me feel very uncomfortable when I saw them to drink! WHO and UNICEF are trying to improve the situation but they find a lot of difficulties because of lack of funding and the severe drought. Meanwhile, Australia is still using fresh, clean water for toilet flushing.
Well, I have no idea about how to fix or to improve the problem, as well as how to deal with the injustice between developed and developing country. What I think I can do is to do something from individual for first step, i.e. to use water more wisely, cautiously and carefully. It makes me feel a bit better to enjoy the fresh water while knowing somebody is suffering from not having this basic essential.

P.S. Some example water saving strategies that you don't even need to have a big change in your living habit:
- Washing dishes by hand, fill one sink or basin with soapy water. Quickly rinse under a slow-moving stream from the faucet
- Avoid flushing the toilet unnecessarily. Dispose of tissues, insects and other similar waste in the trash rather than the toilet.
- Wash vegetable and fruit in containers or sink instead of running the tap.

Useful Link
Family Water Audit Check out to see how well you use water.
Water Saving tips A comprehensive and interactive website to investigate water saving opportunities in each area of our home.
Challenges to Clean Water Worldwide