Water Sanitation and Shortage: Not Just a Third World Problem

Please enjoy this guest post by Maria Rainier
 

Water Sanitation and Shortage: Not Just a Third World Problem

Approximately one in eight people lack access to safe water.¹  Very few of these one-in-eight people are, of course, Americans.  This is why we take water for granted.

Meanwhile, across the seas, over 3.5 million people die annually from preventable water-related disease.  Every 20 seconds, one of these 3.5 million people is a child.

We, of course, know nothing of these people or the revolutions calling for safe access to drinking water they have led because we, the United States, use as much water in a five-minute shower as any given individual in a slum in a developing region uses in an entire day.

Those involved in the Blue Revolution like Water.org and makers of the film Blue Gold: World Water Wars suggest digging wells, donations, and educating those of us in more developed regions to stop this public health crisis.  Meanwhile, most of us will sit idly by, leaving half-empty plastic water bottles at the soccer field and running the faucet when brushing our teeth.

Everyday Americans, however, are already affected by water sanitation and access.

America’s Dirty Water

Enough chemicals pollute the water many Americans drink daily to exceed recommended health guidelines as deemed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) according to the research posted on the website 24/7 Wall St.²  Research by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) covered “a total of 316 contaminants in water supplied to 256 million Americans in 48,000 communities in 45 states.”  Some of these contaminants aren’t even regulated by the government for consumption safety.  Drinking water in Pensacola, FL, the worst city for clean water according to the research, contained over the past five years 45 of the 101 tested chemicals, including unhealthy amounts of radium-228, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, alpha particles, benzene, and lead.  Other chemicals include cyanide and chloroform.

Agriculture and Water Pollution

By far one of the biggest pollutants of American rivers, lakes, and groundwater (i.e. drinking water) is agriculture.  Even with the green revolution underway, many farmers and CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) do not practice organic habits, which in part allows, depending on soil properties as well as pesticide properties, for groundwater to become vulnerable to pesticide contamination.

Meanwhile, paved roads force rainwater to go straight from asphalt to sewer and ocean instead of replenishing the groundwater, leaving us with less fresh water and more water for companies in the (near) future to make money desalinizing. 

Alternative Solutions Besides Bellyaching

Rather than wasting money, time, and fossil fuels (of which we’re already in short supply) on desalination plants, everyday Americans can make little changes to keep clean water in North America and respect the trials facing those less fortunate.  This includes being more mindful of water consumption (i.e. taking shorter showers), using water filters instead of purchasing cases upon cases of plastic water bottles, and supporting local and organic farming practices even by shopping at farmers’ markets. 

True, water shortage may never affected developed regions of the world as it does places where those millions are already dying.  Still, wealthy or not, everyone needs water.  This is hardly a problem the wealthy can wash away.

Bio: Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education where she writes about education, online universities, and what an online degree means in an increasingly technological world. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

Sources Consulted

1)       1.  “Water.” Water Facts. < http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/>

2)       2..    “The US Cities With The Worst Water.” 24/7 Wall St.  < http://247wallst.com/2011/01/31/the-us-cities-with-the-worst-water/>

3)       3.     Huddleston, J.H.  “How soil properties affect groundwater vulnerability to pesticide contamination.”  University of California, Riverside.  <http://www.pw.ucr.edu/textfiles/Soil%20Properties%20and%20Groundwater%20Contamination.pdf>