Clean water is harder to come by daily. Between dwindling water supplies and increasing water pollution, many people in the world don't have clean water to drink, much less cook or clean with or for watering their gardens or livestock. It's a major problem around the world, presently effecting mostly poor people, but is starting to impact wealthy people and developed nations too. Water conservation is one solution, but not the only problem. Clean water is a more inconvenient truth than even global warming and air quality.
Did you know that there are people all over the world that are dying for a drink of clean water? Literally. I am not talking about them being excessively thirsty, but they are actually dying because they do not have clean water to drink and use. Most people assume that this problem cannot possibly be happening in this day and age, but it is. Imagine walking for hours each way every single day just to get water that is clean enough to drink. Or worse yet, that's not clean enough to drink. This task is done by millions of men, women, and children everyday. Even then, the water they bring home is not as clean as what we drink in our homes. This is why so many people die every year.
Don't you feel a bit guilty? All you need to do is walk to your kitchen and turn on the faucet. Your only worry comes in when you forget to pay the water bill or there is another problem that causes the water not to flow into your home. Here is something else to make you think. One flush of the average toilet is more water than a person in Africa has for the entire day for drinking, washing, etc. The water that flows into your toilet is cleaner, too. Sad, isn't it?
Water is an essential part of life. Not having clean water to drink is deadly. People in the underdeveloped countries do not have ready access to a clean water supply, so they are forced to use the water that they can find, whether it is polluted or not. This sometimes means that they may be forced to walk several miles just to get water. This process is one that they may have to do each day. Even then, they do not have an abundant supply of clean water to drink, wash with, and use in their gardens to grow their food. Not having clean water causes severe health affects as well, including dehydration, illness, and even death.
What can be done about the clean water situation? Supporting groups and causes that are going to these countries to build water treatment plants for the people is one way that you can help everyone in the world to get clean water. Be sure that you research these groups carefully to ensure that your money is going to the cause and not their pockets. The United Nations has a goal of getting clean water to at least half of the people without it by the year 2015, but there are many other environmental groups that are working on this issue as well. Getting clean water can change these countries and the citizens of these countries around.
Learning more about the water issue is also important. By talking about it, you can help spur action in your community and in the world. That is why knowledge is so important. Take that knowledge and take steps to help other people have clean water available to them. Doesn't everyone deserve to have clean water? I think so.
