Water Crisis Awareness

1. What are some of the major water issues facing the world today?

The Earth changes every day. Sometimes those changes add to the beauty of the world in which we live, and other times they create problems that we are challenged to find the solution to. Climate change, war, and natural disasters are all big issues we are working on as I type, but possibly the biggest and most important is water. Today, around one in every eight people, roughly one billion human’s, do not have access to clean water of any sorts. Only about 2.5 percent of water on Earth is fresh, and around two-thirds of that supply is stored in snow cover and glaciers. Water might be a renewable resource, but it’s not an immeasurable one, and though lack of clean water is a big issue, for the millions upon millions of people who don’t have any, the problem they face is about accessibility rather then scarceness. While we often take for granted the fact that clean water is accessible to us at the push of a button, so many people don’t have that luxury and are forced to travel to streams or rivers miles away to retrieve water that is not the cleanest by any means. To put this issue into perspective, I have collected some tragic facts on the affects of the lack of clean water on people all over the world. Because of water-related sickness 443 million school days are lost each year. The Earth’s largest cause of infection is lack of sanitation. Because of water-related disease, 3.5 million people die each year, 84% of which are children and 98% of which are in the developing world.

2. What are people doing to help?

Although water is a very big concern throughout the world, there are luckily many things being done to help. For example, Ryan Hreljac, the creator of a foundation known as “Ryan’s Well”, learned about the need for clean water in developing countries when he was in the first grade. With help from his friends and family, Ryan was able to save enough money to build a water well in Africa, which went up in 1999, when Ryan was seven. He continued to save money and build wells until his project became a foundation in 2001, and to this day “Ryan’s Well” still serves water deprived areas. So far, “Ryan’s Well” has brought safe water and better sanitation to more then 705 thousand people by building more then 630 wells and 700 latrines. This is just one of many organizations set out to improve the way people everywhere live by giving them access to the clean and safe water they deserve.

3. How can the problem of water allocation and safety issues be resolved?

The issue is not that the water situation is helpless and there’s nothing we can do, the issue is that we have to buckle down and do the things the earth and our fellow human beings require of us. If a well was put up in an area facing a water crisis: 1. People could save 2 hours and 45 minutes getting water 2. You could use the extra time to start a garden with your new water source and can feed the family 3. Your children spend more time in school opposed to getting water. (Scenarios from charitywater.org) Also people are sent into developing countries suffering from lack of water to educate citizens about the importance of hygiene and sanitation. When people are educated they’re more likely to do something about the situation, or demand help from places that do have water. If people get in those areas and work to supply them with fresh water and education on the issue, this whole water crisis would be a lot less complex.

4. How can we, as a class, contribute to these solutions?

Though different foundations and projects are doing a lot to help with the world’s water crisis, there are also many things individuals (or in our case, a class) can do. For example, fundraising! If we ran a bake sale, car wash, or something along those lines we could raise money and donate it to a place like “Ryan’s Well”. Also, spreading the word and educating other about the lack of clean water in developing countries all over the world can do a lot of good for the cause. When people are really informed about something they’re more likely to take action and work to better the situation. Finally, we could try to preserve our own water and be thankful for what we have instead of using it for things such as 30-minute showers and watering the lawn. If we cut back on our own supply we would be saving more water for everyone to enjoy and not just using it up greedily. As you can see, there are many things to be done as individuals, and as a class, to end the water crisis and provide safe, clean water to those who don’t have it, but desperately need it. We just have to do them.