Change Your World Week Winter 2022 (Archived)
Our Analysis of Clean Drinking Water
Access To Clean Drinking Water
Why Is Clean Drinking Water Essential?
Drinking clean water as a human is essential in everyday life. If the water we drinking was not cleaned the way it is cleaned now, everyone would be sick, or have a disease. Currently in industrialized cities, diseases, such as cholera, polio, and typhoid fever have been eliminated in communities where safe and clean water is available. People in developing counties or that clean their water on their own run the risk of the presence of coliform bacteria such as E.coli. The water may contain pathogens that can cause vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, fever, fatigue, or even death. It is time to supply this earth with clean drinking water in every home, city and country.
More than 884 million people around the world don't have access to clean water, that means that those people have access to harmful toxins more than anything.
According to the CDC they have been doing research on the different health impacts unsafe drinking water has caused. The first supporting reasoning for drinking unsafe water is estimating the number of illnesses and costs associated with waterborne diseases and outbreaks. The CDC is trying to run different types of tests to provide a reason for the different types of diseases. The CDC is also working on developing improved laboratory methods for sampling, testing, monitoring water quality, and developing tools and training to improve waterborne disease outbreak investigation.
The Solutions
Learning About Lead
Almost everyone in their life has been exposed to lead. Some people may not know it. Lead is something that can be found in all parts of our environment. A place where lead is found is in our drinking water, and this can be harmful to our health, especially in kids ages 6 and under and pregnant women. For example in Michigan a blood lead level of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter or higher is considered elevated. Most people don't act or look sick when this happens to them. To protect you and your families health you need to get your lead pipes checked, to assure you aren't consuming these harmful toxins like lead. ("Learn About Lead 2022")
Clean water and Sanitation
No matter what the solution is, each country is going to have different needs. For Example the Dominican Republic, the water supply there is very limited. They have no public sewers in the villages. The people have to rely on purchased water bottles to drink. If as a world we work together to get these places clean water we could save money, and live a healthier life. Teaching the children about safe drinking water, proper hygiene, and improve sanitary disposal methods, are the first steps in these places who don't have unlimited access to clean water. ("Katie Chamberlain Santec 2022")
Taking Action
Take a second to click the link above to donate to the water project. There are different fundraisers to help provide clean drinking water to everyone around the world. Some fundraisers that are active right now include Menika Community 3, Yourika Community, and Konkomodu Railway Line Community. Help provide these communities with a borehole well and hand pump to help at least 400 people gain access to safe and reliable water in each of their communities! You can even start your own fundraiser today and help your local communities. Anything helps, donate today!
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, February 10). Drinking water. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved February 28, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/index.html
Chamberlain, K. (2019, March 21). How can we improve access to clean drinking water and sanitation around the world?Stantec. https://www.stantec.com/en/ideas/how-can-we-improve-access-to-clean-drinking-water-and-sanitation-around-the-world
Jain, R. (2011, December 29). Providing safe drinking water: a challenge for humanity. SpringerLink. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10098-011-0446-1?error=cookies_not_supported&code=9f685cc8-ffe6-4590-882f-b11b39d7b4f2
Mi Lead Safe - Learn About Lead. (2022). Learn About Lead. https://www.michigan.gov/mileadsafe/0,9490,7-392-104591---,00.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=lead_threat
Riley, M. R. (2011, March 31). Biological approaches for addressing the grand challenge of providing access to clean drinking water - Journal of Biological Engineering. BioMed Central. https://jbioleng.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1754-1611-5-2
Rosado, M. (1998). WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR DRINKING WATER IN URBAN AREAS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. AgEcon Search. https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/20821/
The difference a day can make: The temporal dynamics of drinking water access and quality in urban slums. (2019, June 25). ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969719313531