Drinking Water Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Of all the uses of water, drinking water is the most fundamental, since the lack of safe and sustained water to drink is life-threatening. Yet, according to the United Nations (UN), as of 2002, nearly 20 percent of the world’s population still lacked regular access to clean drinking water. Of these 1.1 billion people, 65 percent were in Asia, 27 percent in Africa, 2 percent in Europe and 6 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In most countries, the state is responsible for the provision of drinking water. Any drinking water supply system consists of three major elements: source (surface water sources such as lakes, rivers, and reservoirs, as well as groundwater sources such as wells), treatment (e.g., adding disinfectants such as chlorine), and distribution to users (including pricing). Drinking water supply systems have had a long history; for instance, the ancient Greeks and Romans were among the first to introduce long-distance water pipelines. However, in recent times, the question of provision of drinking water has become even more critical and complex, particularly with the growth of large cities that are situated at a considerable distance from adequate and reliable sources of water.

How much water people need for drinking varies according to diet, climate and the work they do. The minimum amount of water needed for drinking ranges from about 2 liters in temperate climates to about 5 liters per day for people in hot climates who have to carry out manual work. Pregnant and breastfeeding women need more water. Water for basic needs goes beyond water needed for survival; it includes water for cooking and to maintain a standard of personal and domestic hygiene that is sufficient to maintain health.

Apart from the quantity requirement, drinking water also needs to meet certain minimal quality requirements. Drinking water can be contaminated by a range of chemicals (lead, arsenic, benzene), microbes (bacteria, viruses, parasites), and physical hazards (glass chips, metal fragments) that can pose risks to health if present at high levels. Consuming such contaminated water can lead to waterborne diseases like diarrhea, cholera, typhoid and dysentery, and is one of the leading causes of illness and death in the developing world. The World Health Organization has put in place norms on water quality, which form the basis for regulation and standard-setting in many national, regional and local laws. However, standards for drinking water quality continue to be either ill-defined or poorly implemented in many countries.

The question of quality of water is also closely related to the question of sanitation. This is because one of the primary causes of contamination of water is the inadequate or improper disposal of human (and animal) excreta. Meeting adequate levels of sanitation is critical in order to ensure that drinking (and other) water meets certain quality standards.

Access to Water

Apart from quantity and quality requirements, in order for drinking water to be secure and useable, everyone must also have safe and easy access to water facilities. For instance, in households using only a remote and unprotected source, health can be jeopardized by water contamination. Further, collecting water from distant sources could also mean that a lot of time is spent on the task, with the result that women and children (who are the ones who bear the burden of collecting water in many cultures) are unable to undertake other productive activities (like going to school).

In addition, there is also the risk of injury while carrying heavy loads. Global coverage figures from 2002 indicate that out of every ten people, roughly five have a connection to a piped water supply at home (in their dwelling, plot, or yard); three make use of some other sort of improved water supply, such as a protected well or public standpipe; and two are unserved, with no choice but to rely on potentially unsafe water from rivers, ponds, unprotected wells, or water vendors.

Drinking water also needs to be affordable. The World Health Organization recommends that no more than 3 to 5 percent of an individual’s income should be spent on water. However, the poor often pay far higher amounts for water that is neither safe in terms of quality nor reliable in terms of timing.

Four Dimensions of Drinking Water

The four dimensions of drinking water-quantity, quality, accessibility, and affordability-are currently facing high degrees of pressure.

The supply of water in the world has always been finite. Only 3 percent of the world’s water is fresh water, most of which is locked in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland or in deep underground aquifers, which remain technologically or economically beyond our reach; further, only 0.3 percent of the world’s total freshwater reserves is found in the reserves and lakes that constitute the bulk of our usable supply. However, the current shortages in safe and drinking water are also a result of wasteful and unsustainable consumption of water, along with competing (and often more powerful) demands of industry and agriculture. Newer options, such as reusing wastewater, are beginning to be considered.

Similarly, the question of quality has acquired great importance in recent years in the light of growing groundwater pollution as well as contamination of surface water bodies. For instance, in the late 1990s, groundwater in Bangladesh in south Asia was discovered to be contaminated with high levels of arsenic. The deterioration in quality in many places is in large measure due to chemical fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture as well as dumping of household and industrial waste without treatment. The question of affordability of drinking water has also come to the forefront in recent times (in parts of Africa and Latin America, for instance) due to attempts in many parts of the world to meet costs of public drinking water systems by raising tariffs, and/or privatizing existing water supply systems.

In spite of the high importance of water, it is important to note that a human right to safe and adequate drinking water has still not been fully defined by existing international law or practice, although it is supported by many human rights instruments as well as other international laws, declarations and state practice. To date, the most explicit formulation on the right to water at the international level is the General Comment 15 adopted by the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in November 2002. The 145 countries that have ratified the covenant are bound to ensure that everyone has access to safe and secure drinking water, equitably and without discrimination.

Bibliography:

Peter Gleick, Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World’s Fresh Water Resources (Oxford University Press, 1993);
UNESCO-WWAP, The United Nations World Water Development Report (UNESCO and Berghahn Books, 2003);
World Health Organization, Right to Water (WHO, 2003).