Friday, June 15, 2018

What You Need To Know About Clean Water Supplies

By Frank Reynolds


Every year millions of people die from diseases caused by lack of access to clean water. Tens of millions of others suffer illnesses brought on by the same. The United Nations considers clean water supplies a basic human right. It is paramount to bodily functions and even affects other areas of human life like the economy. This one little thing can make or break a country. It can bring about immense benefits or it can lower a country to the gutters.

There are guidelines set to determine whether a population is being provided for in this respect. The first is quantity. A human being consumes more than 20 liters a day. This amount goes towards drinking, food preparation, and personal hygiene. The amount can be more. The crisis is present because a significant number of people all over the world live on less than this. The same population does not have safe hydration leave alone enough.

The second pillar is quality. The World Health Organization has laid out guidelines for safe and healthy hydration. There is a set standard of microbial, chemical, and radiological characteristics to adhere to. The sources should be protected. Authorities should be extra vigilant with the distribution channels as these offer more opportunities for contamination. It is the responsibility of a government to ensure that this standard is observed.

Most sections of the population rely on surface water. This is derived from rain/seasons. The issue with this is that there are periods of dryness in between rainy seasons. During these times, it is advisable that the people look into groundwater harvesting. However, if nature does not take initiative to replenish this source man-made options should be explored. Another point of concern with regards to reliability is the distribution system. This is easier to deal with as it is with human control.

There are two aspects to the cost of safe hydration for the people. The first is obviously monetary. The amount the authorities charge to have piping delivered to a home. The second aspect is for those who cannot afford to pipe water to their homes. This is time measured. How much time does it take to get to the nearest hydration point?

Storage is a huge problem. It can easily taint safe resource. It should be stored in food grade containers. The containers should be labeled so that they are not left for too long. Plastic soda bottles can be reused for this purpose but after cleaning. It is harder to get bacteria out of milk and juice containers so those should not be contenders.

The crisis has moved on to affect other facets of life. Lack of safe hydration is a crux of the health crisis. Every 90 seconds a child dies from a disease brought on by dirty water. The same has also contributed to other issues facing children and their education. The kids spend a lot of time helping parents fetch water and not enough being in school or playing.

About $200 Billion is lost each year due to a collective shortage of proper hydration. Once the crisis is averted, the world stands to gain a lot just from savings on medical costs. The global economy could use a little relief from this problem.




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