World Water Day 22 March 2009

Photo: millerspecialyachts.com

HONOR WORLD WATER DAY 22 MARCH 2009

The United Nations has declared today the World Day for Water; this year’s theme is ‘trans boundary water’

Water is our single most precious resource, so essential to life on out planet and already there is not enough of it to go around.

On a an Internet poll ‘Is South Africa facing a water crisis?’

73% voted yes; 10% No; and can you believe it 17% voted that they haven’t even thought about it!

It’s a fact that polluted water, poor management of dams and deteriorating infrastructure could lead to a major water crisis in South Africa and people just carry on regardless...

Pollution from industrial and household contaminants threatens our water supplies, while shortages in parts of the country has lead to rationing in many heavily populated areas. Of particular concern is the tendency of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals to end up in the groundwater, via air, soil and surface water contamination. Another concern is that levels of fluoride that people are regularly exposed to in drinking water can cause serious malfunctioning of the thyroid gland, leading to even more serious health problems.

With the world population growing, and the increasing pollution of our natural resources, we are facing a water crisis.

Water is the most abundant chemical in the body, making up roughly 60 per cent of the human body, it covers some 70% of the earth's surface, with only 3% being from fresh water sources.

According to the latest figures over one billion people lack access to clean drinking water, and over a half-million more (most of them children) die each year due to lack of clean water sources (water borne disease), every drip is precious. Access to clean water means a better quality of life for children the world over. Millions of women and children must still spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources, and 2.5 billion people live without a toilet.
In Zimbabwe alone the consequences due to years of poor governance, are poverty and disease on a tragic scale. Public hospitals have been without running water for months and more than 3,000 people have died in Africa’s worst cholera epidemic in 19 years.

Yet, even for those of us for whom access to water is merely a matter of turning on a tap, water is a critical issue.

Scientists are even working to ensure the safety of drinking water recycled from treated sewage; the idea of toilet to tap is a really bad misconception, it’s way past that. They say that the water will be cleaner than any of the water ever going into a dam...

But not all microbiologists agree that the technology is safe. The say that you are starting off with a much dangerous water source, due to a million times higher concentration of viruses, bacteria and probably drugs than what you would EVER find in a polluted river...

Water is Sacred...

In Nepal, water and religion go hand in hand. Giving people water is regarded as a virtue and taking money for water can be seen a sin. A pity it is not enforced worldwide!

There are abundant water resources in the mountainous country of Nepal, but for many people, communal taps are their only source of fresh water. Stone taps were built all over Nepal, some of them dating back a thousand years.

Watch Out for that (Disease in a) Bottle...

Kibera, in Kenya's capital Nairobi, is the world's biggest slum, where poor people pay a premium for filthy (contaminated) drinking water (risking their health); which they buy from illegal water sellers.

Watch Out for that Bottle...

There is more water in that bottle than just the liquid living inside it. In fact, it takes more water to make the plastic bottle than the bottle itself provides. And even though these water sources are pretty much the same as what comes from your tap, they charge up to 1,900 times the price of tap water - bad news for your pocket, health and environment alike.
Be sure to purchase a reusable bottle that you can take with you on-the-go. (I am also a guilty party). Bottled water is not a good choice for the well being of the earth. In landfills, water bottles will remain biodegrading for approximately 1,000 years.

"When the well is dry, they know the worth of water."- Benjamin Franklin