The clean water problem
- Justin
- Jul 9, 2018
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 23, 2018
Every year a new wave of breakthrough inventions are introduced to the world. Technology industries in developed countries are booming, and so is the standard of living. United States citizens have access to a plethora of resources like never before: the Internet, Amazon services, apps that tell you how much water to drink. However, the noticeable gap between developed and developing countries is widening. While people in developed countries are thriving, people in developed countries are struggling to even survive. A huge part of this struggle comes from the scarcity of water. As a result, millions of people are dying from the water crisis.
Countries such as India are suffering from their worst water crisis in history. Many Indian cities are in desperate need of drinking water. More specifically, Shimla, a city in India, is struggling to provide an adequate amount of water for its citizens. As a result, residents are forced to line up in lines to collect water from trucks. Global advocacy group WaterAid ranked India as the worst country in providing clean water to homes. Unfortunately, not one Indian city can provide drinkable water from its tap to their citizens.
In addition to direct humanitarian issues, the water crisis in India has a huge impact on the agriculture industry. With India’s population expected to surpass 1.8 billion in the near future, the agricultural industry plays an extremely important role in everyday lives. However, the water crisis has not only hurt the agricultural industry but also farmers. A 2017 study found almost 60,000 farmers had suicided in the last 30 years due to water crises. Because farmers have to take out huge loans to buy equipment, a water crisis can make farmers unable to pay off their debts.
The same circumstances apply to other cities, such as Cape Town, Cairo, and Sao Paulo. Why? There are many effects that come into play, including the overuse of water, pollution of water, conflict, and drought. A major portion of water goes into the agriculture sector. Due to a growing global population, water use has reached new highs and is expected to continue to rise in the future. In addition, many water crises are caused by droughts. Dry spells that last weeks can lead to a huge disaster.
How can you and others help? Since a major portion of water is used for agricultural purposes, technology to improve the efficiency of irrigation practices and investments into more drought resistant crops will decrease the agriculture’s dependency on using huge amounts of water. Check out WaterAid, an international organization that aids regions that deal with water crises. For example, WaterAid has kickstarted a program called “Tap the Sun.” This program utilizes solar panels to power village taps so that villagers do not need to manually gather water from a water hole.
Water.org is another program that strives to bring safe drinking water to people of the world. Through loans from this organization, families can afford access to clean water and sanitation devices. In 25 years of operation, this company has provided more than 12 million people with access to clean water. Although the water crisis is a problem of immense proportions, with help, awareness, and time, we can create a more sustainable future.
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