We Need to Focus on Water Quality Solutions

While we are all worried about water quantity, we need to remember that there is the same amount of water on earth as there was in the beginning – it may just be in another place to what it was before.

This means that there is actually sufficient water on earth, but what there may not be is sufficient potable water, therefore we need to look more to the quality of water and not only the quantity.

We Need to Focus on Water Quality Solutions

Several million tons of industrial and agricultural waste and sewage is poured into freshwater all over the globe on a daily basis. This results in the astonishing fact that more individuals, mainly children, die from toxic water than from all forms of violence, including war every year.

We are responsible for the water problems we are experiencing, nobody else. It is our activities that are affecting the water quality and the health of our communities and ecosystems. We need to seriously look at how we are treating our water and resolve to improve and protect our water quality in order to create improved human well-being, healthier ecosystems, and sufficient access to potable water for ourselves and future generations.

Historically, water quality has received far less scientific support, investment and public attention than water quantity has, and this has to change!

“Improving water quality, whether by preventing pollution, treating wastewater before disposal, or restoring the quality of waterways, requires increased awareness and political will,” said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute. “The consequences of inaction are stark: water-quality problems affect our health, reduce agricultural productivity, impose additional costs on industrial production, and degrade ecosystem services–with costs to local populations and governments.”