Those of us that can open a tap and wash our hands or get a nice glass of water to drink never really think about those who cannot, but perhaps we should. After all, humans need clean water to survive, and when they do not have it they simply cease to exist in droves.
Currently around 1 in 9 individuals do not have access to clean water; 1 in 3 people do not have access to adequate sanitation; and around 3.5 million people (including 1.5 million children – mostly under the age of 5) die every year from water-related causes. That is just unacceptable!
Why Access to Clean Water is Vital
Access to clean water allows us to have water to drink, without which the human body cannot survive; it allows us to have hygienic sanitation, without which disease and illness is rife; it allows us to keep ourselves and our surroundings clean, and it allows us to grow and prepare food.
Access to clean water allows us time to do other things that those in developing countries do not have the time to do because they spend so many hours a day collecting water, like go to work, and go to school to get an education that can help us stay or get out of poverty. A lack of access to clean water and sanitation is keeping women and girls in Africa out of school and this means that there is a huge gender gap where women are robbed of opportunities to educate themselves.
Clean water and sanitation will allow them to go to school and not force them to stay home either to gather water or to look after sick relatives, or simply because there are no sanitation facilities at the school, which every young, especially teenage girl needs access to.
When rural women have access to clean water they spend the time growing food for their family and can increase their crop yield by between 20% and 30%, which could lift approximately 150 million people out of hunger. Granting access to clean water to those in these areas will improve the lives of all and in turn will raise the GDP of these countries by a large percentage.
Water, so plentiful yet so scarce; so simple yet so complex; so taken for granted yet so longed for. Clean water is something most of us never have to think about, yet something that could change the world if looked after and everyone has access to it.
Living-Water sells water dispensers and natural spring water to companies in London.
