Lee 1
Alex Lee
Dr. Faulkner
English 150- Research Paper
25 November 2013
What’s Life Without Water?
“Nothing in his memory anywhere of anything so good” (McCarthy 123). That is the thought the father has in The Road as he drinks the fresh water found in a cistern under floorboards. As a man with nothing, he takes joy in meeting one of the simplest of human needs. He quenches his thirst. Water is often underappreciated, especially in developed countries where it seems to be so abundant. Faucets are turned on and off without even a thought of how the water, flowing so freely, was obtained and how,or if, its cleanliness is maintained.The human body, as impressive as it may seem, is a fragile thing made up of 70% water (Manzoor 34). It requires many elements and chemicals to maintain its equilibrium, but no other compound is more necessary for life than water.Manzoor writes, “We can live more than a month without food, but no one survives a week without water” (34). The horrific reality is that about 783 million people around the world are living without access to potable water on a daily basis(Williamson). Thirty-one countries are said to be facing a shortage of drinkable water (Manzoor 34).“In the last four decades of the twentieth century, the amount of freshwater available for each human being worldwide shrank by almost two-thirds.It is expected to be halved again by 2025” (Cribb 38). The available sources of water are being used up at an alarming rate, and the supply is unable to replenish itself.
On a planet covered mostly by water, why is this resource so scarce? The answer lies in the fact that only 2.5% of the earth’s water is freshwater (Manzoor 35). That water is not evenly distributed to the population, which is growing by about 85 million people per year (Manzoor 37). From an economic standpoint, the supply is simply not meeting the demand, and that demand is increasing rapidly (Manzoor 35). Julian Cribb says this within the book, The Coming Famine: The Global Food Crisis and What We Can Do to Avoid It, “Superficially, the world has an abundance of freshwater— but it isn’t alwayslocated where the people are or where the food is grown, a lot of it is frozen, it isn’t always easy or cheap to extract, and often it is too polluted to use. We have already tapped most of the freshwater that is accessible and economic, and tapping more distant, dirty, or difficult supplies of water, like oil, is a great deal more costly. At the same time, we manage, conserve, and price water very badly” (34).The shortage of potable water is an international crisiswith far-reaching consequences brought on by mankind’s mismanagement, but its solutions begin at the national level as people begin to take responsibility for the future of the planet and its resources.
Water is a big player in countless problems around the world. It is tied to a number of political struggles, economic disputes, poverty, health concerns,human rights issues, and food shortages (largely due to the reduction of agriculture). Williamson states in her article, “Often access to clean water is restricted as a tool of war.” She follows by giving the examples of Israel holding back water from the Palestinians and Sudan’s conflict over the Jonglei Canal. According to Biro,“It is the state’s interest in securing water supplies that is at stake, and states will ultimately resort to any meansnecessary to achieve their security goals” (91). Because water is now marketed and no longer a free commodity, its supply is being used for economic advancement of developed countries at the expense of the rural areas from which most of the freshwater comes. Bolivia is an example of a country experiencing economic disputes between its rural people and large companies. These disputes are centeredaround the subject of water (Manzoor 39). The impoverished people of third-world countries are unable to afford the privatized water supplies, and the effect is detrimental.
Poverty impacts both the cause and effect of the shortage of water.“Nearly 66% of people who lack safe drinking water live on less than $2 a day, while 33% on less than $1 a day” (Water.org). Not only are poor nations suffering the most from the scarcity of water, they are also unable to afford most of the available solutions to the problem (Manzoor 38). These countries are stuck in a cyclic pattern. They do not have enough water to promote agricultural production, which makes the people unable to make money to get themselves out of their poverty-stricken standing. Because they do not have money, they cannot obtain the technologies necessary for purifying or gathering acceptable drinking water (Lall 4). Bangladesh is an example of one of the nations suffering due to its growing population coupled with poverty and poor social development (Manzoor 35). The poorest citizens resort to drinking contaminated water, which carries an abundance of diseases.
Disease is rampant among populations lacking potable water. “It is estimated that nearly 10% of the global disease burden could be reduced through improved water supply, sanitation, hygiene, and water resource management” (Water.org). Some of the most commonly acquired illnesses include dysentery, cholera, and hepatitis A (Williamson). Within these destitute populations, more than 3,000 children under the age of 5 years old die daily from water-related diseases (Prois). Parasites are also typically found in non-potable water. A few of the diseases from water-borne parasites are Guinea worm, schistosomiasis, amebiasis, cryptosporidiosis, and giardiasis (cdc.gov). Although these diseases do not always guarantee death, those infected are usually in rural areas and unable to receive the needed medical attention.
In order to avoid these illnesses and obtain clean drinking water, women and children of rural villages are given the task of retrieving water for their families. According to Water.org, “Surveys from 45 developing countries show that women and children bear the primaryresponsibility for water collection in the vast majority of households (76%). This is time not spent working at an income-generating job, caring for family members, or attending school. In just one day, it is estimated that more than 152 million hours of women and girls' time is consumed for the most basic of human needs — collecting water for domestic use.” Aside from this work being very strenuous and time-consuming, it may also pose danger for those responsible for carrying the water. “In Africa alone, women and children spend 40 billion hours annually collecting water,” according to the article written byProis for The Huffington Post. She also states that these trips are often met with sexual assault and harassment.
A global food shortage is another problem linked to the lack of clean water. Agriculture is barely existent in regions where water is scarce. “Seventy-five percent of the world’s poor people are rural and most of them depend on agriculture” (Tabb 56).Because of this dependence on agriculture, there is an even greater need for water. Inadequate rain over places like East Africa is dramatically cutting the food supply (Manzoor 35). Food shortages in other parts of the world may become significant in the near future due to this rain shortage (Prois). “Today, food grown by irrigationuses about 70 percent of Earth’s readily available freshwater” (Cribb 32). In poorer places, however, water cannot be gathered for agriculture due to its scarcity and the lack of funding to build irrigation systems in most third-world countries. On top of this, governments tend to focus more on funding the water needs for urban regions rather than agricultural ones (Cribb 38). Governmental policy must be altered in order to help conserve water.
Mankind is its own worst enemy in that most of these issues, and ultimately the global water crisis in itself, can be traced back to pollution and mismanagement of the existing freshwater supply. The rapid industrialization of developing countries, such as India, contributes to the pollution issue. Because of this urbanized way of life, much of the population chooses to migrate out of the rural areas in search for jobs. This further raises the demand for water (Manzoor 36). According to Cribb, “Groundwater provides about one-fifth of humanity’s freshwater” (41).India attempts to combat the higher water demand problem by the pumping up of groundwater, but this occurs too often and damages the underground supply to the point of no recovery (Manzoor 35). Cribb adds, “In the United States, for instance, groundwater supplies more than half of all drinking water and more than one-third of all agricultural water needs. The huge Ogallala aquifer, which underlies eight states in the American Midwest and is extensively used to grow food, is being depleted at ten times the rate of natural recharge, and some experts fear it could dry up completely within twenty-five years” (42). “Mechanical pumps powered by fossil fuels allow the extraction of surface and underground water in immense volumes, which often exceed natural rates of recharge. This is causing the level of groundwater to fall rapidly in most countries where it is used to grow food. Pumping of groundwater also helps to empty rivers, lakes, and wetlands and kills landscapes when water tables sink out of the reach of tree roots. In many countries, governments encourage this destruction and waste byproviding cheap hydroelectricity or by underpricing water” (Cribb 36). Although industry is a good thing for a country’s economy, it must have balance to preserve natural resources, such as water.
As industrialization increases, so do carbon emissions. This pollutes not only the air, but also any surrounding reservoirs of water (Manzoor 37). “Air pollution of individual countries translates into a pollution of the global commons that then impacts everyone in the future,” according to UpmanuLall (7).Cribb also discusses the pollution of water by fertilizer run-off and toxic run-off from factories.“Water discharged from farms is frequently muddy and contaminated with nutrients and chemicals, making it unsuitable for other uses such as growing fish or drinking. Water used in cities is usually contaminated by industry with heavy metals or toxic organic pollutants, or else contains sewage (treated or not), oils, chemicals, animal excrement, fertilizer, and many wastes, making it unsuitable for reuse unless cleansed. An estimated 1.5 billion people drink contaminated water, which kills 2–5 million every year. Pollution is amajor factor in the global scarcity of clean freshwater” (Cribb 36). Other examples of irresponsible management of this resource includes deforestation and the wasting of freshwater by plants who use thousands of gallons to produce electricity (Manzoor 37). It is estimated that around 90% of water in China’s urban regions is already polluted (Cribb 39). Individuals, companies, and entire nations must learn to responsibly use water in order to preserve this resource and reduce the pollution of it.
The primary argument against more strictly regulating pollution and water management is the effect it would have on economics and the governmental policies that would have to be established. In regards to the economy, Cribb says, “Water may be in short supply because some countries simply cannot afford to develop their resources fully or to manage them well. In other cases, distorted water pricing sends the wrong signals to users and causes waste or overuse. In some countries, the availability of cheap, subsidized electricity has led to over-pumping of water. In others, high energy costs make water unaffordable to the poor” (37). Even when it comes to a naturally occurring substance, money is a central conflict. Some economists claim that the global water crisis is not a crisis at all. It is merely an “overstated” issue (Lall 1). Some believe it is only a local or regional problem, not a global one. Andrew Biro writes,“Given water’s density, its renewability, and the volumes needed for the daily reproduction of human life, it makes much more sense to speak of multiple local scarcities than global water scarcity” (86). The truth is that many only see water issues on local levels, but the sum of these countless local problems contributes to and makes up a worldwide crisis (Lall 8). Many charities and non-government organizations are available and willing to assist in providing water sanitation, but the shortcoming lies with the governments whom do very little to regulate the resource in itself (Cribb 37). Charity organizations help to educate the younger generations on responsible water usage, but the government must also assist in saving the water supply. Environmental policies are needed to avoid waste, such as the over-pumping of groundwater, but few are in place (Manzoor 40). Too much regulation, however, makes citizens uncomfortable and policy-makers less popular. Regulation of pollutants is not something governments want to deal with right now. It is seen as economically risky and politically questionable (Lall 5). The government, however, cannot be solely responsible for fixing the water crisis.
Several solutions exist to help ease the struggles of the international water crisis and prevent further widespread devastation. Some of these solutions are already in place in various countries. The most basic way to fight the water crisis is to educate the masses on water preservation and the recycling of waste water (Manoor 40). Awareness must be spread to the more affluent populations in order to conserve resources and assist the lower class. Some techniques listed by Julian Cribb include teaching farmers more water-conscious methods of farming, putting into effect water recycling in urbanized areas, convincing industries to practice more conservative types of manufacturing, and more extensively researching the amounts of water that can be used without harming the renewal (44).One option for government intervention would be to more strictly monitor and punish illegal drilling and collecting of groundwater supplies (Cribb 45). In her article, Williamson describes several apparatuses that can be used in areas with contaminated water. She discusses a few including a ceramic water filters that have been distributed throughout Cambodia, Guatemala, South Africa, and Nepal to bring clean drinking water to households. Charities, like Water.org, are known for going straight to the struggling communities of Africa, Asia, and South America and funding community wells and pump-building (Water.org). Countries throughout the world are using the collection of rainwater to satisfy their freshwater needs. This is a solution in parts of Asia and Latin America, where rainfall is more consistent and industry has not caused extreme pollution (Manzoor 39). The government in Singapore has put multiple solutions into effect. It rations water and uses a high-tech waste water recycling plant to conserve its water supply (Manzoor 35). Singapore, as well as parts of the Middle East and Mediterranean region, use a process of desalination of seawater to provide for its citizens. This method, although expensive, also reduces the consumption of energy (Manzoor 39). In Saudi Arabia, in particular, the process of desalination is achieved through reverse osmosis. This technique pumps salinized water within a chamber against its typical concentration gradient flow through a membrane that filters out the existing salts (Almaliki 17). Although the long-term effects on the body cannot very be certain, genetically modified crops are another possible solution. Research and experimentation is being done in order to produce crops that require less water (Manzoor 35). Many options are available as solutions for the water crisis, but it all begins with taking responsibility as an individual.
The international water crisis requires individual action and government support in order to improve the state of the planet. Although individuals should be responsible enough to control their own water usage, the government works for the citizens of its country. That being said, there is a responsibility of government officials to be sure that the citizens have enough water for basic needs and that the water is sanitary. The first step is to get the word out on the shortage of the water supply. If people live in ignorance, nothing will ever be done to fix the problem. The global water supply is dwindling. Awareness of this is key. Very few Americans would be willing to support more government control and regulations, but some revamping of policies seem to be in order to be sure that what water there is left is not heavily polluted and that groundwater is not harvested beyond recovery. More water recycling and treatment plants are needed, as well. Ultimately, though, it all comes down to whether or not people are willing to care about the issue at hand and do anything about it. Push for more responsible usage of water, even if it is only on a local scale. The future depends upon the present society to be good stewards of the planet, to encourage charities and medical care in third-world countries, and to support education and awareness on the issues that are certain to become hot topics soon enough.