Clean Water

Water covers 70% of the Earth, but only 3% of it is fresh, usable water. The other 67% is salt water. All these years, we have been living on that 3%, and, eventually,  it will run out. Water is one of the most basic and fundamental component for life. Without it, the majority of the organisms would be extincted. Humans can live without food for a few weeks, but we cannot go on without water for more than 2-3 days. We are using up our 3% of water, and we could be facing extinction very soon.

Clean water is water that is usable for hygiene, drinking, and other activities. Clean water, before arriving to our homes, is treated to remove chemicals, particles, bacteria, etc. We go on and use water, sometimes wasting them without thinking of the future. What if one day, water stops running in your pipelines? When you stop receiving freshwater, what would you do? Water pollution and drought are major impacts on the clean water supply. Water pollution happens every year. Untreated sewer leakages cost more than $50 billion dollars a year to get rid of. Also, factories dumping unsanitized waste into rivers (i.e dye, chemicals, radioactive waste.) This polluted water get pumped to homes and cause even more problems. Diseases, illness are spread into the systems of the people who drink this water. For example: The people that live in Africa has trouble getting clean water because of the weather and remote geography. The water they get are not sanitized through a system and, as a result, they get many waterborne diseases. In the U.S, the state of California is facing the worst drought they have ever seen in 1200 years. The state have issued a water restriction law to preserve water. The drought has been going on for 4 years. They could be facing total water cut very, very soon. California needs 11 trillion gallons of water to recover from this drought. That means they have to fill up the Dallas Cowboys Stadium 14 thousand times.

So what can we do? Water is running out, and we are just sitting here waiting for rain? Scientists have found a way to desalinate salt water, turning it into fresh water. The process is very complex and costly. You can turn 2 gallons of sea water into 1 gallon of fresh water. Preserving of water is crucial too. We should not waste water and be as efficient as possible when using water. Always remember that there are people out there, needing fresh water. Help save the world by preserving water!