Cornerstone Content Post

“I can't live without…” has become a very common phrase in recent years. Oftentimes people follow this phrase with something they can live without like, tiktok, or their favorite T.V. show. Water is something that humans truly cannot live without. Unfortunately billions of people go without adequate drinking and sanitation water every single year. Unsanitary water has been an ongoing issue in third world countries for decades. Consumption of unsanitary water can lead to diseases like dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, polio, and many more deadly diseases (Drinking-Water, 2023). The United Nations estimates over three million people die every year from contaminated water.

Contrary to popular belief, although more prevalent, unsanitary water is not only an issue in third world countries. For example The United States of America deals with its own water sanitation issues. Poor agricultural practices and designs have led to the spread of food borne illnesses in America. Many of the vegetable recalls in America are caused by contaminated water runoff. This happens when water contaminated with viruses like Ecoli travels down the water system, into various agricultural farming fields. When this occurs the vegetables can become contaminated with various diseases and ultimately infect the American population.

Luckily many gracious people have already begun designing solutions to these problems. For example, Justin Wren started a company called Fight for the Forgotten. Over the last decade Fight for the Forgotten has spent millions of dollars building wells in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the native people. Overall, the water sanitation issue is a widespread problem that affects millions of people every year. Without proper help the problem could worsen leading to the death and sickness of more people.

Introduction Blog Post

Water is a basic necessity for human life. Many of us go about our day without considering how bad life could be without the privilege of clean accessible water from home. However, The United Nations reports approximately two billion people do not have access to clean drinking water, and over three billion people have inadequate water sanitation services (Bayram). Unsanitary drinking water can cause fatal health issues such as cholera, dysentery, diarrhea and many other water-borne illnesses and infections. Roughly three million people die from unsanitary water every year.

Unsanitary water affects every densely populated continent on the planet. Countries like America and Britain are often affected by unsanitary water run off, infecting crops which causes many fruit and vegetable recalls. Other countries such as Ethiopia and Uganda are affected by unsanitary drinking water, leading to deadly diseases and infections. Although access to clean water is a privilege many in America have, if the issue surrounding unsanitary water is not addressed soon there is potential to create a bigger problem than already on our hands.

Fight For the Forgotten

Justin Wren is the founder of Fight for the Forgotten, an organization that provides sanitary drinking and cleaning water to the Pygmy people. The Pygmies are a native African tribe from the region now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Pygmy’s suffered through hundreds of years of oppression from various European and African countries until reaching the point of near extinction. However, in 2013 Justin Wren started a foundation that has now provided safe land and sanitary water to the natives.

Since starting Fight for the Forgotten the organization has drilled eighty three wells all providing accessible water to the native people. Along with drilling wells the organization teaches the natives the importance of using sanitary water in agriculture processes (What we do, 2022). In just ten years an organization started by one person has provided 52,000 people with sanitary water. Fight for the Forgotten is an excellent example of someone tackling the unsanitary water problem and making a positive impact.

Agricultural Water Run Off

The next two blog posts will take a deeper dive into the specific water sanitary problems in different parts of the world. The United States of America deals with a slightly different issue than the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In America water runoff is causing an increase in disease, sickness, and in some cases death. This is a complication many farmers did not plan for. Water runoff is caused by water at high elevations trickling down the water system and picking up pollutants on the way. Once the water is polluted it continues to travel downstream and has a chance of mixing with resources meant for human consumption. When this happens many of the pollutants are transferred to the food, which is eaten by humans, ultimately causing disease, and sickness in the American people. The United States Environmental Protection Agency recognizes Water Runoff as one of the greatest threats to water sanitation in America today.

Many people in America can go to their faucet and be provided with somewhat sanitary water making it easy for Americans to believe there are no water sanitation concerns in this country. However the continued recalls of different vegetables like Romaine lettuce, or bagged salad mixes are directly linked to the agricultural water runoff that is contaminating our food supply. If this issue continues to go ignored it could have deadly implications in the coming years.

Unsanitary Drinking and Cleaning Water

The water sanitation problems in Africa are much Different than the water runoff issues in America. Africa has a large amount of the population that has no access to clean drinking water on an everyday basis. It is very common for citizens to walk several miles to get unsanitary water. It is estimated that five hundred million African people go without sanitary drinking water every single day. Approximately Eight hundred thousand of those people will die this year if they are not provided with clean water.

The human body can go without the presence of water for around three days. The people residing in Africa have become forced to drink infected water to survive. Unfortunately until wells, or water spouts that provide clean drinking water are available, unsanitary water is the best option because it erases the immediate problem of dehydration. However, when consuming this infected water deadly diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery hepatitis a, typhoid, polio, and many more (Drinking-Water, 2023). Think of the worry one in America may have when reading about a romaine lettuce E Coli recall, and then remembering the cesar salad they had for dinner last night. This is a worry many people in Africa go through every time they need a sip of water.

Solutions

Providing clean water to people will help build a healthier and more productive society. Currently many things are being done to prevent unsanitary water. On July 28, 2010 the United Nations department of economic and social affairs recognized clean water as a human right. This was the beginning of getting real help to the problem. Since the 1970’s the United Nations has been attempting to provide clean water all over the world. Their most successful campaign started in 2005 and lasted until 2015. The “Water for life International Decade Plan” raised money to buy filters and drill wells in third world countries ultimately supplying the citizens with clean drinking water. Overall the water sanitation issue in the world is a complex problem that will take time to fix, but if no one starts working now Unsanitary water will continue to take the lives of millions every year.