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TravisOnstott
BrandonRobinson
SierrahSchramm
ShelbySheldon
AbbeySura
English12B(3)
Mr.JayB.Gross
12May2016
TheDeficitofCleanWaterGlobally
Lifeisaboutrightsandalmosteveryonehasthem.Forexample,allindividualshavethe
righttochooseandmostpeoplealsohavetherighttofreedom,butrightsgoevenmorebasic
thanthese.Rightscanbeassimpleastherighttolife,confidentiality,andcleanwater.Thougha
majorityofdevelopedcountrieshavesafedrinkingwater,manydevelopingcountriesdonot.
CountriessuchasEthiopia,Afghanistan,India,andCambodia,lacksafedrinkingwaterforat
leasteightyfivepercentoftheirpopulations.AccordingtoWater.org,globally,oneoutofeight
peoplelackaccesstocleanwater(refertofig.1).Thisepidemicofunsafedrinkingwateris
leadingtheworldtoadisasterofpreventablewaterbornediseasesandalargelossoflife.The
worldneedstocollaborateathigher
ratesandcreatealargescalecallto
actioninordertohelpthoseinneedof
waternotonlywithinthe
UnitedStates,butin

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developingcountriesaroundtheworld.
Cleanwaterisaneverydaynecessitytosome,buttomostinthirdworldcountries,the
lackofcleanwaterisamplethestaggeringsupplyofcleanwaterishardlyasurpriseconsidering
theharshconditionsofthirdworldcountries.Butitisntjustthirdworldcountriesthatare
impactedbythelackofdrinkingwater.ThecityofFlint,Michigan,suffersasimilardilemma,
copiousamountsofleadhavebeendiscoveredinthewaterconsumedbyresidentsofthecity.
Multipleattemptstoquellthisdilemmahavebeenmade,includingdonationsofcleanwater
fromneighboringareasaswellaswellknowncelebrities.AppropriatelytitledTheFlintWater
Crisis,thecrisisoccurredinthecityofFlintin2014followingcomplaintsofleadinthewater
supply.Leadfromtheleadpipescontainingwaterseepedintothewatersupply,poisoningitand
deemingalltapwaterintheFlintareaunfitforhumanconsumption.Evenwithalltheattention
thiseventhasreceived,thecitizensarestillnotreceivingwaterthattheyneed.
SinceApril2014,anyonethathasenteredFlintandusedthewaterinanyway,hasbeen
exposedtolead(Moore1).Leadisaheavymetalthatcanbedeadlyandcauselastingeffectson
thehumanbodythatcanbeextremelydetrimental.Lowlevelsofleadinwatercancausemany
problemsinbothadultsandchildren,butsomefacemoredangerousconsequencesthanothers.
TheconsumptionofwatercontainingleadcancauseeffectssuchaslowerIQ,anemia,weakness,
constipation,behaviorandlearningproblems,andevenaslowedgrowthrateinchildren(EPA).
AccordingtotheEPA,adultsarealsoatriskforconsequencesofleadinthewater.Themore
leadthatisconsumedleadstodecreasedfertility,increasedbloodpressurewithincidencesof
hypertension,anddecreasedkidneyfunction.Inrarecases,highexposurecanalsoleadtocoma

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anddeath.Leadinthewaterisnottheonlyreasonforunsafedrinkingwaterforlarge
populations,somepopulationsjustlackthebasicnecessityofevenhavingwater.
Indevelopingcountries,individualslackthebasicstomakewatersafefordrinking.On
average,anAmericantakingafiveminuteshowerusesmorewaterthanthetypicalpersonliving
inasluminadevelopingcountry(Water.org).Thatnumberisshockingseeingthatoneoutoften
peoplegloballylacksafedrinkingwater(WHO).Inrecentyears,manyorganizationsglobally
havetriedtofindsolutionstohelpthesethirdworldcountrieswhoarestrugglingandfacing
devastationfromthiswaterdeficit.CompanieslikeVestergaardhavecreatedproductssuchas
LifeStraw,toaideinbringingsafedrinkingwatertopeopleincountriesthatarenotonly
developing,butalsointhefaceofnaturaldisaster(Lamport).LifeStrawscomeinbothsmall
portablefiltersthatcanbeusedbyanindividual,andtheycanalsocomeinlargerstylethatcan
providecleanwatertoafamilyinneed.AccordingVestergaard,onelargerversionofLifeStraw
canprovidecleanwatertoanaveragefamilyoffiveforthreeyears.Theaveragecostofthis
productisjustseventyfiveUSdollars(LifeStraw).TheLifeStrawcouldbeaneffectivewayto
beginsolvingtheglobalwaterdeficit.Beingthatitissuchacosteffectivesolution,LifeStraws
canallowthatoneoutoftenpeopletonothavetogowithoutpropercleanwaterifpeoplewould
donatetosolvethiscalltoaction.
Theglobalwaterdeficitbringssomuchmorethandehydrationtothoselivingwithout
water.Thiscleanwaterdeficitbringswaterbornediseasestoallofthosewhodonotonlynot
havecleandrinkingwater,butalsotothosethatdonothaveaneffectivesepticsystem.On
average,eachyear700,00childrendieduetodiarrheabecauseofpoorsanitation(Billand
MelindaGatesFoundation).Oneofthestepsthatneedtobetakenintheglobalwaterdeficitisto

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stepuponpublicsanitation.Insomedevelopingnationsintheworld,publicsanitationis
horrendous.AccordingtotheWorldHealthOrganization,oneoutofthreepeoplelackaccessto
atoilet.Manypeopledonotrealizehowimportanttoiletsandeffectivesewersystemsare.
Withouttoiletsandgoodpublicsanitationingeneral,diseasescanrunrampantandspreaddueto
theimproperexposureofhumanwasteswhichcancarrymanyterribleconditions.Ingestionof
humanfecescanspreadvirusessuchashepatitisA,bacterias,andparasitessuchas
tapeworms(Modric1).Bycreatingbetterpublicsanitationprogramsthroughouttheworld,the
globalwaterdeficitcouldseeadecreaseandalsoseelessoutbreaksofdisease.Evenwithallthe
moderndayluxuriesthatdevelopednationshave,theycanstillhavewatercrisesintheworstof
times.
Naturaldisasterscanhappenanywhereatanytimeandcausedisastrouseffects.In2011,
JapanfacedahugeearthquakethatrankedasanineontheRichterscale.Thisearthquake
broughtbuildingstothegroundanditalsobroughtatsunamiasore(Oskin1).Thisdisasterleft
manyhomelessandwithoutbasicnecessities,suchaswater.Inthissituation,millionsofpeople
neededwater,andinsomecasesitwasdifficulttotransportwatertothem.Inthiscase,the
demandforwaterwashigh.ThisiswheretheproductssuchasLifeStrawcomeintoplayyet
again.LifeStrawcomesinmanydifferentforms,suchasawaterbottleorsmallportablefilters
forindividualsandfamilies.Innaturaldisastersthatdestroycities,LifeStrawscansavelives
withoutbreakingbanksofthosetryingtohelpthoseinneed.OnesmallpersonalLifeStrawcosts
twentydollarsandcanprovideonepersonenoughcleandrinkingwaterforonewhole
year(LifeStraw).Onaverage,onegallonofnonsparklingwatercostaroundonedollarandfifty
centsin2014(IBWA).KnowingthatandthefactthatabasicpersonalLifeStrawcanmake1,000

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litersofwaterfortwentydollars,itisamorecosteffectivewaythanjustpurchasingbottled
waterforthosewhoareinneedofsafedrinkingwater.
Theworldisfacingahugeglobalwaterdeficitfornumerouscausesindifferentregions.
Someregionsexperiencealackofcleanandsafewaterduetonaturaldisasters,whileothersface
diseasespreadbyunsafewaterduetoimpropersanitationimplements.Withsomanywaysto
begintobringwatertothoseinneedglobally,itisashockthatmorehasnotbeendoneyet.With
simpleinventionssuchasLifeStrawthatcanbringsyearsofwatertofamilies,andalsosomany
organizationsworkingtoprovideeducationandbettersanitationsystems,theglobalwaterdeficit
isslowlybeginningtobecauselessofahopelessthaninhasbeeninrecentyears,butmoreneeds
tobedone.Withsuchahighnumberofpeoplewithoutsafedrinkingwater,aboutoneoutof
everyten,andalsooneoutofeverythreenothavingaccesstoatoilet,actionsneedtobetakento
providerightstohumanseverywhere.Peoplearepeople,nomatterwheretheylive.

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