Water Sanitary Issues

392 Words2 Pages
Sanitary Water Situation Most people are oblivious to the issue of unsanitary drinking water, but it threatens 2.6 billion people around the world daily. True, the Earth is mostly water (70 percent). But 97.5 percent of that is salt water. Of the 2.5 percent of freshwater, about 68.7 percent is frozen in the polar icecaps and glaciers. Most of the freshwater available to humans is often polluted, and made unsuitable to drink. Less than 1 percent of the freshwater is apt for drinking. About 42,000 people die every week from low quality drinking water and lack of sanitation. Many people are currently sick and unhealthy because of water-borne illnesses. One area known for its water sanitation problems is South America. Much of the freshwater they have access to is contaminated and polluted. Most people that visit were told not to drink the water there. This is because many people become sick from the infected water. Lots of other people don’t have any access to water from a faucet or pump. They have to pay extra to a tanker truck to receive barrels of water. For people who make minimum wage of about $161, paying the extra $1.50 is a necessary but difficult task. Another area especially affected by lack of sanitary water is Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, a baby is 520 times more likely to die from diarrhoea than a baby born in the Untied States or Europe. Countless people die from malaria as well. It doesn’t help that around 90 percent of waste and sewage is dumped into rivers, streams, and other water courses without treatment. This pollutes much of the water the people could have used for drinking. The fact is that we have the technology for sanitizing water. If chlorination was exercised in the countries and regions with polluted water, then the percent of people dying from water-borne illness would lower. It could lead to a decrease of diarrhea episodes between
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