World Water Day - When the Need for Clean Water Becomes a Worldwide Focal Point
If you have not yet heard of World Water Day then chances are you will soon. March 22nd marks the annual event, and the need for clean water becomes the focal point on everyone's list of world wide needs. Countries such as the US and India celebrate this day with a strong movement toward providing clean water alternatives for areas with polluted water sources and poor drinking conditions.
In the last decade there has been a remarkable march toward progress when it comes to providing clean water around the globe. More than 200 million people have gone from impoverished, hazardous drinking water conditions to having clean water at their disposal. The difference has been phenomenal. World Water Day celebrates this with great vigor while reminding us that there is more work yet to be done.
joined together for the unification under the need for clean water and reasonable sanitation solutions. Sanitation that is drained into rivers where both livestock and humans drink and bathe can cause serious health problems. Clothes are often washed in these shared waters as well, harboring infectious bacteria levels that are at least 5 times the international safe rating.
Thousands of children under the age of 5 perish every day from the diseases that are spread through contaminated waters. World Water Day is looking to bring attention to this very serious issue.
In today's world it can be hard to imagine that more than 2.5 billion people around the globe are still living without any kind of sanitation. This includes a toilet. This is of significant concern to world health officials as the population continues to grow. It would be nice to say that officials are concerned for those who are living without a toilet and the conditions that are brewing there.
However, most of the objections raised have been in regards to the fact that the growing population is now reaching the edges of the bacteria infested waters and this could prove to be a global health risk.
It is the hope that the events of the annual World Water Day celebration will continuously keep the need for clean, fresh water and reasonable sanitation solutions well on the minds of the political leaders around the world. There are solutions already intact, as many of these solutions have already been implemented in other areas. Yet, slow progress is frustrating to the organizations that have taken on the cause. Some countries suffer from poor leadership while others suffer from corrupt officials. Either way, the need to continuously address the situation is high year after year.
There are many things that average citizens can do in support of
World Water Day
. Donating one's status on Facebook and Twitter, joining the annual event and standing in the "world's longest toilet queue on Capitol Hill," and entering writing contests to support the cause are just a few of the basics. In time, the hope is that everyone will get involved and clean water and reasonable sanitation will be had in all corners of the world.
To read more about related subjects, please follow these links:
World Water Week
2010 European Water Association Conference