Our Global Clean Water Sanitation Crisis and How We Can Fix It
During this paper, I will cover the crisis of clean water and sanitation. As of 2019, over
25% of the global population don’t have access to sanitation facilities such as toilets. Clean water
and sanitation affects the environment, the people of the world, and the economy. Although clean
water might not seem like a crisis in America, poorer countries such as Ethiopia, Uganda, and
Somalia struggle with lack of clean, available water. This is most likely due to deforestation and
soil degradation polluting their water, and the government does not have the funds to develop
water treatment. Nevertheless, there are still companies and organizations that offer promising
solutions. I will also cover these solutions in this paper.
Having clean water and sanitation is a global sustainability crisis that affects the
environment, people, and economy. According to “Clean Water and Sanitation: A Global Report
Card'', published by the National Geographic Society, freshwater has a major impact on our
agriculture. For example, “AGRICULTURE accounts for about 69 PERCENT of all freshwater
use around the world” (National Geographic Society, 2019) This statistic means that if we run
out of freshwater, or a drought happens, we wouldn't be able to grow as many crops to feed
people. Clean water and sanitation also has social impacts. According to “Clean Water and
Sanitation: A Global Report Card,” published by the National Geographic Society, “About 844
MILLION people lack basic water services, while 2.1 BILLION people lack clean, safe water
available on their living premises.” (National Geographic Society, 2019) With almost a third of
the population lacking clean, safe water, they can’t properly wash themselves which promotes
the spread of diseases and sicknesses. If kids get sick, then they can’t attend school, stunting their
education and development. Finally, cleaning and providing clean, safe water can help boost our
economy. According to the UN, every $1 invested into their WASH Program (WAter, Sanitation,
and Hygiene) yields $5 in social and economic benefits. The profit made through this program
could be a great way to help repair our economy, environment, and equity all at once. These
impacts show how not having clean, safe water is negatively affecting the environment, people,
and the economy.
Fortunately, multiple organizations, companies, and foundations are working on solutions
that address the clean water and sanitation issue. One of these companies being the Esperanza
International Foundation. According to Global Washington (2017) in “Behavior Change and
Technology: The Keys to Solving Global Water and Sanitation Issues”, the Esperanza
International Foundation serves women, the material poor, and the socially marginalized in Haiti
and the Dominican Republic. The foundation gives loans to local churches to purchase water
filters with, so that they can sell clean water at affordable prices and pay off their loans with the
profit. (paragraph 11) This foundation aims to address the clean water crisis by giving locals the
resources and opportunity to make their own clean water and give to the community. Another
company by the name of PotaVida contributes towards this cause by using solar-powered water
purifiers and usage data to enable “...aid organizations to make better decisions by collecting
accurate data from the field in real time and distilling it into actionable insights.” (GlobalWA,
2017) This company tackles the same problem, but uses data collection to decide how to solve it.
World Vision, however, has decided to tackle the clean water crisis head on with right-sized
equipment, appropriate water sources, and manual drilling. They also used mechanized wells
with solar pumps and over 500 WASH (WAter, Sanitation, and Hygiene) professionals who live
and work in the communities where they lead efforts by empowering government officials to
lead in their jurisdictions, transporting resources, and advocating for the poor. Overall, there are a
lot of strategies to deal with clean water and sanitation.
While there are a lot of good ideas to help repair our clean water and sanitation crisis, I
believe that the most promising solution is the Esperanza International Foundation. I believe that
they are the most sustainable because they address social, economic,and environmental issues
while the other foundations might only address one or the other. It addresses the social issues
because they primarily give to the less fortunate such as women, the material poor, and the
socially marginalized. It addresses the economic issues because it allows local churches to sell
filtered water at an affordable price so that they are able to pay back their loans from buying their
water filter. In addition, they are able to use their profits from selling the clean water to give back
to the community such as building new infrastructure or providing to those in need. Lastly, they
address the environmental issues because they locals can use their fresh water to water their
agriculture and livestock.
Overall, the global sustainability crisis highlighted in this paper was the clean water and
sanitation. There are multiple companies, organizations, and foundations creating solutions to
address this crisis. Still, one of these foundations stands out. That is the Esperanza International
Foundation. I believe that they offer the most promising and sustainable solution. Hundreds of
millions of people, if not billions, use water everyday, not knowing or understanding the ongoing
crisis. Therefore, everyone should be aware of this problem and do their part to contribute to it.
And while these efforts don’t land in individual choices, we have a big impact on our
government, companies, and our community. Together, we are stronger, our voices louder, and
we can take action against this global crisis before it gets any worse.
References
“Behavior Change and Technology: The Keys to Solving Global Water and Sanitation Issues”
Global Washington, March 22, 2017
https://globalwa.org/issue-brief/behavior-change-technology-keys-solving-global-water-sanitatio
n-issues/
“Clean Water and Sanitation: A Global Report Card” National Geographic Society, September
24, 2019
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/clean-water-and-sanitation-global-report-card/