Third World Countries Thirsty for Clean Water

Contaminated Water 

A young boy in Cambodia got dangerously sick after drinking unpurified water.  After hearing about the boy's story the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) came and built a well near his school so all the students can have access to pure, clean water and won't ever become ill from the water again.  Believe it or not, contaminated water "kills more kids than AIDS, malaria, war and accidents put together."  Sending supplies for people in 3rd world countries to access filtered water is crucial to improving the lives of these individuals.  Kids want to be gaining a good education in school not worrying about whether or not they are going to be sick after drinking the water in their town.  By improving the access to purified water, individuals in third world countries will become more productive and gain a stronger education.

Purifying Water in 3rd World Countries 

Increasing the access to purified water in Third world countries is a major need.  Without clean drinking water, people are susceptible to contracting deadly diseases. 3.4 million people die each year from contracting a water related disease. People have been working on creating devices that people in countries with a dirty water supply can use to filter out bacteria and other contaminates. You might be thinking can't they use a Bobble bottle?  The answer is no because the carbon filters in a Bobble bottle or Brita bottle are to filter tap water.  The carbon filter filters out chlorine and organic contaminates.  The water that needs to be filtered in Third world countries is loaded with deadly bacteria and other contaminates. Below are a few water filtration inventions created to improve the water in third world countries. 

Life Straw

The LifeStraw is a small, portable, convenient device that allows one to drink water directly from a river.  The straw has a filter that removes bacteria and other contaminates in the water.  884 people in the world currently use the LifeStraw to access clean water.

Cycloclean

Water Purifying Bicycle or Cycloclean created in Japan to filter water after natural disasters. This machine generates filtered water (up to 3000 liters a day) by pedaling on the bicycle. This is meant to produce clean water without the use of electricity or gas.

Life Sack

Life Sack is another fantastic water purification product that has brought clean water to hundreds of people in Africa. This sack filters water through a solar water treatment using UV-A radiation. 

Life Saver

And lastly, Lifesaver a bottle that filters out contaminates in the water. This bottle is able to completely filter through dirty water and make it drinkable.  However, it is an expensive item.  The manufacturing company is currently working toward getting donations and people to help distribute these bottles to those who are in desperate need for fresh, drinkable water.


What Can We Do To Help?

Distributing these water filtration sources to people in Third world countries saves the lives of millions of individuals and prevents waterborne diseases and illnesses. Improving the water increases the productivity in these countries as well as the lives of each person. 345 million people in Africa alone don't have access to clean water, yet $100 billion dollars is being spent toward manufacturing water bottles all over the world. If people switch to filtered-reusable bottles, the money saved in reduced water bottle production can be used toward sending LifeStraws or Live Saver Bottles to people who are living in areas that lack access to clean water. These are lives that can be saved and improved with something as little as a filtered straw. How many more must die from waterborne illness?

America's Public Water

EZH2O Retro Kit

Improving U.S. Public Water

The United States has been improving public water systems as well. Purified water bottle fillers are being put into airports, parks, and college campuses. 

Outdoors Bottle Filler

This new Elkay invention called EZH2O not only improves the easy access to clean water, but promotes the reuse of water bottles to reduce the amount of plastic waste. Since the input of this system at Muhlenburg College "1.4 million plastic bottles have been refilled at the stations" over a two year period and "bottled water sales dropped 90%" according to James R. Hagerty in the Wall Street Journal. This Pennsylvania school has significantly reduced the amount of waste produced by students and faculty. 

Photo by Saverio Truglia from the Wall Street Journal

A bottle is filled by the EZ H2O fountain within 7 seconds and shuts off within 20 seconds if a person is not paying attention as a way to reduce the spillage. EZ H2O filters out chlorine and lead from the water for safer drinking. This fountain has been installed in colleges, airports, and parks mostly on the east coast (i.e. Muhlenberg College and Chicago's O'Hare Airport). Recently, I found out Manhattan Beach has a plan to install water bottle filler fountains in the next year or so.  USC should consider investing in EZH20 fountains so we can reduce our plastic waste. The outdoors bottle filler model has a fountain, bottle filler, and even a drinking fountain for pets. This system has proven to be an effective way to eliminate excess waste as well as supply clean water to the public. 

Filtered Water Bottles

A great product produced to filter tap water is the water bottle filter.  Brita, Rubbermaid, and Bobble are popular sellers of these filters.  The product is sold both with a bottle and individually (as replacement filters). Each filter can be reused about 300 times, which means reducing the amount of waste in the environment. The filters are inexpensive, come in a variety of colors, and are recyclable. These are great for travel and exercising because you know you have access to purified water no matter where you are with one of these stylish bottles. 

Why Use a Filtered Bottle over a Plastic Bottle?

Many water bottles are filled with tap water and contain contaminates that can be harmful to our bodies.  Just because water is sold in a store does not necessarily mean it's healthy. Dasani and Aquafina are both just filtered tap water. Therefore, using your own filtered bottle will give you the same water without the dangerous toxins of the plastic bottle. The toxic chemicals in plastic can leak into the water, especially when a bottle is heated (i.e. in a car on a hot day).  These chemicals can cause fatigue and weight gain.  Purchasing water bottles at $1 dollar a piece is much more costly than investing in a filtered bottle which acts as 300 water bottles but only costs about $10-30 dollars with $5 dollar refill filters. Each year over $100 billion dollars is spent producing plastic bottles of water; this is money that could be going toward helping people who don't have access to clean water.  

Reduce Bacteria

If you do drink from the tap, be sure to allow the water to run for a bit before drinking because most likely the water has been sitting in the pipes for a while and could be the home to bacteria.  When drinking from a water fountain do not let your mouth touch the spout. If you don't have access to filtration, boil the water for a minute or add chlorine bleach.  

A person can become ill from swimming in dirty water as well.  When a person is swimming he or she consumes water. There are 100s of deadly bacteria that can make a person ill if he or she has been swimming in a contaminated body of water.  Bacteria can stay on a person's body for a long period of time.  So it is important to bathe after swimming.  One should rinse off his or her body after swimming in oceans or lakes even if they aren't heavily polluted because the water is still a source of many bacteria.  Washing one's hands with soap after using the restroom or playing helps to reduce the chance of spreading bacteria to others. 

The Importance of Water

Why is clean water so important?

Two thirds of human body weight is made up of water, water makes of 95% of the brain, 82% of the blood, and 90% of the lungs. Without this important life source one cannot survive.  Lack of water can cause dizziness and weakness because the body needs water to function.  But, what happens if a person drinks water with contaminants in it? Water is also a source of bacteria which can cause diseases such as malaria and other deadly illnesses.  People can easily contract a waterborne disease if they do not have access to clean water to replenish their bodies with or maintain hygiene. Therefore, it is very important for people to have access to purified water. Believe it or not but 780 million people in the world don’t have access to clean water. That means some people don’t have the proper supplies needed to drink or bathe. In fact, “an American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than the average person in a developing country slum uses for an entire day.”  

Water provides a lubricant to our eyes, joints, and digestion. A person who is very active should drink a lot of water to reduce the chance of joint, knee, or back injury.  Less water causes greater fiction which could lead to damaging one's body.  Another function water provides our bodies with is body temperature regulation. 

How much water should you drink each day?

Well this depends on your activity level and body type.  If you are an athlete, you should be drinking more water than a person who is less active because your body is losing water more quickly through excess perspiration. A person should drink one cup for every 20 pounds of body weight (average is about 8 cups).  Look below at the Daily Water Chart to determine the water intake that's right for you.

Water Dangers

It is essential to replenish our bodies with water each day.  However, it is also important to be cautious about how much we drink during a period of time.  Drinking too much water during a short duration of time may cause water poisoning. Remember that Wee for a Wii radio contest? The participants had to drink a 1/2 pint of water every 15 minutes and the last one to use the restroom won a Wii. This fatal competition led to the death of a mother of three by water poisoning. Water poisoning occurs because there is an imbalance of electrolytes in the body causing the brain to function abnormally. Another dangerous problem that can occur is water intoxication, when cells die due to being over pressurized by the excess water. Both of these dangerous water consumption side effects can be avoided by monitoring one's water intake. Athletes (especially marathon runners), and ecstasy users should be especially cautious of their water intake because often times they are not aware of how much water they are consuming in a short period of time and end up dead. One way people reduce the chance of water poisoning is by consuming sports drinks which have added electrolytes to hydrate the body. Even dogs can be affected by water poisoning, so watch your pets too!