The U.S. doesn't have to "Imagine" A Day Without Water
This year, Imagine a Day Without Water has a new call to action – instead of just imagining a lack of water in your own life, the movement is calling everyone to stand with those right in our backyards who don’t have to imagine. As well as remembering our brothers and sisters in developing countries, this year we’ll take a much closer look at the crisis in the United States. This is the first year we unite to put an end to the days without water our friends, communities, and neighbors experience!
The water crisis in the United States is far-reaching, with a shocking 2,000,000 Americans living without basic access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and the federal data doesn’t accurately measure the access gap, according to a report by the US Water Alliance. When testing private wells in our nation, they found that 23% of them contain contaminants with health concerns such as arsenic, uranium, and E. coli. Indoor plumbing is highly important for sanitation and hygiene practices, but 1.4 million people in the United States lack access to adequate indoor plumbing.
These issues reach deep into our nation, though some groups feel its effects much more than others. In a National Analysis, the US Water Alliance concluded that race is the strongest predictor of water and sanitation access, and that poverty is a key obstacle to water access. They found that Native American households were 19 times more likely than white households to lack indoor plumbing, with Black and Latinx communities nearly 2 times more likely.
The same study reported that in one part of Arizona, our brothers and sisters in the Navajo Nation of Red Mesa have to drive 40 miles to haul water back for drinking, cooking, and bathing for their entire community. This process is eerily similar to the one used by rural communities in developing countries.
This isn’t the only community that has experienced serious water instability. You may have heard of the Flint water crisis in Michigan, when switching treatment methodololgies led to large amounts of lead and other contaminants dissolving into people’s drinking water. According to Britannica, the crisis lasted for two years, killing 12 people and endangering tens of thousands.
Additionally, just one month ago in Jacksonville, Mississippi, a flooded river caused their main treatment facility to fail and all 150,000 residents were left without clean water. Residents had to sanitize their water before safe use, boiling and pouring bleach into the water
Jamiya Williams, left, watches as her fiance, Terrence Carter, right, pours bleach into the water before washing dishes in response to the water crisis on September 01, 2022 in Jackson, Mississippi. (Source: The Scientific American)
“Other reports have told of arsenic in tap water in a New York City public housing complex, potentially sewage-or runoff-related Escherichia coli bacteria in West Baltimore’s water supply and a lawsuit alleging neurological issues linked to thousands of liters of jet fuel that leaked into drinking water in Hawaii last year,” an article by Robin Lloyd with the Scientific American states.
With countless cases like these, anyone can see that our great nation’s water supply is in need of intentional attention and improvement. Without safe access to clean water, all health, hydration, and hygiene become a serious concern. We might Imagine a Day without Water, but what if we Imagined a Day with Water for all. People of all backgrounds, regions and ethnicities would not only have improved health, but their entire livelihood and quality of life would be improved – they could stop focusing on surviving and start to focus on how to truly thrive.
