What Would a Day Without Water Look Like?

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October 21, 2020 | Dallas, TX

Imagine that you wake up, go to the bathroom and it won’t work then you turn on the faucet and nothing happens.

Imagine going to your favorite Starbucks to get a boost for the day just to realize that there is no more water to make your coffee.

Imagine going to the store to get water and on the aisle, there is no drinking water even available for purchase…

If all these scenarios seem unlikely, could you at least Imagine a Day without clean water to cook, bathe, or do laundry with?

Can you imagine what it is like to drink water that is contaminated with feces?

I did not need to Imagine a Day without water because I witnessed it. In fact, I was a victim of unsafe water during my childhood. I come from Cameroon in Central Africa, where clean water is still a rare commodity. I suffered from diarrhea in my childhood because I drank contaminated water. This was not a choice because it was the only source available to me. Although my family lived in a metropolitan area, the water distributed by the municipality was more than often contaminated and had a reddish tint. As a result, we often relied on archaic methods to filter our water but these could not remove all the contaminants from the water.

Fortunately, I did not die from unsafe water. But millions of people in developing countries are not that fortunate with 827,000 people dying each year from diarrhea and other waterborne illnesses as a result of unsafe drinking-water, sanitation, and hand hygiene (WHO). And with there being more than 2 billion people using a drinking water source contaminted by feces (WHO), a high death toll is predictable.

Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (W.A.S.H.) are indispensable to human well-being. They do not only benefit people’s health, but they also contribute to stability and sustainable development. Human instability is tied to water in the sense that studies predict an increase in conflicts related to water. According to the Global Water Institute, 700 million people worldwide could be displaced by intense water scarcity by 2030 (UN, 2009). This displacement could fuel conflicts by putting more pressure on water resources. Clean water is at the core of sustainable development since it provides the basis for a healthy population. By increasing productivity, a healthy population is the engine of a healthy economy, thus, reducing poverty.

As we can see, water is a core resource of human life. At Vera Aqua Vera Vita, we know that millions of people do not Imagine a day without Water, they live it! It is this reality that keeps them from flowing from Simply Surviving to Truly Thriving. Therefore, we work tirelessly so communities in developing countries do not have to live without access to clean water. Our work has already brought results as more than 7,000 people in Monte Castillo, Peru have access to clean water since August of 2019 when we opened a small-scall brand new water treatment facility. As we Imagine a day without Water this 21st October, we call on you to help stop the global water crisis by spreading awareness and joining the conversation.