What needs to change to ensure everyone always has access to safe drinking water, equitably?
Published by XPrize Manager
What needs to change to ensure everyone always has access to safe drinking water, equitably?
Tags
- Water
- Human Rights
- Access
Published by XPrize Manager
What needs to change to ensure everyone always has access to safe drinking water, equitably?
A topic not often brought up is the percentage of people in the world who have access to clean water only through vendors of bottled water. This population typically has water at their tap but it is unsafe so their cultures are set up to purchase water from vendors in 5 gallon jugs which, as you can imagine, can become costly.
The top 1 billion people in the world have access to clean drinking water from a tap in their home. The bottom 1 billion don't have access to water in their home so they're forced to transport it and clean it. But the remainder of the population - 5 billion are in the middle. They have access to water but cannot drink it as it is supplied to them.
The cost of this can be a burden on those individuals. The global average cost of water is $1.65 per gallon whereas the average cost of tap water in the US is $.004 per gallon. The cost can add up in some parts of the world where the daily cost of water is as high as 18% of an individual's daily income. This causes a huge strain on individuals, communities, and economies.
The best solution for this would be to provide powerful disinfection products to those who have access to water that has not been treated properly. This can take form is several different methods and with new technology coming out in the disinfection market a solution to provide cheap clean water could be available.
Published by Mitch Hansen, E-Marketing Specialist at AquiSense Technologies
Access to safe water simply means everyone has the opportunity to consume clean drinking water which is a basic human right. There are possible measures that I think can possibly contribute to the above concern of clean water accessibility that includes;
Published by Carlo Atum, Researcher and Distributor at EcoloBlue
Education. If more people understood the issues of water from the raindrops, treatment, the treatment of waste and its return to the system, I believe more would care and become more involved. Math, science, literature, art, history and water should be required each year in the curriculum.
Saturate the public with facts, and when the people are convinced, they will act.
The Journal of the American Medical Association. 1912 In regard to the elimination of the common drinking cup.
Published by Steve Williams, The Water Guy
1. Proper management of the resource ensures the access to safe drinking water, equitably!
2. Co-operation between the stakeholders!!
3. Awareness in consumers regardless of any economic background!
Published by Sabina Khatri, Ms.
It requires clear commitment and a change of mindset. Even the MDG targets did not look for safe drinking water for everyone. This underlines the challenge in ensuring that everyone access to safe drinking water. Needs prioritisation in the development plans for a country/region. There should less reliance of large and costly and expensive-to-maintain projects and instead opt for smaller, less costly projects. We should look for opportunities to use resources which are easily accessible. For example, a recent study in Australia found that the total stormwater runoff in most major cities exceeded the urban water demand in those cities. However, very little effort is being to reuse stormwater and instead there is continuing reliance on 'imported water' from outside the area and desalinated water. Technology is already available to reuse stormwater and does not require much additional effort.
Published by Ashantha Goonetilleke, Professor, Water/Environmental Engineering at Queensland University of Technology
[1] Depolitise water provision. Affordably priced water for all as a policy, rather than to those who vote for you.
[2] Get lack of access to water and sanitaion out of slum definitions. The slums are not going away. So, they need to obtain access to safe water and sanitation rather than this being a self-excluding definition.
[3] Affordable and safe water for all as a human right. Without funding, without access, so provide access at an affordable tariff.
[4] Demand management and sensible allocation. Ensure that resource conflict between users (domestic / industrial / irrigation) is approached via apropriate pricing to incentivise them to minimise water use and to consider water recovery.
David Lloyd Owen
Published by David Lloyd Owen, Envisager - Managing Director
There should be some water for distribution equitably or otherwise. The water resources dams, natural reservoirs, natural drainage channels are constantly been adversely affected by the governments and the private people for construction and mining activities. The dams and ponds are constantly disappearing at a fast rate due to government policies and rich & influential people in the society. This process has to be stopped and natural drainage channels must be brought to a position existed say just after second world war say 1950 be kept as base year. all the obstructions must be removed. The village ponds must be brought to the same position. The land which was shown as belong to ponds, dams, natural drainage channels be freed from other uses.
Published by Yogesh Agrawal, Director (retired), Minor irrigation schemes, Water Resources Department at Govt of Rajasthan
Water service delivery that is affordable, reliable, convenient and safe. Thailand has made remarkable progress in this and is a shining example of what can be achieved. Sri Lanka and parts of India, Pakistan and China have also made remarkable progress, in nearly all cases it has come from an active and vibrant private sector balanced by competent government support and oversight. Therefore capacity development of these actors is far more critical than charitable interventions - but it is slower than building hardware directly, and many funders are impatient, and the link between inputs and outcomes is harder to demonstrate.
Published by Sean Furey, Water & Sanitation Specialist at Skat Consulting