You are on page 1of 2

ETHICS + POLICY written by PEDRO HERNANDEZ

Water in the
Voices from Industry, Policy, and the Human Rights

Can you imagine world without why is it that some countries are currently
water? Whether for drinking or cleaning, struggling to get quality water? Why is it
water is part of our everyday lives. With that developing countries usually have
almost 1.4 sextillion liters of water on the the least amount of quality water? The
planet’s surface, many of us take it for geographical distribution of water has
granted that water is a limitless resource. always been an issue, but nowadays is not
Unfortunately, it is thought that up to one the only important factor. For instance,
sixth of the world’s population currently countries in Central and South Africa have
lacks access to quality water. plenty of fresh water. Nevertheless, many
of their lakes and rivers are infested with
Of the world’s water, only 2.6% is suitable bacteria and parasites that endanger the
for human consumption. What’s more, health of entire communities. This situation
the majority of this “fresh” water is actually is caused by the vicious cycle of poverty.
locked away in glaciers, effectively These communities, which lack of economic
reducing the available supply to only 1% of resources, are incapable of developing a
Earth’s total reserves. Between increasing public health system. When a disease strikes
populations and changing climates, this a member of the population it soon spreads
small percentage of fresh water is not being throughout the community. The wastes
evenly distributed to those most in need. that these people generate are not properly
recollected and end up being thrown away
In many underdeveloped countries, water into their lakes or rivers. This way, the disease
availability is a huge problem. In regions spreads within the very river that serves the
with insufficient water, outbreaks of diseases community. This is how the African River
are more widespread and more lethal than Blindness has affected hundreds of millions
in developed regions. Moreover, the little in 30 different countries. This disease slowly
water these countries do have is prone to and painfully destroys tissues of the human
infestation by bacteria and viruses,. eye until vision is lost. As we see, the lack
of quality water is another chapter in the
Fortunately, scientists and politicians history of poverty.
around the world are committed to
solving this problem. This past April, the Along with poverty, there is another factor
Stanford Association for International that plays a major role in increasing the
Development brought together some of scarcity of water: global warming. As I
the most influential leaders in this arena mentioned previously, the geographical
for a conference entitled Water and the distribution of water used to be the main
Developing World. This conference brought factor determining which regions would
to light some of the many concerns for the have water problems. But one great
growing water crisis and presented a novel achievement of our modern society is that
solutions by which everyone would be able we can deliver of water to the driest of the
Credit: Amelia Aboff

to access clean water. regions. The numbers speak by themselves:


In 1995 only 3% of the people on this planet
The World is Thirsty lived in conditions of scarcity of water.
From the 1.4 trillion liters of water on However, with global warming, the water
this planet, we can use only one out of a distribution will utterly change. First, as the
Donald Kennedy, President Emeritus temperature increases, the hot regions near
hundred of these. But still, these 14 billion
of Stanford University, was a major the Equator will soon become drier. As the
liters are still enough for X million people
speaker in the conference. UN reported in 2003, countries like Niger,
to consume during the next 10 years. Then,

44 stanford scientific
Developing World
Lake Chad, and Senegal have lost 40-60% of Donald Kennedy, in the opening speech, Frandsen. LifeStraw is a practical and cheap
their available water. Second, regions on the described how the value of water will filter that allows people to drink river water
high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere increase in the near future. As the prices without fear of ingesting disease-causing
are experiencing stronger precipitations, up for fuels inflate, interest has turned to the river worms. At a cost of around $20 per year,
to the point that these rains cause floods development of biofuels. But seeing as LifeStraw has been described by Goldman-
and erosion. Third, as the icecaps melt, fresh water is crucial to the production of biofuels, Sachs as “one of the most world-changing
water is lost when it is mixed with the ocean. water will become indispensible not only ideas.”
Global warming represents an overall threat for consumption, but also for the energy
to the current equilibrium of water in our industry. In an extreme case, as oil today is Saving Lives through
world. the focus of major conflicts in the Middle Quality Water
East, in the future we might have wars over The conference ended with a roundtable
An Impossible Mission? water. Kennedy stressed that new policies discussion of new strategies for unifying
The problems of poverty and global must be created to regulate the use and the efforts of politicians and engineers.
warming are countering our efforts to distribution of water before it is too late. “It’s This emblematic meeting recognizes
reduce water scarcity. In 1995 only 3% of a miracle there has never been a water war,” that the only way to overcome the new
the world population lacked quality water. he said. challenges of water scarcity will be through
It is predicted that by 2050 almost 18% of a multidisciplinary approach. As Donald
the world population will not have access At the other end of the spectrum, engineers Kennedy said, “water is a big part of what is
to water, while another 24% will have just and scientists are striving to develop new going to happen in the developing world.”
enough water to survive. But decades have technologies to increase the quality of But perhaps the fight for quality water will
already been spent trying to reduce poverty, existing sources in practical ways. Among also provide the impetus needed to address
and water shortage is just another item on these technologies is the LifeStraw, other problems facing these communities.
its laundry list of effects. a product developed by Vestergaard

How can we hope to address poverty


and global warming in regards to water?
Considering the breadth of these issues, From the world’s
it becomes obvious that solving the
problem of water scarcity will require a water supply, only
multidisciplinary approach.
2.6% can be used for
Voices from Industry, human consumption
Policy, and the Human
Rights
This past April, experts from across many
fields met at Stanford University to show
the world what is being done in the arenas
of policy, industry and human rights.
Attendees included Donald Kennedy,
President Emeritus of Stanford University, Pedro Hernandez is a junior majoring in Chemical Engineering. He also enjoys music
representatives of Vestergaard Franden, and concnerts.
a Danish company specializing in disease
Credit: scx.com

control textiles, Paul Polak, founder of To Learn More


International Development Enterprises, and For more information visit SAID’s website at http://said.stanford.edu/group/AIM/PRN/. Also visit
http://www.unep.org, and http://www.lenntech.com/water-quantity-FAQ.htm for more statistics
Vanessa Tobin, Deputy Director for Programs about water in the world.
from UNICEF.

volume VII 45

You might also like