Why you should care about water shortage

Water shortage happening mainly in underdeveloped countries is something you should care about.

Lack of water has a big effect on health and it is something we have widely discussed on our blog and on our social media posts.

Today we wanted to focus on the effects water scarcity has on an economic & social level.

Economic and social effects

When water becomes accessible and safe people don’t have to spend time and effort to collect it, meaning they can be productive in other parts of their lives. Making long or risky journeys to collect water has been affecting mainly women. Not having to collect water anymore results in greater personal safety. A clean & safe water source benefits one’s health which translates into fewer people being ill and more people being economically productive.

Children are at risk as far as water-related diseases are concerned. Access to improved sources of water secures their health, their education (better school attendance), and of course positive longer-term consequences for their lives.

Challenges

Water supply systems have been vastly affected by climate change. By 2025, half of the world’s population is estimated to be living in water-stressed areas. Re-use of wastewater could be an important strategy but water treatment systems are not available. Safe management of wastewater could bring a number of benefits, including increased food production.

Management of all water resources will need to be improved to ensure provision and quality. It’s important to help locals use any groundwater available instead of shipping plastic water bottles.