The H20 Problem
Nearly a billion, 884 million people do not have access to clean and safe water. 37% of those people live in Sub-Saharan Africa." (The Water Project)
The Current Situation
The lack of safe drinking water or water scarcity, is a major problem that is evident across the globe. But the continent where it is most seen is Africa. Without water, humans can only live 3-5 days. But when people are forced to live off of unclean water they can often develop waterborne illnesses from the water. Some major diseases are malaria, typhoid fever, and cholera. The picture to the right shows the countries with water scarcity, the darker the red the worse the issue is.
Effects of Water Scarcity
In the future, because of the water scarcity in Africa, there are predicted to be 'water wars' over the resources. Areas like the Nile, Niger, Volta, and Zambezi basins could become war areas. Over 12 countries suffer from water scarcity or water stress and at least 13 more are predicted to join them in the next 25 years (BBC news). The countries most effected are sub-saharan. Water scarcity is when there is less than 1,000 cubic meters of water available per person per year, and water stress is less than 1,500 cubic meters. The graph below shows how the water situation is changing dramatically; the lighter blue shows the water availability in 1990 and the darker blue is the predicted water in 2025.
What do we do?
The Water Project
The Water Project is a non project organization that helps to build and provide water wells and community instruction for clean water to areas that are suffering from water scarcity.
Water Wells for Africa
WWFA provides for rural African communities with water wells, and awareness of waterborne illnesses.
Water for Africa
This UK charity helps with all water needs, through clean water, toliets, and sanitation. They provide education and training on these as well.
What else can be done?
What can you do? One of the easiest is donate to one of the organizations above. They are all non profit and anything anyone sends is helpful. You can also raise awareness, the more people that know, the more that can be done. Knowledge is power and everyone can help.