Water Shortage
Water shortage in developing countries compared to America
While we are striving in the United States, the people of other countries struggle to just find freshwater. When they do find water, it is of bad quality and is wasted. Also, we like to think our water systems are safe, but they are penetrable.
There are many countries without access to freshwater
There are countries in Africa that do not have any access to clean freshwater. They do not have access to enough food either. Also, there are refugee camps that too many people there, specifically one in south Sudan. "Tens of thousands of refugees fleeing fighting in Sudan are struggling to find enough water to drink and cook with, leading to the deaths of an unknown number from dehydration" (New York Times). When having to many people arriving, this can result in not having enough water to give to these people. With the population growing in this camp because of war, resources are becoming scarce. People are fleeing war because they do not want to fight, but they cannot go anywhere because places cannot provide them with water, a vital aspect needed to survive.
Growing Population
Not only is the population growing in those camps,but it is growing all over the world. It is thought that that we will not be able to provide for some people in the world, like countries in Africa. As the population rapidly increases, the demand for clean water rises, but this clean water is being wasted in irrigation processes, because the systems that are used are not of good quality. "about 75 percent of the fresh water used worldwide is used for irrigation, with 90 percent used for this purpose in some developing countries, where the lack of efficient irrigation technology can result in a wasteful loss of a sizable portion of the water" (Environmental Encyclopedia). Then, when this water is lost or wasted, the country does not have a way to find more water for the people, and it is just going to be wasted again.
Water Quality
There are many water-borne illnesses, but pathogens are not the major cause of these diseases. Toxins, chemicals, and microorganisms find their way into water systems, thus causing illnesses where these things cannot be treated. "Most people have a sufficiently robust immune system to handle exposure to a certain amount of water pollutants. But some--infants, the elderly, people living with cancer or AIDS--are immunocompromised" (Lawrence). Everyday, more organisms and toxins penetrate our waters, and we have not found a way to detect the poisons. If our systems are fallible and cannot detect toxins, then places where systems are not as evolved have more to worry about, as they cannot find life-threatening bacteria.