Water Pollution and Its Effect Around the World
Posted: Sunday, June 05, 2011
by Rose-Marie Chaperon
Chaperon Consulting, LLC
What is water?
Water nourishes and sustains all living things. At least 400 million people in the world live in regions with severe water shortages. By the year 2050, it is expected to be 4 billion people (Drinking Water, 2009). The projected short supply of usable potable water could result in the most devastating natural disaster since history has been accurately recorded, unless something is done to stop it.
Water pollution remains one of the most visible and persistent signs of our impact on the natural world. Cleanup of some older pollutants has been offset by new contaminants that threaten freshwater ecosystems and foul our drinking water. Today, despite progress in cleaning up waterways in some areas, water pollution remains a serious global problem, with impacts on the health of freshwater ecosystems and the human communities that rely on them for water supply. I will focus on my home country Haiti and its water pollution problem over the years and the recent cholera outbreak due to contaminated water.
Haiti’s history
In order to understand the chaotic water pollution situation in Haiti; one must understand its history. Haiti, in the West Indies, occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. About the size of Maryland, Haiti is two-thirds mountainous, with the rest of the country marked by great valleys, extensive plateaus, and small plains (Infoplease, 2009). Haiti is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. The population has already outstripped domestic food production, and it was estimated that the population will be 10 million by the year 2015. One-third of the population lives in the “Département de l’Ouest” where Port-au-Prince is located.
The Republic of Haiti is the only nation born from a successful slave revolution. Haiti declared its independence from France on January 1, 1804, after a brutal 12-year revolutionary war. In the decade prior to the revolution, living conditions for the majority of the population were inhuman, even by standards of the day. Colonists imported nearly 30,000 slaves each year, of which approximately one-third died within one to two years. The revolution claimed well over 100,000 Haitian lives and destroyed much of the country’s colonial infrastructure, including its hospitals (Paul Farmer, 2009). Most physicians fled the country during the revolution. Clean water, adequate sanitation, health care, and stable food supplies were virtually eliminated.
A few facts about water, and its importance to the human race.
A person can live about a month without food, but only about a week without water. If a human does not absorb enough water dehydration is the result. A person must consume 2 liters of water daily to live healthily. Humans drink an average of 75.000 liters of water throughout their life. More than 2 billion people on earth do not have a safe supply of water. Water removes waste from the human body.
Contaminated water and its health issues.
A quarter of the world's population is without safe drinking water. Water can cause serious health damage when it is contaminated by bacteria and other microorganisms. In most cities and towns, drinking water from the tap is treated so that people don't get sick with diseases such as cholera and typhoid, which are caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites found naturally in the water.
Is water pollution dangerous?
The danger of water pollution is a problem worldwide. Virtually all water pollutants are hazardous to humans as well as lesser species; sodium is implicated in cardiovascular disease, nitrates in blood disorders. Mercury and lead can cause nervous disorders. Some contaminants are carcinogens. In the United States industry is the greatest source of pollution, accounting for more than half the volume of all water pollution and for the most deadly pollutants. Some 370,000 manufacturing facilities use huge quantities of freshwater to carry away wastes of many kinds (Kamollee, 2009).
Water issues in other countries
The growing threat to water resources in most countries in Southern Africa is the pollution of rivers, lakes and aquifers from domestic and industrial wastewater discharges, mining runoff, agro-chemicals and other sources. In Zambia, for example, inadequate sewage treatment and sanitation has led to widespread eutrophication of water bodies near towns and cities.
Haiti’s health issues
In Haiti a growing environmental problems threaten the very basis of Haitian society, its water! Environmental degradation has damaging effects on Haiti, the poorest in the Americas. It harms the health of the estimated 7.8 million Haitians, enormously reduces economic productivity in the Caribbean country, and leads to the loss of "amenities the health of millions of Haitians is threatened by contaminated drinking water, resulting from long outdated and trash-filled opened sewers (Isidor, 2004). As a result, diarrheal diseases, including malaria, have killed an exorbitant number of Haitians. So, too, the high number of tuberculosis cases, many of them (relevant) drug-resistant, that Haiti continues to register can, in part, be attributed to the problem of sanitation. Other effects of water pollution are apparent. They include trash-filled beaches, foul-smelling waterways, swamps of dead fish, and floating debris, especially after days of heavy rains.
Haiti’s earthquake and its cholera issue – When is it enough?
The devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010 crumbled their lives right in front of their eyes, their heart stopped, and for a brief moment it was like they were asleep and when they woke-up the nightmare had just begun. As if this was not enough, a few months later they were hit the monster plague which threatened to destroy what was left of their country. The plague was “Cholera”. It is an acute intestinal infection characterized by severe diarrhea, cramp, etc.: caused by ingestion of water or food contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae also called Asiatic cholera epidemic cholera Indian cholera and now Haitian cholera (Robert Berkow, 2002). At least 2280 Haitians have died of the highly-contagious waterborne illness in the past and the World Health Organization said the disease is not yet contained. The equation for preventing the spread of cholera sounds simple enough: safe drinking water, frequent and thorough hand washing, and access to clean latrines. To Haitians clean water is like wining the state lottery.
What was it like before the earthquake for Haiti?
But even before the January earthquake that displaced 1.5 million people in Port-au-Prince, access to these services in Haiti was among the worst in the world. Less than half of Haitians could get clean water, and only 20 percent had access to a toilet, it's far worse in rural regions, so the lesson to be learned in this cholera outbreak is that there is a very poor water and sanitation infrastructure in this country (Jean-Pierre, 2011). The cholera outbreak began in the rural area of Antibonite and within a matter of days spread into the rest of the country.
How can Haiti pull through its crises?
If this country is ever going to pull through this crisis, they need to work on a long-term strategy to prevent waterborne disease, and sanitation must be a focus. Without good sanitation, even if they improve the drinking water they will not see beneficial effects. It all has to come together. What if there was a product available to cure/heal most people with cholera. It is much better than any other products on the market, much safer, less expensive, no side effects. Why is suffering, death, and disease more important than cure and health? The answer is money. The crushing power and influence the US drug industry has over or "in bed with" national and international nonprofits, international agencies, government agencies, keeps what is good for the world poor, persecuted, and displaced people of the world in poor health, pain, suffering, and death. Why do "we" as human allow this?
Is the best nutrient to human kind simple? Why are people dying for it?
It sounds so simple. H20. Two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. But this substance better known as water is the most essential element, next to air, to our survival. Water truly is everywhere; still most take it for granted (Drinking Water, 2009). While Haitians and other communities are dying for it. Water is important to the mechanics of the human body. The body cannot work without it, just as a car cannot run without gas and oil. In fact, all the cell and organ functions made up in our entire anatomy and physiology depend on water for their functioning. If something is this important shouldn’t it be free for everyone to access? After all is a renewable natural resource!
What is one of Haiti’s most significant obstacles?
Widespread lack of access to clean water ranks as one of Haiti’s most significant obstacles when it comes to meeting basic human rights standards. Haiti’s water system is severely dysfunctional. Public water systems are rarely available throughout the year and close to 70 percent of the entire population lacks direct access to potable water at all times. Combined with unsanitary conditions, the lack of water is a major factor in exacerbating Haiti’s health crises. Moreover, the problem is actually worsening, as shown by the fact that the percentage of the population without access to safe drinking water has increased by at least seven percent from 1990 to 2010 (Paul Farmer, 2009).
Water-related diseases are also rampant throughout Haiti. For example, in 1999, infectious diarrhea was found to be the second leading cause of death in Haiti. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 88 percent of diarrhea cases in the world result from the combination of unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and improper hygiene.
Access to clean drinking water should be a right:
Access to adequate and healthy water is one of the most fundamental conditions for survival. It is both a right in and of itself, as well as a necessary factor for the realization of numerous other human rights, which together are essential for the achievement of basic human dignity. The right to water is a component of the right to health, the right to life, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to adequate housing, the right to education, and the right to food. These rights are “inextricably related” to the right to water. It must be available, accessible and in good quality to protect the people from illnesses.
Can human survive without water?
The right to life implies a corresponding right to the fundamental conditions necessary to support life, such as water. There is a strong factual connection between contaminated or limited water supplies and deprivation of life, including increased infant mortality, lowered life expectancy, and the incidence of an array of fatal but preventable diseases. “Without water, no human being can survive for more than six days; in fact, death by dehydration can occur in less than three days” (Jean-Pierre, 2011). Thus, effective realization of the human right to life necessarily implies that there is an equivalent right to water and that the right to life is dependent on the achievement of the right to water. The “lack of access to drinking water and sanitation endangers the lives of millions of people who are consequently not guaranteed their right to life.
What is the solution to the water issue in Haiti
To protect the people of Haiti, the Haitian government is primarily responsible for guaranteeing and fulfilling the human rights of everyone within its territory. The Haitian Constitution requires the Haitian government to recognize and protect Haitians’ rights to health, decent housing, education, and food. Because the right to water is an important component of these rights, the Haitian government has a responsibility to ensure the full realization of the right to water through national legislation and policies. A national water strategy should elaborate how the right to water is to be realized and should include concrete goals, policies, and a time-frame for implementation. Of course, many developing nations—including Haiti—may not have the necessary resources to immediately realize the right to water for their people. International human rights law recognizes these limits and allows States to bring about the progressive realization of economic and social rights, so long as they immediately and without discrimination meet the minimum core obligations and take steps to fulfill economic and social rights by allocating the maximum available resources for the realization of the full content of those rights.
Conclusion
If the recommendations for water management are adopted, if progress is made toward reducing the untreated waste entering the nation’s waterways, and if a national water resources management policy is implemented, positive, immediate, and long-term benefits could be realized. The Haitian people, as well as anyone living on earth have a right to clean water, to health, to food, and to a life of dignity, even though they live in one of the most impoverished countries in the world.
References
Drinking Water. (2009, 02 14). THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER AND HUMAN HEALTH. Retrieved 05 20, 2011, from Free Drinking Water: http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-education/water-health.htm
Infoplease. (2009, 01 14). Haiti, History, Geography, Government and Culture. Retrieved 04 22, 2011, from Infoplease.com: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107612.html
Isidor, Y. A. (2004). Growing environmental problems threaten the very basis of Haitian society. World Development Report 1992 , 7-16.
Jean-Pierre, D. (2011, 05 16). MD Les Cayes Hospital. (R. C., Interviewer)
Kamollee, P. (2009). Industrial Pollution in The US. Water and our Source , 4-15.
Paul Farmer, M. (2009). The denial of the rights to water in Haiti. New York: NYU Law School.
Robert Berkow, M. (2002). Cholera - Bacterial Diseases. In R. Berkow, The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy (pp. Section 13, Chapter 157). Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck Research Laboratories.
Tsiho, S. (2007). Water Pollution in Southern Africa. Gibbs Magazine , 04-11.
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