Access to water

In the first of an occasional series of articles about issues in development, Lisa Fitzpatrick of ElectricAid discusses the perennial but soluble problem of water.

ADEQUATE CLEAN WATER is a basic and essential human right. Yet one billion people do not have access to clean drinking water, and 2.4 billion people lack proper sanitation facilities. The vast majority of these people are living in developing countries.

The supply of water is not evenly distributed across the world. Two thirds of the world population gets only a quarter of total annual rainfall. Much of the developing world receives freshwater from seasonal rains, but most of this runs off the land very rapidly - only 20% is actually put to use.

Many traditional sources of water, such as wells and seasonal rivers, have been degraded or exhausted. Water tables have been both lowered and contaminated. In Uganda, for example, the country's largest Hydro station can no longer run efficiently because of the lowered level of Lake Victoria. The country suffers a "double whammy" of scarcity of both electricity and clean water.

'Lack of access to clean water in developing countries is one of the most pressing problems facing humanity as we enter the 21st century.'

We are not talking about an absolute water deficit; the problem is almost always one of access, not of absence of water resources. This indicates that this is a problem which can be fixed.

A huge problem that faces the countries of the developing world is that of urbanisation. Increasing numbers of people now live in urban fringe shanty towns where it is extremely difficult to provide an adequate supply of clean water or sanitation. Fast-growing populations put increasing pressure on already limited facilities.

There is a potential for water shortages to lead to political conflicts and war. Over 20 countries depend on the flow of water from other nations for much of their water supply. The displacement of large numbers through civil strife can strain water supplies and sanitation facilities in refugee camps and host communities.

Due to the consumption of contaminated water and the lack of adequate sanitation, waterborne diseases such as cholera, gastro-enteritis and diarrhoea are prevalent. Four million people or more die each year as a result of waterborne diseases. Four children die every minute from simple, preventable, waterborne diseases.

Water supply in the developing world can depend on other factors:

• Political Position: People living in urban fringe areas are often politically powerless and marginalised, and ignored by the rest of society.
• Settlement Pattern: heavily populated areas, or areas where many are living a distance from the nearest water supply, have very limited access.
• Land Tenure: Typically, in developing countries many residents lack legal land tenure and are disempowered. This is often a significant barrier to service provision.
• Cost of Services is directly related to legal land tenure and the settlement locality, as both impact on a community's ability to pay for basic services.
• Climate Change: the impact of a hotter world may be benign in some places, but may be fatal in parts of the developing world.

Ultimately, lack of water and poor sanitation lead to disease, illness, malnutrition, and political instability. One simple observation is that children miss enormous amounts of time at school because they spend hours each day fetching water for home or school use.

Water is a basic right - and a basic avenue of development. A recent (2005) ElectricAid project furnished five village wells in rural Kenya for an investment of €3,625, transforming the lives and future prospects of thousands of people. We have funded many projects which address rainwater harvesting and storage. The problem is fixable, provided we have the will to fix it. We have to address infrastructural issues, community involvement issues and political issues of access to resources - but it can be done.

Water is taken for granted. In Ireland, water usage per person is about 250 litres per day, while in New York, this figure is about 680 litres. In Kenya, they use about four litres per day. 2 The global situation is not improving. 'The proportion of the world's population living in countries with significant water stress will increase from approximately 34% in 1994 to 63% in 2025, including large areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America'.

We should never forget that this incipient global water crisis can be tackled. Water shortages and lack of access to water are preventable. Let's get on with it. EM