We are a privileged people. Each of us uses around three hundred litres of water on a daily basis. If our taps run dry, we buy water, in bottles and in tankers. Not everyone is as fortunate as us, however: water and sanitation related diseases are one of the leading causes of death in children, with more than 600 million Indians facing acute water shortages.
40 percent of India’s population – more than 500 million people – will have no access to drinking water by 2030. Our country is third-to-last amongst the 122 countries on the water quality index rankings. Seventy percent of our nation’s water supply is contaminated while seventy-five percent of households do not have drinking water on their premises. The very place we live in, Pilani, has high levels of nitrate in groundwater, one of the primary sources of drinking water for us. In this regard, it is important to note that water scarcity doesn’t just refer to the quantitative lack of water — it encompasses the limited sources of potable water as well. The child in the picture is one of many who have to make do with dirty, toxic water. Yet here we are, enraged by the lack of hot water in our showers, because after all, water scarcity means nothing to us.
Philanthropy will not solve this problem. Hypothetically, it would be easy to provide water to these children and their families, but the sheer scarcity of this precious resource, brought about by our lavish lifestyles, means that eventually, there will be no water left to provide; in an ironic reversal on the Diamond-Water Paradox. Drip irrigation or providing better run-off for water in farms are mere band-aids over the gash. What can we do then?
It all begins with lifestyle changes. When we take a five-minute shower, we use more than a person in a developing country uses in an entire day. Ensuring that each load of laundry you do is full makes it more water effective in the long run. Each and every useless, unworn cotton shirt in our closets consumes three thousand litres of water. Essentially, all it takes to save a person’s life is to reduce the amount of time you spend in the shower, ensure you send the full six kilograms of laundry to Laundromat and keep clothes clean so that they last longer.
Imagine the effect it would have if the four thousand of us on this campus act on these simple precepts, and create a domino effect to save thousands of lives. After all, water scarcity means something to us — we can no longer continue to be stubborn about it.
What is water scarcity? Let’s rephrase that question. Being privileged, does water scarcity mean anything to us?
1 in 4 children will live in areas of extreme water stress by 2040. Searching for potable water sources is a daily chore for over 2 billion women and children across the globe. Since about two-thirds of them are children, that’s close to one billion children who walk for water, lifting 45 to 50 litres every day. This accounts for 200 million lost hours gathering water, instead of studying or working.
Even if these children do get sources of water, it being potable is a different matter altogether. The child in the picture is one of many, who has to make do with dirty, toxic water. The only discomfort we’ve faced with water is when it is not hot enough for our shower. Water and sanitation related diseases are one of the leading causes of death in children under 5 years old. Diarrhoea due to inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene, accounts for 800 children (under the age of five) every day. It would be easy to provide water to these children and their families, but the sheer scarcity of this now expensive resource, brought about by our lavish lifestyles, means that there is no water to provide. All one can do is try to conserve the limited sources of this supposedly inexhaustible resource.
Water conservation is the need of the hour. While drip irrigation in farms or not running the hose while washing cars are general solutions, it all begins with lifestyle changes. A five-minute shower uses more than a person in a developing country uses in a day. Ensuring that each load of laundry you do is full will be more water effective in the long run. To produce one cotton shirt requires 3000 litres of water. So, all it takes to save a person’s life is to reduce the amount of time you spend in the shower, ensure you send the full six kilograms of laundry to Laundromat and keep clothes clean so that they last longer.
Imagine the effect it would have if 4000 of us on this campus impart this very simple idea, and create a domino effect to save thousands of lives. But then again, does water scarcity mean anything to us?