Water is a source of life. Our lives revolve around water. Without it we would be a desert. The way it quenches our thirst, cleanses our bodies, and nurtures our food, what would you pay for something that does that and even more? What do you currently pay for the water that is in your home, for a water bottle, or for some kind of filtration system? Who would’ve thought that clean water, a need, would actually cost money? Or does it cost more than that?

To the people of Lemanda Village, it has cost them their lives.

I am currently working on a project for Water to Thrive, a non-profit organization that focuses on building wells for villages in Africa. My project is to find a solution for the excess fluoride that is found in nearby water sources in Lemanda. The effects of excess fluoride can span from teeth discoloration, stiffening of the bones, and can hinder child development. Their water does not look, smell or taste any different than potable water so they continue to drink it. In reality, that is the only choice they have other than dehydrating themselves. The solution is using a specific filter that will remove the excess fluoride, but there are other obstacles that will not allow the solution to be long-term. Those obstacles are a lack of education and guidance, and funds for the solution. Not being able to visibly see that the water is toxic makes it difficult to convince the people that there is a problem and seeing no visible difference after the filter makes it even harder. Lack of guidance also makes it harder to show the people how the filters work and how they can check their water instead of relying on Western organizations to do it for them. A lack of funding takes away from being able to have filters to clean their water, at some point they would have to choose water over food or vice versa. To them clean water is costing them an immense amount of time, effort, and money. Once they have clean water, it’s not going to reverse the permanent effects that the fluoride has had on their people. When will they begin to reap the benefits of their work?

I started to think about how realistic it is to have clean water, not just in Africa, but also in the U.S. Does our government provide every person with clean water? We are considered a “developed” country, yet a good portion of the U.S. doesn’t have access to clean water for example Flint, Michigan. You’d imagine that the Flint situation should have been fixed by now, but it has been 5 years since it became news, and nothing has changed. How are these communities supposed to wash their hands during a pandemic without having clean water? If the people of these communities don’t have jobs during the pandemic, how are they supposed to pay for their filthy water, or overpriced bottled water? They will have to make a choice of whether they should pay for water or other necessities. Hmm, that sounds a lot like the situation in Lemanda. It’s interesting to notice that our water infrastructure mirrors the system of a developing country. Yet, we are so proud of how much we have grown as a country, but in reality, we haven’t. We have put bandages on deep wounds in hope that it goes away.

Instead of accepting that there’s a problem with access and cost of clean water, there are companies who are benefitting from there not being clean water. There are water bottle, filter, and cleaning companies that are profiting off a need.  The quality and access of water should not be privatized and used to make profit when we literally need clean water to survive. There’s so much more to unpack, but this will turn out to be more than just a blog.

I hope this has provoked some thought and encouraged you to look into our corrupt and unequal water system.

So how much does your water cost?