Personal Proactive Solutions to the Water Crisis

Ron Duncan is deeply concerned about water availability in the world, in California and in his hometown of Soquel, near Santa Cruz. It is the most important life and death issue worldwide and in many third world countries, women spend hours each day carrying water jugs – and the water is unsafe and there are no sanitary facilities to prevent disease.


Although the situation in Soquel does not compare to parts of Africa, the situation is dire. Between 1960 and 2000, the US water consumption doubled but the amount of available water stayed the same.


In Haiti, after the earthquake, there was water to drink but no toilets or showers. And cholera broke out as a result.


And in the US, even where there is plenty of cheap, safe water, people don’t drink enough.  In the US, the average person uses 180 gallons of water a day, mostly in the bathroom and toilet. In recent years, toilet tanks have gotten smaller, which has saved much water. There are also now “two-flush” toilets that use more or less water depending on what is being flushed.

Water - a Necessity of Life

Alistair Morrison, MA (Stockholm, Sweden), Coordinator of Global Water Governance Projects, United Nations Development Program.

Sharon interviewed Mr. Morrison, who was in Stockholm, Sweden, attending World Water Week. He is involved with the International Water Institute in Stockholm and has traveled all over the world to water problem areas such as Pakistan and Mozambique. 

He states that the key risk in floods is sanitation and water borne diseases such as cholera. The situation in Pakistan is made much worse because Al Quaida won’t let foreign aid workers in. So the biggest problem is not collecting or organizing aid but delivering it on the ground to the neediest people.

World Water Week has developed what they call “Millenium Development Goals.” The objective is to halve the number of people with unsatisfactory water, which is now over one billion out of a world population of 6.7 billion. Five million people die annually from poor sanitation.

There was some discussion of tube wells, which are inexpensive and less prone to contamination. Alistair noted that in areas without electric without power, especially Africa, they are now installing “round-about” pumps on wells, powered by a children’s playground merry-go-round. When the children play, the pump pumps.  

In many areas of the world, women and children spend 5 to 6 hours a day carrying water, time that could be used far more productively. And often, the water is not safe. It has been suggested that with a simple faucet at every door, societies could be transformed, education improved, the status of women elevated, and disease and infant mortality reduced. 

“For I Was Thirsty and You Gave Me to Drink”

Dr. Wiles is Director is Living Water International, a Christian organization that provides water to rural areas, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and South America. He began his career teaching at the college level, then became involved in missionary work. He was recruited by Living Water seven years ago.
The organization was founded in 1991, with the original intent to build churches until they discovered the terrible worldwide need for reliable and sanitary water. Since then, they have funded 7,000 wells, serving 7 million people.

Although much of their financing is by volunteer help and private donation, they also have corporate sponsors, including oil companies. Oil and water well drilling have many transferable concepts and often, in desert areas, finding water can be of greater economic importance than finding oil.

Dr. Wiles pointed out that without good water, there can be no economic development or meaningful health care. A village can get by with no electricity but must have water. Currently, one billion people in the world (of 6.8 billion) lack access to abundant and safe water. 2.8 billion lack basic sanitation (toilets and sinks).