Access to Clean Water in South America Essay Example

Throughout South America together with the world, approximately eight hundred million individuals live without clean, safe drinking water. Thus, the unsafe water to be drunk has been a serious global problem. People suffering from waterborne diseases are about half of all the beds of the hospital worldwide and every year, the illnesses that are carried in water kill almost two million people, majorly kids under the age of five. People spend hours lugging water from lakes and streams. Economies suffer. Children fail to attend their classes and people miss days at their places of work due to poorly treated water that is unfit for human consumption.

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In South America, increasing population and climate change is making access to clean water for drinking more difficult. Many people have to share the finite water of the earth. The climate change highest temperature is often supposed to bring more evaporation and long dry stretches, shifting with floods and heavy rains (Grimes, Croll, Harrison, Utzinger, Freeman, & Templeton, 2014). However, most places are underdeveloped on the ways of capturing and storing the water from the rains and flooding churns all harmful substances into the water that is meant for drinking. The farmers in South America in this case, are often advised to use less water. Researchers and experts estimate that almost seventy percent of the water of the world nourishes livestock and irrigates farm crops instead of saving the water for drip irrigation that is more effective (Barlow, & Clarke, 2017). The farmers of South America complain that drip irrigation is costly and might need subsidies to convert from the use of sprinklers. Thus, much of the water from Latin America is consumed by cattle ranchers and soy farmers and cattle ranchers in Brazil.

The water problem in South America is mostly due to poverty and it might be hard to say that things run well or the health of people has improved (Cosgrove, & Rijsberman, 2014). There is not enough water that can go around South America to satisfy every individual as there is inequality in the country. The poor have no access to clean water for drinking as they do not have the power (Cosgrove, & Rijsberman, 2014). Also, in South America, lack of toilets or sanitary facilities contributes to the unhealthiness of the water to be consumed. Some people wade into streams and rivers where other people fetch their drinking water. Cattle also defecate in the same water source making the people be at high risk with their health. Additionally, in South America, most of the rivers are choked with industrial and chemical waste. For instance, the Rio de la Plata that sweeps over Buenos Aires can be mentioned as of the most polluted (Grimes, et al. 2014).

However, the poor do not have the ability to pressurize the political leaders as they have no power. They are invisible from the glass and steel skyscrapers of Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo. Moreover, even if other humanitarian agencies and the government try to assist to get safe water to the poor, they struggle with coordination and logic and to provide solutions that are compatible with the lives of the residents they are trying to help (Ranganathan, & Balazs, 2015). Nevertheless, many people are always working on the water problem in South America but they often work at cross purposes. They dig wells and contribute to purification tablets, install pumps or even build huge water treatment plants laying down many water pipes (Herrero, & Tussie, 2015). However, they still do not fit as they get little benefits that make their projects to fall apart. In South America, climate change, global food problem and water share one burden as there is no accountability, responsibility nor a vision that drives people in taking care of the environment. The tap water in South America is also always not fit for consumption as it is unsafe but nobody bothers. So long water is piped to people's homes, they no longer think the access to safe clean drinking water. The transferred water is from the polluted water sources (Barlow, & Clarke, 2017).

Additionally, in South America, the pipes carrying sewage and drinking water are laid underground in a single trench making the contact to be very easy. When the pipes become corroded, the drinking water and sewage intermingle without the conscience of people and on consumption, leads to serious illnesses. Most water that comes from treatment plants is always clean but in unsafe for human consumption as it not treated appropriately (Grimes, et al. 2014). Also, some of the people living in poverty live below one dollar in a day and in most cases, they choose not to waste or spend their finance on the fuel used in boiling drinking water. Some even develop immunities to the dangerous components in the water but many become continuously ill. Many places in South America that have running water, the water is available for only a few hours in a day, which a guarantee for numerous health problems. The pipes go empty and a vacuum is created and when the water supplied starts up, it sucks the combination of pollution (Herrero, & Tussie, 2015).

Also, the people of South America do not see anything that is worrying with the type of water they consume as they do not demand improvement. Much of the water sparkles in the light of the sun. instead of having complaints about the water for their dehydration and chronic gastrointestinal problems, they announce it to the visitors (Ranganathan, & Balazs, 2015). Additionally, selling water that is high-priced is a business for many people in South America where hundreds of trucks or tankers deliver safe water for drinking. However, the owners always have a political clout such that they do not want the authorities to invent less expensive ways of people getting the drinking water as it will ruin their business (Cosgrove, & Rijsberman, 2014). Therefore, the global crisis of accessing clean water in South America is worth paying attention to as more lives are likely to be lost due to unsafe clean drinking water. The medical costs water that in unfit for human consumption run into large finances for governments not only in South America but worldwide, which would be an incentive of cleaning up the water.

Conclusion

However, getting the national and local governments to spend money on sanitation and drinking water has been difficult as political leaders see more advantages or benefits in cutting ribbons during opening ceremonies for structures like new hospitals than dealing with the business of curbing and removing parasites and bacteria from drinking water. They politicians repay these actions with the money they spent during their campaigns and so, they do not see the essence of expanding services or fixing broken pumps and pipes (Barlow, & Clarke, 2017). Therefore, with all the mentioned, the government should educate people on the importance of a healthy environment and having clean safe drinking water to save many lives. It should also encourage people to build sanitations so that their wastes can be properly disposed of. Industries and companies also emitting harmful oils to water sources should be heavily fined to stop polluting the water sources. Also, people should be encouraged to boil water before drinking to get rid of bacteria that might be present in the water causing illness (Grimes, et al. 2014).

References

Barlow, M., & Clarke, T. (2017). Blue gold: the battle against corporate theft of the world's water. Routledge.

Cosgrove, W. J., & Rijsberman, F. R. (2014). World water vision: making water everybody's business. Routledge.

Grimes, J. E., Croll, D., Harrison, W. E., Utzinger, J., Freeman, M. C., & Templeton, M. R. (2014). The relationship between water, sanitation, and schistosomiasis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 8(12), e3296.

Herrero, M. B., & Tussie, D. (2015). Unasur Health: A quiet revolution in health diplomacy in South America. Global social policy, 15(3), 261-277.

Ranganathan, M., & Balazs, C. (2015). Water marginalization at the urban fringe: environmental justice and urban political ecology across the North-South divide. Urban Geography, 36(3), 403-423.