On average, Americans “waste 7 billion gallons of clean drinking water a day” (Climate Guest) and 1 trillion gallons of water each year while nearly 1 billion people around the globe (over three times the population size of the United States or one in five people) lack access to safe drinking water. While many people around the world leave faucets running, do not fix leaky pipes, and waste valuable drinking water, “women and children spend 125 million hours each day collecting water” in places such as Africa and Asia, “⅓ of the global population lives without access to a toilet”, and “every 90 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease” (Water.org). Many nonprofits organizations are trying to find ways to provide safe water to millions
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In America, droughts happen in California and Western states and lakes supplying water to millions of people dry up. Water scarcity is not the only problem society faces; water contamination is also a big problem. “Water-related diseases affect more than 1.5 billion people every year” with 3.4 million deaths. (World Health Organization) Even in America, contaminated water infiltrates sanitation systems. In the Flint Water Crisis, residents of Flint, Michigan, are finding highly toxic levels of iron in their water, which was mistreated. Engineers are trying to find solutions to provide clean water to as many people as possible and to decontaminate these water supplies from harmful materials, bacteria, and …show more content…
With “nearly ½ of the world’s population- more than 3 billion people- live on less than $2.50 a day”, many people cannot afford to buy water bottles or water filters and can only drink out of hazardous and dirty sources. (DoSomething.org) “The World Health Organization says that every year more than 3.4 million people die as a result of water related diseases, making it the leading cause of disease and death around the world.” (Voice of America) With a majority of those casualties in Africa and Asia, companies have created inexpensive inventions using the power of STEM to combat waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and diarrhea. Vestergaard is one of these companies. The Swiss company created the LifeStraw, a portable straw that can “eliminate 99.9 percent of all waterborne bacteria and parasites,” cleaning “up to 264 gallons of water.” (Reader’s Digest) The LifeStraw has been distributed in more than 64 countries and nearly eradicated a disease caused by the Guinea
In America, droughts happen in California and Western states and lakes supplying water to millions of people dry up. Water scarcity is not the only problem society faces; water contamination is also a big problem. “Water-related diseases affect more than 1.5 billion people every year” with 3.4 million deaths. (World Health Organization) Even in America, contaminated water infiltrates sanitation systems. In the Flint Water Crisis, residents of Flint, Michigan, are finding highly toxic levels of iron in their water, which was mistreated. Engineers are trying to find solutions to provide clean water to as many people as possible and to decontaminate these water supplies from harmful materials, bacteria, and …show more content…
With “nearly ½ of the world’s population- more than 3 billion people- live on less than $2.50 a day”, many people cannot afford to buy water bottles or water filters and can only drink out of hazardous and dirty sources. (DoSomething.org) “The World Health Organization says that every year more than 3.4 million people die as a result of water related diseases, making it the leading cause of disease and death around the world.” (Voice of America) With a majority of those casualties in Africa and Asia, companies have created inexpensive inventions using the power of STEM to combat waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and diarrhea. Vestergaard is one of these companies. The Swiss company created the LifeStraw, a portable straw that can “eliminate 99.9 percent of all waterborne bacteria and parasites,” cleaning “up to 264 gallons of water.” (Reader’s Digest) The LifeStraw has been distributed in more than 64 countries and nearly eradicated a disease caused by the Guinea