Think about it. (Part 1)

Malaria, cholera ,dengue fever. Diseases that can inflict death. These are only a few waterborne diseases that we protect ourselves from. (waterborne diseases are different from water-based diseases; the latter are caused by infectious organisms who really have to spend part of their lives in the water.) Every time my family eats out, my parents never fail to make sure whether the water being served is distilled, purified, or from the tap. What is it with water that we are so afraid of?

When I started writing this article, the number of people who have died of water-related diseases in 2009 amounted to 246,752 [1]. Let's assume that half of them, or more than half, died from waterborne diseases. That's more or less than 123,376 --- a very big number considering we're just in the 3rd week of January. Think of how many times your trash might have ended up in a body of water people rely on for drinking. (Hint: a rainstorm can wash away your trash to the sea, and it can even cause overflowing of human waste-filled sewers.)

Two hundred five thousand, four hundred three billion liters of water [1] have been consumed as I write this article, and that's only for January 2009. How many liters have been contaminated that resulted to so many deaths?

Now that I've given you a couple of figures to think about, think about your future. What if you you turn on the shower and everything that comes out is black sludge? What if tomorrow, you're bed-ridden because of typhoid fever? Of intestinal bacteria?

We are not always in control of what goes around us; but we can always affect what happens. Water pollution is a very big factor in our lives. We NEED water in our lives, not just for drinking, but for so many other things: drinks for our pets, washing our hands, cooking our meals, treating our wounds, cleaning our own bodies, source of food. Many people depend on water for income: fishermen, food companies, fish vendors. Not only are we going to be personally affected by water pollution, economic problems will also likely arise.

I remember somewhere in 2005-2007 (alright, I admit, my memory's not good) when night after night, news about the spread of red tide would make it to the TV, not to mention the newspapers. My parents didn't buy fish for almost a week. We must be cautious, but then, is everyone as cautious as us?

Our world is 70% water, but less than 1% is actually available for human consumption--- the rest are contaminated. [2]
How sure are you that what you're drinking now is not part of the 69%?

NOTE: By the time I finished this article, which took about 40 minutes (due to chatting and reading other articles), about 500 other people have died due to water-related illnesses.

[1] Worldomemeters- real time world statistics
[2] Waterborne Illnesses in 3rd World Countries & The USA