It’s World Water Day again. Every March 22 since 1993 has been officially declared World Water day by the United Nations (U.N.).
I know that I take clean water for granted. I turn on my tap and out it pours. Well, at least we hope it is clean. But imagine if we had a natural disaster on the scales of that Japan just had – would we be able to get clean water? Now imagine having to live with that thought every day, even though no natural disaster has occurred. More than one billion people don’t have access to drinkable water.
In 2005, the U.N. issued a report that stated that the single biggest cause of illness in the world was lack of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. Over a million children around the world will die this year because they contracted a illness from tainted water. The same report said that same lack of water and sanitation is also a major cause of death following a natural disaster such as the Japan earthquake. Right now, it is estimated that 1.6 million Japanese don’t have access to clean, safe water and many are already ill with diarrhea.
All this sounds pretty grim, but there is hope – there is always hope. Technology is improving each day and water treatment systems that once resided in a warehouse can now fit on a table. Organizations are working to get potable water to even the most remote areas of the world.
Each year, communities hold local events to help promote World Water Day. Here are just a few around America:
California:
World Water Day Festival – Carlsbad
SPRUNG! A World Water Day Celebration – Oakland
Florida:
Northwest Florida Water Festival
Kansas:
Water with Blessings – Kansas City
Maryland:
A Walk for Water – Derwood
Montana:
Water for the Rural Poor: Responding to the Challenge – Helena
Ohio:
Case World Water Day – Cleveland
Oregon:
Walk for Water! – Portland
Nevada:
Run Away with Cirque du Soleil at the Spring Preserve – a ONE DROP event – Las Vegas
New York:
Magical Watery Tour – NYC
Washington, D.C.:
Water for People Celebration
You can see a full list of the scheduled events at the World Water Day web page.