How could we ensure access to clean water for everyone in the third world?

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Answer 1

The problem could be remedied with a combination of education and very inexpensive technology. Having lived in remote parts of Ethiopia, and traveled to a few other third world countries I have seen this problem firsthand.

The challenge that many do not understand is that the infrastructure that makes things like education and distribution of cheap technological tools easy in the developed world, simply does not exist in these places. They have no mail delivery, no government offices, no television or radio, and often no roads. In many cases the affected people may not be literate, and may speak a language that is different from the primary language of the country. Ethiopia for example has 85 spoken languages.

In Ethiopia the most frequent request I received from children was for pencils and paper. They had a local school were I was at, but no supplies and had to share pencils and paper. Something as simple as a flashlight (a torch) was impossible to come by. For this reason, one of the most essential things that is needed in many undeveloped areas that would make solving these problems possible is a sort of government infrastructure consisting of mail service, roads, government agency contacts who are responsible for distributing and educating, and eventually other basic communication tools like phones, although this advance is probably many years away. The developed world does not understand that people still live in huts made of sticks and grass, tents made of skin, and herd goats, camels, and cattle for their livelihood in many places in the world, not much differently than they lived 2000 years ago.

The water problem has a twofold solution. No doubt you have seen examples of well-drilling with manual or electric pumps installed to supply water to entire villages. Wells can be dug by hand, and often are. I have seen examples of seasonal wells dug in riverbeds as much as twenty feet deep that served well. Well drilling equipment has gotten so compact that it is now possible to load a drill rig into the back of a Land Cruiser or a small pick-up truck. A gasoline powered rig that will drill a six inch hole to over 100 feet deep costs about US$8,000 from commercial suppliers.
See:http://www.lonestarbits.com/

The portable drilling equipment could be built as a cottage industry in some countries at a far lower cost. A rig like this could drill several wells a week. The benefits would include a reliable, local, and safe water supply, increased agricultural production, and more stable populations. The local community would have to organize to maintain and protect their well or wells. Costs of manual pumping equipment would have to be subsidized in some way. Although I would advocate having a geologist locate well sites, a hundred years ago my great grandfather drilled water wells and he didn't need a geologist to tell him where to drill. Common sense often works well for this.

Even lower tech methods of water treatment exist. A few barrels of water combined with a supply of alum can supply a family with safe drinking water. The process has been used for decades and is still used in many parts of the world.
"The combined process of coagulation and filtration is commonly used throughout New Zealand and is effective at removing dissolved and colloidal colour (natural organic matter), turbidity (suspended solids), algae (phytoplankton), bacteria, viruses and protozoa (e.g. Giardia and Cryptosporidium)."
From: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/0/5A25BF765B400911CC25708F0002B5A8/$File/13-coagulationprocesses.doc
This process requires nothing more than measuring the correct quantity of alum (aluminum sulphate) to add to the barrels of water, which also act as settling tanks. It allows use of water from surface water bodies such as rivers or lakes as drinking water. The cost of alum from commercial suppliers in the US is about US$0.35 per pound, purchased in 2500 lb lots. It is available worldwide, probably at lower cost. Alternative chemicals exist, such as ferric sulphate, which may cost slightly more. One pound of alum will treat about 4,000 gallons. It is not 100% effective at killing pathogens, but is much safer than drinking water directly from contaminated sources, which many people do in some undeveloped areas.

In some areas the only water treatment that may be needed is the simple addition of bleach (sodium hypochlorite solution). This was used by my family in our cistern for years to treat the rainwater that we gathered from our roof. One gallon of 5.25% bleach will treat about 9,000 gallons of water. Combined with flocculation/coagulation with alum it is quite effective and quite cheap.

Now considering that the cost of alum and bleach for a family to treat water with for about a year should not exceed the value of say one goat, this type of treatment is not unaffordable. The knowledge of how and why to do this is more critical. Most developed nations have saved their citizenry from having to know how or why their water is treated by simply doing it for them. Creating a "kit" that has measuring spoons and some diagrammatical instructions that comes along with the chemical kit would be the ideal way to distribute water treatment "technology." Distribution of small 'kits' should be combined with instructional demonstrations, and soon enough the knowledge would be distributed widely.

The methods of treating water and drilling wells are not really the problem. Simple equipment and cheap methods exist, as they have for centuries. The part that is missing in most areas where this is a problem is that there is no educational information available for people whose lifestyle and environment has gradually changed over generations, leaving them without proper knowledge of how to deal with bad water. This is where either an NGO or a local government could be supported with monetary resources, equipment, and access to training for local personnel.
Modest amounts of effort could solve this problem within years. The biggest obstacles have been, and will always be finding ways of distribution where no infrastructure exists, and education that can cross cultural and language barriers. These however are 'human engineering' problems that can be solved as long as the need is recognized by the people who have the ability to institute distribution and education. That motivation is lacking in many undeveloped countries, but if they are convinced that such basic infrastructure as clean water supply will allow everyone to prosper and live better, the problem can be solved.

Answer 2

There are many things we must do to ensure clean water: 1) Factories using water must have filtration systems BEFORE it leaves the plant. Also while we are on about factories, how about scrubbers on the smoke stacks so the pollution does not cause acid rain? 2) Have people try to recycle the clean water that they use. This can be done by providing the technology to place in homes water purification systems. 3) There is now the technology to turn salt water from the oceans and seas into fresh water. Although it may still be expensive, the price has been coming down as better methods are constantly being discovered. We, as people can do this together. If everyone instead of letting their water run when brushing your teeth or shaving, had more baths and less showers used smart toilets which use less water to flush than the old ones would help tremendously. We are all responsible for our planets' resources and water, as much as people do not think much about, is our most precious and will be the oil of the 21th century if we are not careful.

Answer 3

As much as I would like to believe this is possible, I do not. Human nature, being what it is, and economics, being what it is, do not lead to any solution wherein "everyone" can benefit.

By their very nature, humanity and economy thrive best when there is diversity. Aborted attempts by the ultra right and ultra left to mold the world into their uniform images are testimony to the futility of trying to satisfy all the people all the time. This cannot, and probably should not, be done.

That being said, this does not preclude satisfying some of the people some of the time. What we are talking about here comes under change management, how do we manage to plan, resource, and implement changes in water delivery systems?

Experience, both personal and of others, indicates incremental (small step) changes are most feasible...as opposed to one-step, all or nothing changes. This results from two major causes: small steps are more likely to get initial buy-in and initial successes can be used to get buy-in from later participants.

Identify the "low lying fruit" to make those initial small steps. These would be the water regions were the political-legal, societal-cultural, economic-financial, physical-technical, and other conditions are most favorable to implementing change to the existing water systems.

Conduct extensive marketing campaigns to get buy-in from the low lying fruit water regions and from potential resource suppliers. Once the changes are begun, ensure successes en route to implementing the clean water system are widely publicized to encourage other water regions to buy in and to ensure stakeholders in the change remain on board.

There are several guidelines for bringing about change. These guidelines have been used successfully in implementing change at Lockheed Martin and SBC Systems, Inc.:

First, clearly define and document the purpose and scope of that change.

Second, estimate and identify the resources potentially available for effecting the change.

Third, identify and plan the tasks and schedule needed to bring about change given the identified resources.

Fourth, acquire and allocate the resources (personnel, tools, facilities, expendable materials, money) according to plan.

Fifth, establish and implement communication among the stakeholders in the change.

Sixth, implement the change process using the resources according to plan.

Seventh, measure and track the progress of the change against what was planned.

Eighth, report the progress, note gaps between what was planned and what has been done, and recommend revisions to remedy gaps.

Ninth, revise original plans to close the gaps, and revise the resources, tasks, etc. accordingly.

Tenth, keep records and exercise record control over critical information affecting the change process.

These ten guidelines are tried and true for effecting change. But none of them can be taken without first getting buy-in from a client representing a water region. That, I am afraid, is a matter for politics and politicians to negotiate. Until the politicians find reason to put clean water on their personal agendas, even the low lying fruit will wither on the tree from the lack of water.

Answer 4

This would be a bit of a job. After all, it was only about 150 years ago that people in London were dying of cholera becaus of insanitary habits, and the State had to intervene after a pioneering Doctor of Medicine proved that the water supply was causing the illnesses. 5o years ago, the River Thames, which passes through London, was declared as being biologically dead,as it was so polluted with chemicals and waste that the water could not oxygenate, hence fish could not live in it. Thirty years ago, I witnessed human faecal material (****) being discharged from a sewer into the River Tyne in my native Newcastle.

Because of Government action, to no small degree due to pressure from environmental groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, British rivers have been relieved of much of their toxic encumbrances. But the problem, in the Third World, is not just a question of pollution.

Water is the vector for a large amount of life. Unfortunately, for humans, this life includes such creatures as the Anopholes mosquito (the vector of Malaria), and Bilharzia, a water-snail that is the vector of a nasty disease called schistosomiasis. In these cases, the answer would be to eradicate the mosquitoes and snails using insecticides such as DDT, but by doing so, one adds potentially harmful chemical run-off to the water, thus rendering it unclean. A Catch-22 situation!

The answer, of course, is education, but how can this be achieved, given the corruption endemic in many Third World governments? It is no use calling me a Western elitist, or racist, or whatever else, because the corruption and mis-spending of money is there for everone to see. What does Angola need with MiG 23 Fighter Aircraft? Or Kenya, with Rapier anti-aircraft missiles, bought from the UK. Uganda, Tanzania, and the Sudan (Kenya's neighbours) do not have the weaponry that requires such counter-measures as the extremely sophisticated Rapier. Some cheapo ex-Soviet SA 14s would be sufficiently effective.

To educate, money must be available, and not siphoned off to other agencies such as the Premier's personal numbered Swiss bank account. Once education is achieved, and people can be taught to use latrines, for example, pending the installation of proper sanitary equipment, by means of written notices and pamphlets, then progress can be made. Ultimately, clean water for the Third World will only be fully achieved by the establishment of a First World infrastructure, and that will take time, money, and EDUCATION.

Answer 5

I think this is too big a question to be answered simply. the answer will depend on the geography and politics of the area involved. Of course, the developed world has to stop being so greedy and wasteful as a start but that is only a start. From what i understand, climate change could make the situation worse in a lot of areas so acting now to slow climate change has got to be part of the plan. Digging deeper wells is not always a solution as, in Bangladesh, that has lead to an epidemic of arsenic poisoning due to arsenic in the base rock. Simple water purification methods using either filtration or solar powered distillation could be used to purify contaminated water and make it fit to drink. Also the supply of well designed latrines that can compost waste and use the resulting methane as fuel could also help.

Answer 6

Actually here in America a water filtration company advertises on TV and they are doing just this. At least that what the Advertisement shows.
Go here; http://www.purwater.com/
Look on left of page.
It been some time I have worked with "Heifner Project International" Mainly they "Teach a man to Fish" but, I do believe they help provide water wells in these countries also.
Go here to learn more; http://www.heifer.org/
This a good place people can become personally involved in making a difference.
There many other organizations doing this and it is an exciting work. But, there a lot of work to be done. And people make the difference.

Answer 7

I hate to say this but nature has kept our numbers down for thousands of years. By providing food and water to people that would have otherwise died we are increasing the problem. exponentially. Allowing the populations to grow in that manner is not sustainable.
We have to accept that we are supposed to die so that others can live better lives in the future.
One thing you can bank on is that nature will find a way to reduce our numbers be it through disease, drought or mass "madness" like what happened in Rwanda.
I have a huge amount of respect for the people that live close to the land like they do. They are living true human lives. The western world should stay away from there in every way. Including getting minerals and other resources.

Answer 8

By investing in water piping equipments installing water pumps and creating wells in villages. By reducing the amount of pollution dumped into the African, South American and Asian Rivers and lakes, minimising military control over water sources and allowing free access to all water sources. Government's should be forced by the UN to invest more money into water treatment facilities and water harvesting plans.

Though if the developed countries didn't force them to pay back immense debts that we forced them to take, just as we caused the debt in the first place, maybe the government's would have the money to do the above.

Also by using common sense such as harvesting rain water for crop irrigation

Answer 9

everyone says they want to help but where does the money go that we raise?

If we look at the sanitation levels we had in britaing 100 years ago and the levles we took to clean up the place and sort out the clean water. applied the technology we have today and togethwer used them the problem could be sorted but not over night. We go on about education but rarely share the knowledge to help each other

Answer 10

Built dams and water purifies in cities. Build a good sewage system so that sewage does not mix with drinking water. In rural areas install boreholes from which under ground water can be manual, mechanical or electrical pumped to the surface.

Answer 11

The governments of third world countries have to be properly looked at and reformed if neccesary so funds from first world countries can be used properly to improve plumbing and piping to residents. Having said that, it's a mighty task to undertake.