The popular Igbo proverb brings to the fore the reason why we should protect our water source.
He who brings water, brings life.
I consider water as one of the most relevant things that nature has given to mankind. Without water, lives won't be present on earth. Thankfully, the availability of water has made a lot of things possible. From transportation to engineering and manufacturing and even human living, water has played a very vital role.
My source of water is the borehole system which is the most available source of water to most Nigerian homes. After drilling the borehole, the water is pumped out from the drill until it is pure, colourless and tasteless, dim fit for drinking. That is however the cheapest way to get good and drinkable water in this part of the world.
It may amaze you that people around the globe do not have access to healthy drinkable water. More than 60% of the earth's population do not have good water to drink. In the rural areas and even some urban and unplanned mega cities of the world, the availability of good and drinkable water has always been an unending debate.
In our dear nation, settlements that are far from the sea level or that are hinterland usually have a record of water issues. In such places, the dwellers depend on rain water and irrigation of rain water to have access to any water at all. It would take a heavy duty machine to drill far down the earth crust of such places to get good water which individuals do not have the financial capability to carry and the government, too blind to reason to that level. In all, we should know that good water has some characteristics that even a lay man should know.
Good water should be:
•Colourless.
•Odourless.
•Tasteless.
However, industrialists, researchers are beginning to find solutions to this future envisaged problem. Recently in a CNN interview, Bill Gates discussed how toilet waste can be refined into good drinkable water. What a life we live in.
Thus, for those of us who have access to water, we might not know if the water is good enough to drink or not but there are measures that can be taken to make our water safe for drinking. Let's consider some of these measures.
Run a Water Test
The very first thing to do before drinking from your new source of water is to test the status of the water. This may involve the services of a water engineer, who will run a number of tests to determine the nature of the water and then provide professional advice on how to handle the water for safe drinking. This is about the most important aspect of water safety that we do not apply in our homes or environment.
Quality Water Filter.
All around Africa, the most available source of drinkable water is via borehole. People just sink a borehole and the next thing is to start drinking the water. To be on the safer side, and to avoid an outbreak of water-borne disease, a quality water filter can be fixed on the pipe connecting the borehole to the reservoir. In the process of pumping the water the filter removes particles and other impurities from the water, making it safe for domestic use.
Clean Reservoir
Since we used an overhead table to store our water,exposing it to sunlight, it is important to know that some pathogens may begin to grow inside the tanks or reservoir. Therefore, there is a need to wash the tanks from time to time. This process helps to keep our water healthy for droning and other domestic uses like cooking and whatnot.
Maintain The Source Water
Most times, after drilling a borehole, we neglect the source where the water is pumped from. This has caused a lot of hazards for those who use water from that source. Many a time, you'd find rodents, frogs, birds around our source of water because it is not well protected. The source of water should be well secured and maintained to keep the water safe for human use.
Water is the most important food supplement available on planet earth and must be handled with a lot of care because in the United Nations report, good water is likely going into extinction by the year 2040. Hence, we should do all within our power to encourage friends and neighbours not to waste water.
Water truly is life, and it's amazing how something so important can be taken for granted. You are right about the borehole systems and the challenges some people face in accessing clean water. It breaks my heart to think that a large percentage of the global population lacks access to safe drinking water.
Thank you for sharing the tips we can all take to safeguard the quality of our water and the brilliant solutions you proferred to address water scarcity. This was a worthy read. Thank you for sharing.
Many thanks, @iskawrites for reading through this work. We hope that we would share enough information to people who do not have enough knowledge on how to treat water.
Thanks again.
You are welcome, sir
I agree with you on the fact that without water, it would be difficult for any living thing to exist.
Many homes today barely wash their water tank and it's one reason why getting clean water has become a difficult thing today. Proper cleaning will go a long way and everyone can enjoy good water in their homes.
Well said. Washing water tanks is important to having clean and drinkable water.