Human Right To Water Essay

Human Right to Water and Sanitation

According to Gunther (n.d.), “There are more than 326 million trillion gallons of water on earth (para. 1).” With so much water on earth, how can there possibly be a lack of access to fresh water for drinking? There are two types of water that make up earth’s supply; freshwater and saltwater. Freshwater makes up roughly 3% of earth’s water supply, while saltwater makes up roughly 97% (National Geographic, n.d.). Freshwater is what humans and animals can drink and survive off of. Salt water they cannot. The majority of freshwater is inaccessible. It is frozen in glaciers and icecaps, leaving about 1% available as surface water (N.G., n.d). This 1 percent of earth’s freshwater is what is available to nourish

The human right to water and sanitation states, “Everyone has the right to sufficient, continuous, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use (WHO, 2015, “Introduction,” para. 2).” Lack of water safety, and sanitation continues to be a significant issue to billions worldwide. In the United States, public water systems are monitored and tested annually to ensure they meet national drinking standards. In other regions such as Africa, water systems are not monitored as closely. In these regions, they lack the knowledge, education and resources needed to understand the concernment of meeting drinking standards. Lack of education to properly assess water quality in Africa, and regions similar, puts them at a higher risk of exposure to contaminants. Very harmful chemicals, and microorganisms could be polluting their water systems without their knowledge. This could lead to widespread disease, and death to residents of the affected area. It is unsafe to hold some regions of the world to a strict drinking standard, and others to a lesser, more lenient standard. Proper water testing should be enforced globally to ensure adequate sanitation. Lack of annual testing, and monitoring of water systems is hazardous to our population, and leaves us prone to