The Responsible Use of Water

877 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Water scarcity causes and solutions essay

Many people around the world need water. Around 780 million people are unable to get clean water (One Billion Affected). People who do have access to clean water in their homes, have to pay a fee. The people who struggle to live obviously do not have enough money to buy water. People who are unable to have clean water have a good chance of dying either from disease or from dehydration. At least 3.4 million people die a year from water problems such as sanitation (One Billion Affected).
The United States of America is founded on the idea that all men and women are created equal with certain unalienable rights. These are the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Americans are confused on what to prioritize: making a profit for personal happiness or the unalienable right to life. Water is a necessity for life. Therefore, clean water is a right that has been taken advantage of, and used as a commodity.
Which is more important: the right to life or the pursuit of happiness? In this specific situation, is it more important to make money off water or save lives by making clean water accessible to all? Companies that focus their energy toward earning money by making water a commodity are dooming the planet and the human race. With the water source being depleted, a basic necessity of life will be cut out. Those who are privileged, like Americans, should step into the situation.
According to the United States Environmental Protection agency, EPA, the average American family, four people, uses around 400 gallons every day (US Indoor Water Use | WaterSense | US EPA). So that would average to about 100 gallons per person. All that a person needs to survive is to drink at least two quarts a day (How Much Water Do You Need To S...

... middle of paper ...

...ter/>.
"Desalination: Drink a cup of seawater? - US Geological Survey." Water Resources of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
"How Much Water Do You Need To Survive? | Wonderopolis." Wonderopolis | Where the Wonders of Learning Never Cease. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
"One Billion Affected." Water.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. .
"US Indoor Water Use | WaterSense | US EPA." US Environmental Protection Agency. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
"World Water Council - World Water Council." World Water Council - World Water Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Octavia E. Butler's Parable Of The Sower

    1359 Words  | 3 Pages

    Humans need water. In a world that is overpopulated, we use a lot of water and other natural resources. Currently, in our world, clean water is getting scarce. Recently, for example, Flint, Michigan, had a water crisis. In early 2016, the water was discovered to be tainted with lead and other toxins. Long before that, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and Governor Rick Snyder along with his council, knew about the lead, but to save money for the city of Flint in early 2014 Snyder had changed the city’s water source to the Flint River which had corroded pipes, causing people of all ages to be sick from the high amounts of lead

    Read More

  • Developing Countries and Clean Water

    2664 Words  | 6 Pages

    middle of paper ... ... ads. Although inside the house, there is clearly a heavy water usage, it is scary to learn that the majority of water wasted is in the yard. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “of the 26 billion gallons of water consumed daily in the United States, approximately 7.8 billion gallons, or 30 percent, is devoted to outdoor uses.”

    Read More

  • Mount Baker in Bellingham, Washington

    1232 Words  | 3 Pages

    USGS. "Water Resources Inventory Area 1 Watershed Management." USGS Science for a Changing World. U.S. Geological Survey , 18 Jun 2013. Web. 7 Apr 2014. .

    Read More

  • Film Analysis Of Blue Gold: World Water Wars

    1515 Words  | 4 Pages

    Water. It comprises sixty-six percent of our bodies and aids almost every cell process in the body (100 Amazing Water Facts You Should Know, 2014). The manifold uses of water ranges from life, recreation, to religious needs. The issue is that billion-dollar companies privatized water, are leeching the world’s most abundant resource, and are slowly killing the earth in the process. Blue Gold: World Water Wars gives a glimpse into privatized water companies and the destruction being brought on by them because they believe is a private good. Poor people are left with no clean water or water at all. This film shows how the over mining of groundwater could harm the environment. Another aspect that this film shows is the activism from citizens. It showed how a young teen decided he was going to address Africa’s water sanitation, Bolivian citizens protested against Bechtel’s exorbitant water rates, and Midwestern citizens taking a stand against water companies.

    Read More

  • Flint Water Crisis Research Paper

    1630 Words  | 4 Pages

    The need in this instance was healthy water. “For though this good is the same for the individual and the state, yet the good of the state seems a grander and more perfect thing both to attain and to secure; and glad as one would be to do this service for a single individual. To do it for a people and for a number of states is nobler and more divine (The Nicomachean Ethics pg. 64).” Aristotle wants us all to aim for happiness, but there are exceptions to his

    Read More

  • Water Privatization: Private vs. Public

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    Water has become a very controversial issue in the United States and around the world. As populations increase and resources decrease, the way we use our resources and keep populations safe become more and more important. Throughout the world there are nearly 1.1 billion people who do not have access the clean drinking water. 5 Most of these 1.1 billion people are located in poor areas and do not have the financial means to build the infrastructures needed to provide water to the citizens of their country. 5 Drinking water is an essential part of our everyday life. People must have water to survive, but it must be clean and safe to consume.

    Read More

  • water rights

    590 Words  | 2 Pages

    Water is essential to life. By being so important it is crucial to keep it maintained and preserved. Our water supply is affected by environmental, economic, and legal issues. In Oklahoma water is very sacred to its people especially to Native Americans. Both Choctaw and Chickasaw nations are suing the state of Oklahoma for the regulatory authority over Sardis Lake and the water resources it holds. The Choctaw and Chickasaw nations deserve the rights over Sardis Lake because it is their main water supply and they own the rights through the treaty of the Dancing Rabbit Creek of 1830.

    Read More

  • Drinking Water Problems In The World: The Global Water Crisis

    2141 Words  | 5 Pages

    Every year, about 5 million people die from a water-related crisis. Whether it be dirty water or no water at all. People who live in countries like the United States of America don’t think about the growing water problem. Most of them have all the water they could ever ask for, but that’s not the case in most countries around the world. 1.2 billion people in the world don’t have clean drinking water.

    Read More

  • Rights to Water

    1231 Words  | 3 Pages

    Drinking water is essential and indispensable to life itself possible on the face of the earth, it is much more than a well, a resource, a commodity, drinking water is specifically a human right of first order and an element essential national sovereignty itself and, most likely, whoever controls the water control the economy and life in the not so distant future.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Clean Water Essay

    1240 Words  | 3 Pages

    Water is pure and a transparent liquid that is vital for all humans, plants and animals on the planet. In the United States, people have access to clean drinking water and clean sanitation systems, not like in other parts of the world where clean safe drinking water is getting scarce. A lot of people don’t have access to it, and many regions are suffering severe drought. Yet, humans take it for granted, they don’t appreciate that a reliable clean supply of water is essential to human health, economy and agricultural prosperity. Having clean and safe potable water is a right and not a privilege. Some individuals don’t appreciate the advantage of having clean water available at

    Read More

  • Tap Water Essay

    1450 Words  | 3 Pages

    Water is one of the most essential non-renewable natural resources on the Earth. Technically, an un-hydrated human being can live no more than three days. In the United States, people consume water mainly from tap water and bottled water. However, the consumption between these two sources is not even, but lean to one side heavily. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, people consume from 240 to over 10,000 times more per gallon of bottled water than they usually do for tap water.

    Read More

  • A Lack of Clean Drinking Water

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    Having clean water to drink means that water must have microbial, chemical and physical characteristics that meet WHO guidelines or national standards on drinking water quality. Around 780 million people in the world don’t have access to clean drinking water (Millions Lack Safe Water). More than 3.4 million people die each year from water, sanitation, and hygiene-related causes. Nearly all deaths, 99 percent, occur in developing countries. Around the world, diseases in unclean water kill about 1,400 children every day (Clean Drinking Water). There are many organizations that raise money in order to help develop ways or create ways for people to obtain clean drinking water. However, many people are unaware that this is even a problem in other countries because we take clean water for granted.

    Read More

  • The Global Water Crisis

    2639 Words  | 6 Pages

    As of this year, nearly 1.1 billion people live without clean drinking water and 2.6 billion live without adequate water sanitation. The McDonald's down the street, however, will sell you a 1/3 pounder burger for only 150 gallons. Changes in lifestyle can easily reduce this number and help not only save water, but money as well. Currently, with our diminishing water supply, one of the main goals of humanitarian organizations is ensuring that everyone has the right and equality to water. With global access to water, it reduces the responsibility for political tension between countries fighting to literally stay alive.

    Read More

  • The Problem of Water Scarcity

    1538 Words  | 4 Pages

    The. Drinking Water: A History. New York: Overlook Duckworth, 2012. Print. The.

    Read More

  • Water Essay: The Future Of Water And Drinking Water

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    Less than 1% of the water supply on earth can be used as drinking water. By the time a person feels thirsty, his or her body has lost over 1 percent of its total water content. About 25,700 litres (6,800 gallons) of water is required to grow a day's food for a family of four. A child dies every 8 seconds from water-related diseases.

    Read More

More about The Responsible Use of Water

Open Document