HORN OF AFRICA: Water, Sanitation & Environment

Welcome to Water Sanitation Magazine @ Blogger---------------BULLETIN------------------Did you know that in many parts of the world, water is a deadly drink?

HORN OF AFRICA:
WATER, SANITATION & ENVIRONMENT

WEBMASTER

Name: Noah Amin:
Profession: Water Quality Scientist
Contact: noahark2000@gmail.com
Editor: H.Amin

STARTLING HORN OF AFRICA IMAGES:

Is the Horn of Africa land of plenty or one of scarcity?

IT IS ONE OF PLENTY!

But life is a daily struggle; hunger & infinite preventable diseases cause premature deaths. And as resources dwindle due to mismanagement, poverty prevails and people go to the unknown dying in the high seas or else go to refugees camps in their own lands!

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Did you know that dirty water can be a deadly drink? The reason is because Pathogens (disease causing microorganisms) inherently present in dirty waters cause diseases that may threaten your health.Just boil your water and you may well be safe!

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Monday, September 10, 2007

Dirty Water Can Be A Deadly Drink!

Introduction:
Water is one of nature’s most important resources. And as far as its importance to life is concerned, water is second only to air. Without it, there would be no life on this whole universe. And if somehow water suddenly ceased to exist in the universe, every living thing including ourselves would automatically perish within days not months.

On the other hand, it is with the help of water for instance, through osmosis, that plants absorb dissolved nutrients and minerals to grow well. And of course in the presence of chlorophyll with the help of sun light, water helps plants build simple sugars. In addition, during metabolism and growth of living cells (both plant and animal), it is water that facilitates all biochemical and biological reactions to take place. In other words, it is water that helps insure that all living things assimilate food nutrients without which life on this earth would be impossible. And it is water that helps keep our systems free from wastes so that we can lead and maintain normal healthy bodies. Water also accelerates the breakdown of complex food molecules (particles) in our digestive systems so that they can be easily absorbed. And it is those nutrients of course that provide nourishment to our bodies to help build new cells to replace dead ones. And did you know that without water, our body systems would never comfortably discharge wastes? In other words, our cleansing systems require water to function right!

It means when living things (animals, plants and humans) take the food they eat, not all of that food is assimilated by the body. There are always some residues composed of masses made up of stuff that we find indigestible, like cellulose, for instance or a mixture of fats such as cholesterol; inorganic salts like phosphates. The indigestible material called "fiber," is useful in getting the turd in our tummies to move along through the intestine, perhaps because it provides traction. And had un-assimilable food remnants stayed in the body longer than is necessary, they would become toxic negatively affecting our health. Thanks to water, it is water that helps the smooth disposal of wastes from our bodies.

Moreover, organic substances which enrich the soil by splitting into their original constituent components would not easily decompose without water (moisture)! And as microorganisms carry on their essential life processes, living organisms incorporate water, carbon, nitrogen and other elements from the environment in to their bodies. These elements must be recycled continuously to make them available to living organisms.

Without the activities of these microorganisms in the various biochemical cycles, the essential elements mentioned would become depleted and all life as we know it today would automatically cease to exist. Thanks again to water. It is water that facilitates all these.

Water also plays many more other significant roles in nature. And interestingly, water in one way or another eventually comes back to the water cycle! That could mean that the water you use today could at one time in history had been used by our forefathers or by the dinosaurs that lived centuries ago!

Water Is Life
Water is the source and origin of all life! All living things (humans, animals, plants etc.) depend on water for survival and existence. The human body is around 72% water; the human brain is roughly 85% and our blood is 82% water. Even our bones are 22% water. Our recommended daily water need just for drinking is around 3.3 liters. Add sanitation and the total increases to about 40 liters per day. Include water for bathing and cooking, and the total skyrockets to an amazing 200 liters per person per day.

So, 5% loss of body fluids results in thirst, nausea and weakness. A 10% loss results in dizziness, headache, in ability to walk and tingling sensation in the limbs. And a 15% loss results in dim vision, painful urination, swollen tongue, deafness and a numb feeling in the skin. And finally, a loss greater than 15% usually results in death!

In addition, in daily life, we use water for drinking and for cooking. We use it for growing food. We use it for bathing. And we use it for washing and cleaning. Water lubricates our respiratory system. Water lubricates the digestive system. Water is part of the fluids that lubricate all our joints and the whole body. And amazingly, this invaluable lubricant does in no way affect us negatively! No wonder therefore that our survival is directly dependent on water.

Water is also a critical component of most global system, such as climate, vegetation and erosion and human disturbances of one part of the water cycle inevitably have impacts in others.

Water Pollution And Health
The introduction of harmful substances or products into the waterways is called water pollution. And today, water pollution is a major threat to availability of clean water. In fact, contrary to common belief, water can easily become contaminated with dirt….organics (once living materials) and inorganics (minerals). Water is also often highly impure, biologically. In other words water bodies usually contain impurities (minerals, gases, viruses, parasites, bacteria, suspensions etc.). And often certain biological contaminants present in water can give rise to water borne diseases.

In deed, there is no such thing as totally clean water. And clean water is said to be clean only because it contains tolerable limits of contaminants. In other words, even sparkling fresh rain-water droplets, coming down from our blue skies are not clean in the real sense. That is even rain-droplets on their way through the atmosphere often pick up microorganisms in the air, algae, viruses, dust suspension, oxygen, chemical pollutants floating in the air like sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon-dioxide or even hydrocarbons, etc. all of which are naturally abundant in the atmosphere.

Fortunately, some of those impurities are of great to value to our lives. For instance certain minerals present in our foods/waters are essential to a healthy living. And water with no dissolved oxygen or minerals often tastes flat. Even some elements, which are toxic in high concentrations, are in their trace amounts of enormous value to a healthy living and their complete absence from our daily foods and drinks could have devastating effects on our health!

Sadly enough however, water pollution in the Horn of Africa today reaches levels that are much higher than that recommended for drinking and for bathing contributing to water scarcity. And water scarcity is now considered to be the single greatest threat to sustainable development. In fact, in the Horn of Africa, available waters for drinking, for the preparation of food or for any other use are highly contaminated with human and animal wastes and wastes from animals and humans are of course known to propagate deadly pathogenic microorganisms.

Moreover, dirty water can have devastating effects on the lives of those who consume it. Some chemical water contaminants that are inherently present in the soil are naturally toxic ….a case in point is the arsenic poisoning outcry in Bangladesh. Other water contaminants are from garbage and rubbish that are unwisely discharged into our environment. And many others are wastes of humans and animals both of which are rich in microorganisms that cause pathogenic diseases… and by the way, to decompose, most wastes deplete oxygen from the air!

In the developing world in general and in the Horn of Africa in particular, water pollution today has already reached unprecedented levels. Chemical contaminants however, apart from the occasional contributions from natural sources, are generally low because there are usually neither large scale industrial chemical manufacturing facilities leaching out dirt into waterways nor there are large scale agricultural farms that use large scale agricultural chemicals like fertilizers or pesticides. But both physical and biological contaminants are enormous.

In the Horn of Africa for instance, physical water contaminants include dirt washing out from the environment where human activities are destroying available water bodies; expanding development of rural lands are also reducing quality of renewable fresh water resources to filthy trickle; deforestation and the degradation of agricultural soil are likewise accelerating or otherwise altering the Region’s water cycle by polluting rivers and groundwater recharges. And often a dominant hazard is flooding, which washes away topsoil and slowly chokes rivers, dams and reservoirs.

In addition, urbanization in the Region is exacerbating water quality problems because it concentrates large numbers of human populations who demand dependable sources of water and adequate sanitation services on unprecedented scales. And changes in land use pattern brought about by the urbanization, are also affecting water supplies by altering and accelerating natural patterns of runoff where floods often erode the top soil with the urban runoff dirt severely degrading water quality.

Unfortunately, drinking and bathing in polluted water supplies are among the most common routes for the spread of infectious diseases. And most of those affected are the poor or those who live in the rural or peri-urban areas where water-borne diseases are the single largest killers of infants.

It has also been proven that access to safe water correlates strongly with survival of children under five. And today, it is estimated that over 5 million children in the Third World are diagnosed with diarrhea each year. 1.8 million of them die due to use of unclean safe water or ingesting contaminated food….diarrhea caused by drinking contaminated water kills more people than HIV/AIDS or malaria. In fact, worldwide, diarrhea kills one child every 3 minutes and the potential for health problems from drinking polluted water can be illustrated by localized outbreaks of water-borne diseases.

Finally, according to the UN, provision of an adequate supply of safe, clean water is regarded as the most important precondition for sustaining human life and WHO estimates 80% of all sicknesses and diseases are caused by polluted water, lack of safe water or lack of sanitation.

In Africa, Water Is Still A Deadly Drink
Historically, dirty water has played a major role in the transmission of human diseases. Typhoid fever, cholera, trachoma etc. have been proven to be liked to dirty water or to water scarcity. And contamination of water by sewage or human/animal wastes has always presented the greatest danger to public health. That means water quality and waterborne diseases are correlated and the need to develop water sanitation practices and improved environmental sanitation including disposal of garbage, refuse and waste are essential.

Despite that, in the Third World in general and in the Horn of Africa in particular about 90-95% of human/animal wastes are discharged into the environment without any treatment. Added to that, in the warm climates of the Horn of Africa, pathogens (disease causing microorganism) can survive for long periods of time on crops, in water or in soil…different pathogens have a wide range of survival characteristics.. And certain pathogenic eggs have been proven to survive months if not years in environment. Other factors such as: moisture, soil organic content; humidity, amount of rainfall, amount of sunlight, protection provided by foliage and competitive fauna and flora also affect the survival of those microorganisms, most of them often favorably.

Despite this, today, according to a recent WHO report; the Horn of Africa countries have one of the lowest clean water and sanitation coverage. And according to WHO/UNICEF (August 2005), some 83% Djiboutians live in urban areas of which 82% receive some sort of clean water. But only 55% receive improved sanitation. And of the 17% who live in rural areas 67% receive improved water; but only 27% receive sanitation. And according to the same report some 20% Eritreans live in urban areas of which 72% receive some sort of improved water. But only 34% receive improved sanitation. And of the 80% who live in rural areas 54% receive improved water; but only 3% receive sanitation. And according to the same report some 15% of Ethiopians live in urban areas of which 81% receive some sort of improved water. But only 19% receive improved sanitation. And of the 85% who live in rural areas only 11% receive improved water; but only 4% receive sanitation. And finally according to the same reports of the 34% of Somalis who live in urban areas, 29% receive improved water; but only 47% receive sanitation. While of the 66% who live in rural areas only 27% receive improved water but only 14% receive some sort of sanitation.

And according to some recent reports, the Horn of Africa countries have an estimated total population of 92 million persons. However, only 22.75 million receive improved water and only 8.02 million receive sanitation. This leaves a wobbling 69.25 million persons without clean water and an even larger number namely; 84 million people are without sanitation.

Unfortunately, lack of basic health services, food supplies, water and sanitation services are leading to the spread of infectious diseases in those countries. And waterborne diseases like: polio, cholera, diarrhea, infectious hepatitis, dysenteries and many varieties of gastrointestinal diseases or HIV are rampant.

And finally, it is a proven fact that water scarcity, water quality and waterborne diseases are correlated. So, according to a 2005 UNDP report, child morbidity and child mortality in the Horn of Africa are high because availability of safe drinking water and sanitation are low or lacking. In Ethiopia, for instance an estimated 169/1000 of the country’s children die before 5th birthday. And in Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti, the figures are 85/1000; 225/1000 and 138/1000 respectively.

For more information on water, sanitation and water scarcity related problems or diseases please go to: websites of institutions sited in the Credits Section.

Noah [ 11:12 PM ]