The World Water Day takes place on the 22 March, every year, to increase people’s awareness of the importance of water in all aspects of life. It also serve as a means to sensitize the public about the global water crisis and the need to take action.
Water is a key issue in the fight to eradicate extreme poverty, globally but today there are over 663 million people living without a safe water supply close to their homes. At least 1.8 billion people globally use a source of drinking water that is contaminated by faeces. This stark reality needs to change. Every little action or step you take makes a difference.
The theme of this year’s World Water Day is ‘wastewater’ and the questions that come readily to mind are, why wastewater? What does wastewater really mean to me?
Why Wastewater?
Wastewater is perceived as a valuable resource in developed economies, but seen as a nuisance in developing economies. The theme of this year’s World Water Day draws attention and lays emphasis on wastewater as an untapped resource. More than 80 per cent of wastewater resulting from human activities is discharged into rivers or sea without treatment. Safe management of wastewater is an efficient investment in the health of humans and ecosystems. Improving wastewater management means improvement on all six targets of the sustainable development goals on water.
Policy and decision makers inside and outside the water community should be aware of the importance of managing wastewater as a resource. It should be recognized as a sustainable source of water, energy, nutrients and other valuable products, rather than considering it as a nuisance to be ignored or something to be disposed of. There is no such thing as wastewater but ‘water wasted’ and it is better considered as ‘wealth-water’ rather than ‘waste-water’.
End Water Poverty – water action month
How can you join to take action?
Every action counts, every drop counts. You can make a difference by supporting any ongoing campaign around your vicinity. Hope Spring is organizing sensitization campaigns in schools around Nigeria and you can be a part of it. You can organize an event as an individual. You can also spread the news through your social media handles. No step is negligible. Together we can make safe water available to the poor and most vulnerable. As the UN-Water Chair rightly said, “Do what you can, do it with others, and do it with passion”.