H2ONCoast

While this blog focuses on the specifics of the North Coast and its local water resources, every once in a while I find it good to put things into global perspective. A resource of this very nature just crossed my desk and merits some attention here.

While most of us turn on our taps and assume we have fresh, clean, sanitary water flowing forth, it is important to remember that much of the world does not share this benefit of modern water resources management. It is also a good reminder to keep our water here at home clean and support the infrastructure that captures, treats and transports it to our taps for pennies. Not so long ago–as some folks on the North Coast can remember–this was not something you could take for granted. As many with private water systems served by wells and springs, drinking water protection should still remain a constant concern.

At the same time that a few of us struggle to keep our water clean in the U.S., diseases caused by unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation are among the world’s most serious public health threats, accounting for nearly 80 percent of illnesses in developing countries and killing millions of people - mostly children - each year. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Global Health and Education Foundation are joining more than 125 science, engineering, and medical academies around the world to take action on the global drinking water crisis by launching a Web site titled, “Safe Drinking Water Is Essential.”

Check it out.