Providing safe drinking water for all

Tuesday, 22 March 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Caught in the middle of severe hot weather, Sri Lanka is finding the time it took its water resources for granted is ending swiftly. Whether it is power cuts or pesticide contaminated ground water, the question of quality and the sustaining of this precious resource needs attention if the country is to remain inclusive in its access to water. World Water Day is the perfect time to take action.

Although 84% of Sri Lankans have access to improved water sources, Sri Lanka needs to focus on improving the quality of drinking water. Almost four years after the world met the global target set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for safe drinking water, and after the UN General Assembly declared that water was a human right, the key issue now is how efforts can be strengthened to ensure safe water for all Sri Lankans.

Currently, 84% of Sri Lankans can access improved water sources but there are still vulnerable groups that do not have access to clean water and water safety in general is a concern. This is why authorities need to increase access in schools and remote rural areas and also support national efforts to improve water quality.

Globally, estimates from UNICEF and WHO published in 2015 show that a staggering 768 million people do not have access to safe drinking water, causing hundreds of thousands of children to sicken and die each year. Most of the people without access are poor and live in remote rural areas or urban slums.

UNICEF says it believes that consumer demand and quality assurance systems need to be in place to ensure critical water quality parameters, especially in an age where globally and locally, industrial and agricultural water pollution, along with climate change, continue to be key issues.

People who get water from such sources as household connections, public standpipes, boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs and rainwater collections, all face the danger of unclean water. It must not be forgotten that since it is not yet possible to measure water quality globally, dimensions of safety, reliability and sustainability may actually be slowing progress.

As much as 80% of the developing world’s illnesses are attributed to unclean water. Women and girls are usually tasked with collecting water, resulting in security issues for these groups. While the Government must be applauded for allocating billions of rupees to water projects around the country, the cost of obtaining water connections to households still remain beyond the reach of poor people who dwell in urban slums. Many of them are unable to pay the Water Board to lay pipelines to their homes, since there is usually no instalment plan for it.

All this boils down to is economic cost. People who do not have access to safe drinking water usually waste their energy and are often unproductive. This in turn has a direct effect on their standard of life and by extension the economy. Therefore, a clean, accessible, sustainable water source is such a cornerstone of an economy that it is a basic right. One that must be kept sight of at all times.