World Water Day: How Water Scarcity Is Becoming a Reality

By Kakul Ehsan Butt

22 March 2013

On this day, we are reminded to think about water scarcity in some parts of the world. We are reminded constantly to be responsible about how we consume water in our everyday life. But can we imagine ourselves in this scenario of having a life without clean and safe water? Well according to the professor at University of Leicester, Dr Georgios Patsiaouras, in the coming century water will become like petrol, a scarce commodity that will have big demand but limited supply. But for 783 million people water has already become a scarce commodity. Around two-fifths of world’s population don’t have access to proper and clean sanitation. As we know, having clean water is a fundamental human right as life cannot exist without it. Yet for millions of people, finding water each day through wherever they can find is their number one priority.

Last year at the TEDxYouth@Hackney conference, GiveMeTap founder, Edwin Broni-Mensah gave an inspiring talk about how GiveMeTap is committed to making sure every individual has access to clean water. He came up with an initiative to save water by raising awareness about water wastage, as well as raising funds to build wells and boreholes in Africa where people can access clean water. GiveMeTap is UK’s first water refill network that allows people to buy a refill bottle and access free tap water from organisations who support GiveMeTap and the money that is raised from these purchases contributes towards water development works in Africa. So far, GiveMeTap has helped 3,000 people get access to clean water. GiveMeTap also raises awareness on water crisis and how we can do our part in reducing water waste.

The global water crisis is increasingly effecting economic and productivity growth in the developing world and it is being predicted that half of world’s population will live under severe water stress by 2030. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation are warning that by mid-century, we could witness one in five developing nations facing severe water shortages. While this is the responsibility of the world governments and international bodies to provide policies to tackle the water crisis, we can also play a part in becoming responsible with water. You can support GiveMeTap by buying refill bottles and knowing the money from the purchase will be spent in water development works in Africa. There are many ways which we can start by being responsible in not wasting water, preserving water and recycling water in our homes. I can’t imagine life with water scarcity, can you?

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