Cebu City - 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. However, safe drinking water is not a privilege every single one of us gets to enjoy. “Safe and readily available water is important for public health, whether it is used for drinking, domestic use, food production, or recreational purposes. Improved water supply and sanitation, and better management of water resources, can boost countries’ economic growth and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction.” (WHO, March 2022).

When water is contaminated together with poor sanitation this may likely lead to the transmission of diseases like cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio. These diseases are preventable health risks that every individual no longer needs to be afraid of in this century. When water and sanitation services are absent, inadequate, or inappropriately managed, it exposes a person to illnesses and sicknesses that may cost their life especially, when they live in an area where treatment is inaccessible or expensive.

As the growth of urban, industrial, and agriculture sectors continues, the management and proper disposal of wastes in these sectors aren’t keeping up with the rapid expansion. This causes the supposedly safe drinking water for hundreds of millions of people to become dangerously contaminated or chemically polluted. In places where water is scarce, the habit of handwashing becomes a low priority in efforts to conserve water thereby, adding to the likelihood of diarrhea and other diseases.

There are ways we can keep our family safe from water-borne diseases. At the household, we can,

• Use of household sand filters,
• Cloth filtration,
• Use of ceramic filters or bio-sand filters,
• Solar disinfection,
• Chemical disinfection methods via Chlorine solution, Aquatabs, Purifier of Water, or Wuha water, and
• And the tried and tested, Boiling.

When water supply and sanitation is improved and there is better management and maintenance of water resources, these become a huge cause in a significant boost to a country’s economic growth and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction. // ND II Mary Carmeli Garrovillo, RND