Every morning when you wake up and turn on the faucet to wash your face and brush your teeth, bear in mind that there will be one billion other people, on that same day, who will not have access to safe and ffordable drinking water.
Access to clean water is not just a problem that occurs in developing nations, but in rich and prosperous countries as well. In recent years, people living in cities such as Belle Glade, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia have lived through periods when their municipal tap water was contaminated. The problem is often associated with aging water and sanitation systems, as well as environmental pollution. Unclean drinking water can result in waterborne illnesses which can pose a serious health threat for vulnerable populations such as babies, pregnant women, the frail elderly and those with chronic illnesses.
Moreover, affordability of safe drinking water has become a pressing concern. At this very moment, municipal governments are reneging on their responsibility to protect this precious resource by granting authority to global corporations to manage public water and sanitation utilities. For the average person, this means that water ? a basic necessity for human survival ? could soon be controlled by large transnational corporations whose primary mission is to maximize profit. Water has become a commodity like light bulbs and toilet paper to be sold in the global marketplace to those with the means to pay. Instead of being viewed as a human right, water is now considered a human good. The critical question that must be raised by the water-drinking public is: "Should a basic human necessity like water be delivered to the public by market driven, for-profit corporations?"
Communities throughout the world from Atlanta to Durban and Cochabamba, Bolivia to Manila, Philippines are responding affirmatively to this daunting question. They are organizing and speaking out against private water conglomerates such as French-based Suez and Vivendi Universal, the German company RWE/Thames Water, and San-Francisco-based Bechtel which are supplying water for profit to more than 300 million people every single day, many of whom lack the ability to pay. The worst cholera epidemic in South Africa's history occurred when poor people living in the KwaZulu Natal region could not afford to pay the high prices demanded by private companies reverted to drawing water from contaminated wells, rivers and streams.
Fortune magazine has reported that "water promises to be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th century: the precious commodity that determines the wealth of nations. . . The liquid that everyone needs . . . is going private, creating one of the world's great business opportunities."
In response to global concerns regarding the earth's finite fresh water supply, its safety and affordability, the United Nations has declared March 22, 2003 as World Water Day. This is a day to educate ourselves and our communities about the need to ensure access to a safe, affordable and sustainable water supply.
On Saturday, March 22, you are urged to take a personal inventory of our own "water use" behavior, especially in light of the fact that 1 in 6 people around the world lack regular access to safe drinking water and an estimated 4,100 children die every day because they drink from contaminated streams. Furthermore, pose three critical questions to your City Council members, County Commissioners or State legislators:
How safe is my community's drinking water? Who owns and operates the water and sanitation services in my city, town or state? Are there people in my community who lack access to safe drinking water because they lack the means to pay for it?
The privatization of public water and sanitation services is not merely an economic and environmental health issue, but it is also a human rights and justice issue. Now is the time to become involved so that our most precious natural resource remains available and affordable to all. As one ancient prophet once said: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an everflowing stream."
For more information on what your community, faith group, organization or family can do to advocate for access to safe and affordable drinking water, join the "Water for All" campaign today at www.citizen.org. Send an instant letter about this issue to your state and federal representatives today by visiting www.uccTakeAction.org.
The Rev. Adora Iris Lee is Minister for Environmental Justice with the United
Church of Christ's Justice and Witness Ministries in Washington, DC and has
extensive experience in the field of public health.