WHILE parts of Florida, the United States, Pakistan, India and Honduras are submerged by several inches of rainwater, here in the Philippines we are about to experience the scarcity of potable or drinking water.
If the UNICEF study is taken seriously, the reports that around 980 million people across the world do not have access to clean, potable water and at every 2 minutes a child dies of waterborne diseases.
A top executive of a global non-profit organization striving to bring water and sanitation to the world said that access to clean, potable water in the country has evolved into a real crisis.
A regional director of Water.org brought attention to the efforts of women and children who spend long, tedious hours fetching water for household consumption.
True, there are water firms delivering potable water to households in urban areas, but their services come at a stiff price and water service interruptions often come especially during nighttime and at long periods.
No wonder people resort to wells to be used in domestic consumption. But at what extent are deposits of water beneath the surface of the earth? Is it insatiable after several years?
This is the problem most water providers face when the deposits of water vanish and taps become dry and waterless. What are the authorities doing to anticipate and probably solve this crucial issue?
Of course, we have the National Water Resources Board and the Local Water Utilities Administration but what can these firms do when the very supply thins out or altogether vanish?
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This is one issue our authorities need to address promptly or else we will be faced by a big water scarcity problem. The subterranean sources will soon be depleted and we must be ready to meet the problem head on.
Water is so vital to our existence. Some people say they can live without food for a given period but not without water, a prime ingredient in our collective well-being. After water, what item becomes in short supply? Have we focused on rainwater as a probable solution to our problem? Abangan.