April 22, 2012
If You’ve Drank Water Today—Consider Yourself Lucky
The United Nations has declared water a basic human right, saying that “the human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.” Many hold similar views as the UN, while others differ in opinion and think water is a privilege not a right. As the human population increases alongside the demand for clean, safe sources of water, this issue will only escalate in significance and severity. Humanity as a whole must answer the question: Is water a privilege or a right?
Currently access to safe drinking water is not universal. With almost 900 million people lacking access and more than 1.5 million children annually dying due to this reason, the United Nations has recognized clean water and sanitation as “integral to the realization of all human rights.” Providing access to drinking water does not have a simple solution; when dealing with the right of humans to access water: political, social, economic, and industrial changes are needed. At the 2011 United College London (UCL) Annual Conference, the issue of water security was brought up and concluded that the global North cannot simply expect the South to generate access to clean drinking water. For the most part water abuse comes from the North and the South is the region in need of more clean drinking water. Many believe the global North should treat water as a commodity since they tend to overuse water and are not penalized for doing so. With this implementation, water may be better conserved in the North which may help the South receive economic deductions to increase clean water access.
Many take the opposite view on this issue, arguing that water is a privilege and treating water as such does not violate basic human rights. Specifically, some take the stance that water is a simple human need, not a right we all hold. One argument that supports this stance is water privatization. Some believe that the government should not hold the responsibility for providing adequate water to its civilians. Because the privatization of water has been successful before, where companies control the supply and accessibility to water, people cannot assume they are entitled to clean water without paying a price. Also, it is arguable that the number of people living in the world today without access to clean drinking water is proof enough that water is a privilege not a right. History has shown that many people do not have access to safe drinking water, and this issue will only become more severe as human population increases alongside demand. In fact, the number of people currently without access to clean drinking water totals the number of people living in the US, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, England, Italy, Spain, Japan, Australia and Norway. Thus, critics argue that water is a privilege, because it is not sustainable to treat water as a right where it will become more difficult to supply as we progress into the future.
For those who see water as a privilege, their idea generally revolves around keeping sustainability of the resource. We see water being abused daily through agriculture and private consumption. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, water is a basic physiological right that is essential for survival. Allowing people access to clean drinking water would not set up a system of abuse, but would rather create a need for stricter guidelines. Fracking for example could become a safer practice after the creation of more regulation, because the risk of water source contamination would decrease as water quality and technology improve. If water is granted to everyone, we would see a growing need for protection. Consequently, the enforcement of stricter guidelines and policies would be needed to ensure the well-being of mankind.
Connor Schroeder and Albert Perez are undergraduates in the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
In my opinion I see water as a basic human right. I did a presentation of water and the global South. Through my research I found out about water.org, a nonprofit organization co-founded by Gary White and Matt Damon (yeah the actor). Their website has plenty of useful information about water and how it is essential for human life. One piece of information that really stuck with me is the amount of hours mothers and daughters work just to go out and fetch potable water. Collectively, women spend 200 million hours collecting water. That is time that can be spent learning, receiving an education, and getting a job. And according to some statistics, educated women usually have fewer children. And fewer children mean less of a strain on natural resources.
sources: water.org, http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/educated-women-having-fewer-children/
Water privatization at a state or federal level makes sense because the water has a legitimate system to go through that makes sure it gets to the people it needs to get to. I like knowing I can turn on the faucet and my water will not come out murky or filled with visible waste. Growing up in San Francisco, I was privileged to some very enjoyable tap water. However, privatization on a private corporation level seems to be the greatest hoax in commodification. Corporations are allowed to fill plastic bottles with fairly unregulated substances they refer to as “pure” and mass produce them. If corporations are allowed to take millions of gallons of water and do what they want with them, then millions of people should be given the same priority and respect to access water as well.
I believe that as every human being has the right to breathe fresh air, they also have the right to drink safe water. Unfortunately, we are living in a nation that despite having access to safe drinking water, we tend to pay extra and use bottled water instead. Moreover, we are so wasteful to the treated water we receive in the tap while millions of people in poor countries don’t even know what the meaning of safe drinking water is. It is interesting that we are so used to having access to clean water and don’t appreciate what we have. Poor nations’ governments should consider ways to treat the water and have it available and accessible to its population. In my opinion they should not suffer just because they are poor.