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Globally, 2.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water.
According to the World Health Organization, the biggest risks are from arsenic, fluoride and nitrate, while “microbial contamination with feces poses the greatest risk to drinking-water safety.” A range of microbial contaminants threaten public health including E. coli, fecal coliforms, and helminths, leading to illnesses like diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio. Many of these contaminants are invisible; a common misconception is that ‘clear water is clean water,’ but this is not always true!
Protecting water quality from source to glass requires:
Thankfully, this message is well known. When asked “What is the most important person or thing for keeping water safe in your community?”, the most common answer from 370 people across six countries was, “Protecting source water quality.”
In this exhibit, we share the challenges and successes of people protecting drinking water quality from source to glass. As you explore these stories, you may be interested to think about where your drinking water comes from and how can you ensure that waste doesn’t contaminate the pristine environments that protect water quality for everyone.
Dirty neighbours
When cows, chickens, and goats live amongst the houses, they can easily contaminate drinking water sources.
Udaipuriya, Gujarat, India, December 2022
Microbial contamination from feces is the biggest threat to drinking water and results from improperly separating our wastes from our water. In 2022, 673 million people practiced open defecation, while cohabitation with livestock presents another route of fecal contamination. Other contaminants like fluoride and arsenic occur naturally in the underlying geology, while surface runoff carries pesticides, chemical wastes and fertilizers. Unfortunately, many poor communities lack the resources and support to implement a plan to protect their drinking water from contamination.
End open defecation
Open defecation can easily contaminate drinking water by direct contact or when rainfall runoff carries feces into a river or well. This mural shows how flies landing on feces can transport fecal contamination.
Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, April 2022
Neglect leads to sickness
This well was built 20 years ago, “and we never had any water quality problems,” reports ‘Big Man’ Eugene (left, in dark red). “But now, people get sick from this well.” Beside him, Aziz says that someone got typhoid fever a week prior. The garbage visible around the street shows how a lack of management can lead to unsafe water.
Busia, Uganda, September 2022
Non-piped water networks
20-litre yellow jerry cans are repurposed from vegetable oil transport to long-term household water storage. Women may balance 20 kg on their head, or people use bicycles to carry up to ten jerry cans (200 kg!). Often, the insides of jerry cans are covered with biofilm, and people may use dirty cups or hands to scoop out water.
Busime, Uganda, September 2022
How do we transport and store water?
Whether people collect water from a handpump, water kiosk, or river, everyone without the privilege of a 24-hour piped water connection needs to store—and often also transport—their water. It is important to prevent contamination during storage. Many people use 20-litr ‘jerry cans’ to move water, and owning a bicycle can make tha much easier. Once at home, the water needs to be stored until the next morning, avoiding contamination from dirty hands, the jerry can itself, and foreign debris.
Morning commute
Everyone contributes to managing household water.
Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, April 2022
Peering into the deep
A boy peers into the water tank next to their family kitchen. This tank is filled each morning by the pipeline connected to the river source. However, without a lid, there is a high chance of contamination, like the small worm seen (inset). Knowing this, the family needs to filter their water before drinking.
Chilepani, Nepal, May 2023
Worshipping safe water
In Shivapuri National Park, subterranean water flows are protected in belowground water boxes, and flow out through carved stone spouts. In many cases, these water points act as temples too.
Shivapuri, Nepal, May 2023
How do we protect water quality?
The best way to protect public health is to prevent water getting contaminated, especially protecting the environment and ecosystems that provide clean water. This can be through policy, bylaws, or community agreements to avoid using fungicides, not allowing livestock into the watershed, or installing infrastructure to protect natural water systems. However, in the case that water is contaminated, we need to understand what contaminants are present. Once we have protected the water source and understand what contaminants remain, then a water filter at the community- or household-level can be a last line of defense.
Protect the source
A man shows the stone box protecting the spring at the community’s stone spout water tap.
Patalechap, Nepal, May 2023
Covering what matters
The community voted to install a steel cover on their open well to protect from leaves falling from the overhead tamarind tree.
Udaipuriya, India, November 2022
Mango: delicious fruit and iron sleuth
Man Hari Poudel and Srijana Lamsal look on as less than a minute after adding crushed mango leaves, it is clear that the right glass is iron-contaminated well water, while the left is water treated by the household biosand filter. Understanding what contaminants are present is an important step to managing safe water.
Chitwan, Nepal, May 2023
Treating for safe water
Visual inspection
Gloria inspects a glass of clear water which came from her new biosand filter, visible as the blue box on the left of her kitchen counter. Biosand filters can remove turbidity, colour, and microbial contaminants.
Prima Vera, Colombia, February 2023
Giving water a sunburn
Solar disinfection (SODIS) involves exposing your water to direct sunlight for six hours so that ultraviolet rays can kill bacteria and viruses.
Lwala A, Uganda, September 2022
Checking out the gravel filter
A simple sand and gravel filter can improve water quality, especially during the rainy season.
Satakhani, Nepal, May 2023
A filter for the children
Jemtibai sits beside her clay pot filter with activated alumina to remove fluoride from their drinking water. Together with nutritional supplements, all three of their children were cured of the crippling disease fluorosis, and can now run with the other kids.
Jashoda Khumji, Madhya Pradesh, India, November 2022
Source to Glass shares the challenges and successes of people protecting drinking water quality from source to glass. No matter where you are in the world, ensure that waste doesn’t contaminate the pristine environments that protect water quality for everyone.