Retap 2022

The earth’s surface is covered with 71% water. Only a small part of this is drinkable since most of the water on the planet is salt water. Of the 3% being fresh water, only 1% is available to us as drinking water. Due to this, water is a highly limited resource in many places around the world. In the western world, safe and clean drinking water is often taken for granted. Everyday we wake up and no matter what we do, water is usually there for us, from taking a shower to brewing our morning coffee. But it has not always been this way. Only a couple of generations ago we struggled with diseases and poverty, two circumstances closely connected to limited access to clean drinking water. Throughout history, human beings have taken extensive measures to produce clean drinking water and such efforts date back to before we discovered how to make fire. Water treatment originally focused on improving the aesthetic qualities of drinking water. Methods to improve the taste and odour of drinking water are recorded from as early as 4,000 B.C. Throughout the centuries, new technologies for purifying water have been developed. Even though filtration was a fairly effective treatment method, it was not until chlorine and ozone were introduced into water as disinfectants that waterborne diseases were significantly reduced. For thousands of years we as humans have developed and improved the quality and accessibility of drinking water, but we are not done yet. Still millions of people around the world are without or have very limited access to clean drinking water. Try to think of this from time to time when pouring yourself a glass of water from the tap and remember how lucky you are. Access to clean drinking water is a basic human right; let us all help make this a reality around the world. a basic human right Access to safe drinking water 17 16