Local Nonprofit Battles International Water Crisis

Written By Brittany Panko

Photo provided by Water4

The average household uses about 80-100 gallons of water a day. Every year, the United States alone wasted seven billion gallons of water. If you leave the water running while brushing your teeth, you waste about five gallons of water each time. That is 3,650 gallons of water a year if you brush your teeth twice a day. The highest use of water is flushing a toilet and after that taking a bath or shower.

Many of us find ourselves doing these things daily without even thinking about it, but for many, water is extremely hard to come by.

·      Eight hundred children under five years old die every day from diarrhea due to lack of safe water, sanitation and basic hygiene.

·      Half of the world’s hospital beds are filled with people suffering from water-related disease.

·      Ten percent of the global disease burden could be reduced through improved water supply.

·      In countries where water must be carried to the home from outside, the average weight of water a woman carries on her head is 44 pounds.

·      The average walk to get water a day is 3.75 miles

·      443 million school days are lost a year due to water-related illness.

These are statistics Water4 is trying to reduce through their work in developing countries that are affected by the water crisis. According to Water4, “Our mission lives at the crossroads of our heart and our actions, of our desire to share our faith, and our passion to solve the world water crisis.”       

Each year the global water crisis claims 3.4 million lives and Water4 strives to reduce that number. Water4 is making a change by helping communities help themselves through training, equipping with necessary tools and supporting their own desire to thrive. Through this process, communities can support themselves, improve their health and increase attendance at schools. It gives men the opportunity to work, women the freedom to care for their children and it gives children the chance at a healthy life and the physical ability to attend to school.

The goal for Water4 is complete access to clean water for all. Not everyone has the opportunity to travel to one of these countries and physically help, but there are other opportunities to support this cause. You can start a fundraiser or contribute to a fundraiser or go to their website to learn more about the cause, what they do and who they are. You can get involved individually, with a church, with your company or you can attend various annual events like the Water4 Transformation Gala. No matter how you choose to get involved, anything helps in the fight to end the water crisis.

Photos provided by Water4