Water around the World

                           Photo from City of Naperville website

The Earth is made up of 29% land and 71% water. Despite much of the world being water there are people that endure extreme water shortage. Educator Balsher Singh Sidhu mentioned a 2018 TED Talk, “Are we running out of clean water?”, that even though the world is 71% water only 1% of the total is, drinkable. The  majority is in oceans and seas as saltwater, and a small amount is frozen at the poles and glaciers. That leaves just rivers, lakes and aquifers that make up the rest. In the developed nations of the world, including the United States, you just need to turn on a tap and there is running water for most. Even in the southwest desert where rain can be rare there is running water for everyone. Phoenix has an elaborate canal system to transport the water. Due to geographic features or the financial situation this is not possible in many countries. 

 Much of water is used for the growing foods such as grains and vegetables or the raising of cattle and other livestock. The total water consumption by agriculture is a 92%.  or  equivalent of 3.3 billion Olympic sized swimming pools every year according to Sidhu.                       Besides the scarcity of water in some areas of the world and over usage  another issue that can cause a loss of water source is pollution. Contaminates and cross pollinates can get into the water source from different sources rendering it unusable for humanity. Farming chemicals run off cause issues due to algae bloom as seen in Lake Erie which supplies water  major cities such as Toronto, Detroit, and Toledo. A small bloom in 2014 caused the loss of drinking water to half a million people in the Toledo, OH area due to the water intake become contaminated according to the Alliance for the Great Lakes . Water issues affects not just drinking water but local tourism which helps the local economic.
All these "Issues with Water" are preventable. Water should not be a scarce commodity and measures can be put in place to prevent the polluting of our water sources while making it readily available to all citizens of the world, not just the developed nations. 

The City of Naperville must have safeguards and testing in place to assure the quality and if there is a violation the Federal government have penalties in place. Naperville draws its water supply from the City of Chicago Jardine water purification facility.  The Lake Michigan water is processed by the before being dispersed to 140,000 as well as being regularly tested for pollutants such as lead and chromium-6. Naperville had zero violations in the last reporting year and reduced the amount of lead line service

 

References

Lake Erie Algae Blooms: Polluting Our Drinking Water - Alliance for the Great Lakes. (2018). Retrieved from https://greatlakes.org/campaigns/lake-erie-algae-blooms/

Sidhu, B. (2018). Are we running out of clean water? Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/balsher_singh_sidhu_are_we_running_out_of_clean_water

Your Water Service | The City of Naperville. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.naperville.il.us/services/water-utility/your-water-service/