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Keep Our Water Clean

Only three percent of the earth's fresh water supply is clean enough to drink. When I first read this statistic, I was certain it must be a typographical error. A percentage so low would be unthinkable. And so I checked my statistics in the hopes of finding a more palatable figure. The results of my research did not, however, allay my doubts. The percentage indicated is true, our planet's water is 97 percent unfit for human consumption.

By all accounts, the reasons for this deplorable state are multifold. Pollution certainly sullies things wantonly; the air, the soil, even the great artistic contributions of the ancient Greeks and Romans are defaced by contaminants in the air and rain. Because the word pollution embraces so many types of impurities, one must make various distinctions, measuring its impact by source, type, degree and durations spectrum that spans from a piece of litter floating ashore an ocean beach to an unspent radioactive rod contaminating ground water. That we are focusing on water herein should not allow us to ignore pollution's various other earthly targets mentioned above, since by its very nature, pollution easily moves from one domain to another, often imperceptibly.

The focus on water is particularly anthropocentric, given the fact that humans are physiologically composed in large part of water. But then, so are most life forms. Water lies at the core of biology, it is the stuff in which the stuff of life first interacts. In fact, from a purely compositional standpoint, a human being, however solid he/she may appear, has more in common with the Pacific Ocean than, say, the Rocky Mountains. What nonsense, you might object; but consider the comparison for the point it attempts to underscore. We are wetter than we are dry and though we may commonly believe that we emerged from clay, it's well to remember that clay is supple and moist, not dry in the least, and if dry, completely unworkable.

This being the fact, like any self respecting entity in the universe, it behooves us to preserve our most indispensable ingredient in pristine form. That we choose not to betrays both a lack of awareness of basic biology and a sublimely paradoxical arrogance that is philosophically enigmatic. But let's stick to the facts at hand and not delve too deeply into philosophy. For it seems increasingly clear that those most interested and driven by philosophy are the philosophers themselves. And they always have enough fresh water for tea. The rest of the planet's people are concerned with sheer survival.

Consider a thirsty soul, traversing a desert, come upon an oasis. He falls to his knees and sucks up the water desperately, gratefully. Nothing in the world could please him more, neither a treasure of gold nor a platter of the finest foods. For he drinks not water-no, he drinks life's blood, without which he is incapable of enduring, short of which his movement slows and his higher thoughts cease. Thus is described the absence of fresh water.

If put in a similar position, would you drink from this source? You might be overly familiar with the number of man made and biological contaminants in what appears to be fresh water. You might choose to boil it first. But your knowledge of science would challenge your confidence in the liquid, even after boiling. Might there be metals, in trace amounts, or some degree of radioactivity?

Your knowledge might protect you from the ill effects of impotable water. Despite your thirst, you might withstand a few more parched miles before settling down to a pure glass of bottled water, purchased for the price of $3.50 a liter at your favorite restaurant. What you were doing in the desert and how you got into the restaurant are mere trifles. You're well on your way to hydration now.

But what protects those less knowledgeable, or those less fortunate who share the same biology? What protects a rural child from the creek that runs through his backyard? What protects the pregnant woman from the filth that spouts from rusty pipes?

The condition of the water we lucky few drink can be controlled to a point. But the condition of the earth's water is subject to little control and is scarcely plentiful enough to quench a planet's thirst. All the bottled water in the world doesn't amount to a drop in the desert and of the natural water remaining, no more the three percent is potable. Which means, to reiterate, 97 percent is suspect in some way.

And so, our water is in dire straits. And if in defense, some people argue that things were far worse during the industrial revolution or the years of the Black Plague, they forget the fact that during those desperate times science and society didn't know a sliver of what we know today about ecology and hadn't a hundredth the tools at their disposal to ameliorate matters. That's the real tragedy of our contemporary plight.

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