We all know this, in theory. But in practice, do we treat water with the respect it deserves? After all...we are mostly water. Honestly, I have taken water for granted so much in my life. Growing up in the Great Lakes Basin, before I began my travels abroad, I took water for Granted. I was used to seeing freshwater lakes that looked like oceans, accustomed to water magically appearing, clean for the drinking, out of a sparkly metal faucet, and never thought twice about putting my human waste in fresh drinking water flushing it to an unknown place.
And then, I began to travel. And I learn and see how fresh water is valued or not valued in other countries. How in most places, water does not appear from a tap ready to drink, and often doesn't even appear from a tap. In the place where I am at the moment, Ecuador, water concerns are far more talked about, far more important, and far more controlled by the people.
I recently stayed for 3 weeks in a valley which at moments is lush green, at other moments dry and de-forested to make room for grazing cows. There is an abundance of naturally flowing rivers, where you can comfortably dunk yourself in the frigid and fresh mountain fed waters, invigorating your every cell. Because there is less development in the mountains near the Vilcabamba Valley, and the Podocarpus National Park is near by, the headwaters of local rivers are clean - they haven't yet had an opportunity to be tainted by human impacts.
The people in this valley are hyper aware of their water. This is largely because the water systems that they have running to their homes, is entirely owned by a collective community co-op. This model intrigues me, because all of the members have a strong stake in how their system is designed, how the water is treated (or not treated) and they also assume the responsibility when water lines are broken (as nearly all the lines are above ground and there are also some aerial runs). The water that I was drinking and bathing in while I was at my friends farm in Vilcabamba was a part of this collective system. This system serves both drinking water (filtered by a physical filtration system only, meaning that no chemicals like fluoride or chlorine are added to the water) and agricultural irrigation water (which is more turbid, filled with fine particulate), gets water to about 300 people. Every few months there are community meetings, where members must attend, otherwise are fined. They have one employee who walks the 11km stretch of pipeline, to ensure that it is in fine shape. Often, when it rains heavily, landslides are common, and water lines can get broken. In Ecuador, repairing these line breaks take time. Sometimes, this can mean days, or weeks without water, while the one employee along with other volunteers, hike out to the location of the break, with tools and repair materials in tow, to fix the stretch of pipe that holds life for so many.
I feel like the people on this collective water system are more aware of their life-need for water. More aware about how much they use, because, sometimes for weeks, they have no water but the 1000 liters in their cistern (if they even have a cistern). Otherwise it's a hike to the river and a potential sick stomach. I really believe that (generally-but not for all) there is a disconnect in Canada and the United States. We tend not to have any concept of what it takes to get water clean to us, think nothing of putting all sorts of weird wastes in our water, and further, have no control over what chemicals local governments choose to 'treat' our drinking water with.
When I'm in travel mode, carrying my trusty UV filter with me, I am so much more mindful of the water I consumer and the way it makes me feel.
Today, when you sip that sip of fresh water, no matter if you are Ecuador, in Canada, in a remote African village, or the Cambodian countryside, take a moment to be grateful for it, and consider ways that you too, can be conscious of the water you use, consume, pollute, play in, and ultimately, are composed of.
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