Research Essay

10/24/16
Andrea Horn
The Water Crisis:
The Impact and Effects on Children
Andrea Horn
Ottawa University

Research Essay
10/24/16
Andrea Horn
Abstract
The Water Crisis is a growing issue, affecting billions worldwide. This not only includes water
shortage, but lack of clean, potable water and improper sanitation for persons in these areas,
which mainly include third-world, developing countries. Children are affected by this problem in
many ways. Diseases are easier to contract and more difficult to eradicate without proper
sanitation, and dehydrated and malnourished bodies have a more difficult time fighting sickness.
Another problem is that many developing countries primarily practice open defecation and/or
have to use public facilities. Both options are unsanitary and dangerous; many girls are attacked
or assaulted when searching for a place for relief. Sanitation also affects education, as most
schools dont have the facilities for privacy or for proper washing up. Many girls stop going
during the days they are menstruating, and often stop going to school all together after puberty.
Children are also usually the ones tasked to collect water for their family. Most water sources are
a bit of a walk at minimum, and this can cause children to have tardiness and absences from
school. Many organizations are working to help reverse this problem by trying to find solutions
to bring clean water to all places and improving sanitation. UNICEF and WHO have been
working together on all aspects of the water crisis. There are also smaller organizations such as
The Water Project, who focus on raising funds and building pumps, wells, and other water
projects in needed communities.

Research Essay
10/24/16
Andrea Horn
Introduction

Water is a necessary commodity for human survival. However, there are millions of
people globally who do not have enough clean water for survival, or quality sanitation.
According to WHO and UNICEF (2015), in 2015 663 million people still lack improved
drinking water sources and 2.4 billion people still lack improved sanitation facilities (p. 4-5).
This issue is referred to as the water crisis, water scarcity and/or sanitation crisis (water and
sanitation issues go together). In this paper the author will discuss whether or not children are
negatively impacted by the water crisis, and if so, in what ways.

The Water Crisis

The water crisis hits hardest the people living in third world or undeveloped countries.
This includes those in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South-America. Countries in which less than
50% of the population uses improved drinking water sources are all located in sub-Saharan
Africa and Oceania (UNICEF, WHO, 2015, p. 6). According to the UNICEF and WHO Joint
Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation, an improved drinking-water
source is one that, by the nature of its construction and when properly used, adequately protects
the source from outside contamination, particularly faecal matter. An improved sanitation
facility is one that hygienically separates human excreta from human contact (UNICEF, WHO,
2015). Of course, this issue affects all people living in these areas, but more so for those who are
very poor, and especially women and children.

Research Essay
10/24/16
Andrea Horn
Childrens Health

Diseases contracted due to unclean water and improper sanitation sources is the leading
issue concerning children. At least 1.8 million children under 5 years old die every year from
water related disease, [thats] one every 20 seconds (Corcoran, Nellemann, Baker, Box, Osborn,
Savelli, 2010). Infectious diseases, particularly diarrhea, followed by malaria, constitute the
majority of water-related child deaths in the developing world (Pink, 2012, p. 6). Living in a
developed country with proper sanitation and potable water, one would not think of diarrhea as
being a deadly illness. But in places that do not have either, it can be very hard to cure. The
World Health Organization (WHO) states:

Diarrhoea is usually a symptom of an infection in the intestinal tract, which can

be caused by a variety of bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms. Infection is
spread through contaminated food or drinking-water, or from person-to-person as
a result of poor hygiene (2013).

Soil-transmitted helminths and schistosoma mansoni are an example of parasitic

organisms. Soil-transmitted helminths and s. mansoni are parasitic worms that reside in
contaminated water or soil. When contaminated persons defecate in the open and/or near a water
source, the soil and water become contaminated, and others using the water or even eating
produce that was not cleaned properly can become infected (CDC, 2012, 2013). A study was

Research Essay
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Andrea Horn
conducted to determine soil-transmitted helminths and schistosoma mansoni infections among
school children innorthwest Ethiopia (Alemu, Atnafu, Addis, Shiferaw, Teklu, Mathewos,
Birhan, Gebretsadik & Gelaw, 2011). This study found that about 80% of the participants were
infected with some kind of parasitic organism (Alemu et al., 2011).
Improving sanitation facilities could greatly decrease the occurrence of disease among
children in these areas. Better water, sanitation and hygiene could prevent the deaths of 361,000
children aged under 5 each yearthe countries where open defecation is most widespread have
the highest number of deaths of under-5s (WHO, 2015). Open defecation (OD) is defined as
defecation in the fields, bushes, and bodies of water or other open spaces, and as of 2014, 1
billion people practice open defecation worldwide (Njuguna, 2016, UNWater, 2014). A study
conducted determining the effect of eliminating OD and diarrheal morbidity in several Kenyan
villages that had integrated and maintained improved sanitation facilities, found that diarrhea
related mortality in children under 5 years was significantly lower (Njugua, 2016).

Daily Life

Open defecation has other consequences other than the spreading of diseases. For women
and girls, it can be dangerous and even life-threatening. 1 in 3 women worldwide risk shame,
disease, harassment and even attack because they have nowhere safe to go to the toilet (wateraid,
2013). In a study done by Desai, Mcfarlane and Graham on the Politics of OD, the researchers
spoke with people living in an area in Mumbai. This area had some public toilets but many
would still go in a field or the garbage dump when the toilets had long lines or were too dirty to

Research Essay
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Andrea Horn
use. There werecases of women being harassed when they went to the garbage dump. Some
recounted instances of young girls being raped. Even if women went together, men would still
verbally harass or make obscene gestures, so relieving oneself is never without at least the worry
of something happening (Desai, et al., 2015). It is estimated that women and girls spend 97
billion hours each year by looking for a place to urinate or defecate, because they dont have a
toilet (Wateraid, 2013).
Another study in an Indian village found similar risks, and goes on to discuss menstrual
hygiene being compromised, mainly due to daily exposure of fecal contents and a general lack of
hygiene which multiplied their risk to infections and consequent sickness (Narang, 2014).
This study also discusses children (especially girls) needing to help with water collection.
For this, children often dropped out from school to help their mothers with this daily chore, so
that fewer trips are made to other villages (Narang, 2014). According to Water-aid America,
every year women spend 40 billion hours collecting water, and on average walk six miles
roundtrip while carrying an average of 40 pounds (Wateraid, 2013).

Education

As one can imagine, the issues already discussed affect childrens educations. As
mentioned, monthly menstruation for the female population is very difficult without
proper sanitation and hygiene. Menstruation impacts on bodily discomfort in class,
causes anxiety, affects concentration in class and causes girls to miss classes (Pearson &

Research Essay
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Andrea Horn
Mcphedran, 2008). A report from UNICEF (2012) entitled WASH in Schools Empowers
Girls Education explains:
The findings also reveal that girls expend considerable energy trying to keep their
menses a secret, given that menstruation remains taboo in Rwanda in everyday
conversation. This poses particular challenges in schools where the infrastructure
does not provide privacy. Most toilet facilities in Rwandan primary schools are
not equipped with doors that lock from the inside. Some schools have a separate
bathing room, but girls must request a key from a teacher to access it. Such
requests may signal to other students that a particular girl has her menses, thus
exposing her to embarrassment and potential ridicule.

As earlier mentioned, girls often are late or miss school because they are relied upon to
collect water for the family. According to UNICEF, a study in Tanzania showed a 12% increase
in school attendance when water was available within 15 minutes compared to more than half an
hour (n.d.). Simply providing a reliable, clean water source and proper bathroom facilities at
schools would greatly increase children and especially pubescent girls quality of education and
life.
Looking to the Future

While the numbers concerning how many people are without enough clean water and
proper sanitation are overwhelming, organizations and researchers are working to provide for
people now and in the future. One study found that lower income households in urban India that

Research Essay
10/24/16
Andrea Horn
had a continuous water supply (as opposed to those with intermittent water supply) was
associated with lower prevalence of dysentery in childrenand lower typhoid fever incidence
(Arnold, Burt, Colford Jr, Ercumen, Kumpel, Nelson & Ray, 2015). So providing households or
all communities with several continuous water supply alone will help with disease.
Organizations such as WHO and UNICEF were cited in this research, and one major
work both organizations were involved in was the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Goal
7, to ensure environmental sustainability, included a target that challenged the global community
to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and
basic sanitation (WHO, UNICEF, 2015). The report gives data beginning in 1990 and ending in
2015, a 25-year comparison of the work that has been done. In 1990, 76% of the population used
improved drinking water sources and 54% used improved sanitation facilities, and in 2015 the
numbers are up to 91% and 68%, respectively (WHO, UNICEF, 2015). There is still a long way
to go, but these numbers are moving in the right direction.
Another example of an organization working to help is The Water Project. This
organization helps fund, build, and maintain water projects in water scarce areas. Water projects
include: drilled wells, sand dams, rainwater catchment, hygiene & sanitation, and spring
protection (The Water Project, 2016). The Water Project works with partners and accepts
donations; those donating can specify where their donation goes, and gets updates as the project
is on-going and then completed. There are many organizations like these working all over the
world to provide improved water and sanitation and education to people in these areas and in
areas that could help monetarily or with getting into the field to do the work.
Conclusion

Research Essay
10/24/16
Andrea Horn
Children are the most definitely negatively affected by the water crisis; from infancy they
are exposed to diseases and have a high-chance of dying from diarrhea which is treatable given
the right amenities. Sanitation plays a large role here, where open defecation is a common
occurrence and persons already infected relieve themselves and the soil and water become
contaminated, making those using those water sources or soil sources for food likely to become
infected as well. Women and girls face the high possibility of harassment or attack where there
are public bathrooms or where they have to use OD. School is difficult for children and girls
especially, without private and proper bathroom facilities. Many children also are late or miss
school because they are collecting water for their families.
Luckily there are many organizations all over the world working to improve life for all
people living in these conditions. UNICEF and WHO are examples of global organizations that
not only are doing the work to improve situations they are also educating and getting more and
more people involved. Others, like The Water Project, focus on building and maintaining water
projects in water scarce areas. With the proper planning and team-work we can help those in
need now and work to reverse this issue as much as possible for our future generations.

References

Research Essay
10/24/16
Andrea Horn
Alemu, A., Atnafu A., Addis, Z., Shiferaw, Y., Teklu, T., Mathewos, B.,Gelaw, B. (2011). Soil
transmitted helminths and schistosoma mansoni infections among school children in
Zarima Town, Northwest Ethiopia. HMC Infectious Diseases, 11 (1), Academic Search
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Arnold, B., Burt, Z., Colford Jr, J., Ercumen, A., Kumpel E., Nelson, K., & Ray, I. (2015).
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Narang, Bindiya. (2014). Self-perceived well-being and quality of life of people in a water scarce
village in India. Rajahiri Journal of Social Development. 6(2), 26-34.

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Njuguna, J. (2016). Effect of eliminating open defecation on diarrhoeal morbidity: an ecological
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Andrea Horn
United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund, World Health Organization. (2015b).
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