September 9th-18th marks World water monitoring day. This day highlights the need to test and maintain good quality water supplies and alert us to problems in drinking water standard.
Following from our articles on plastic it is important to emphasis how our everyday use of toxic materials are damaging water quality. Plastics seep into our water releasing toxins and creating micro plastics, ultimately harming human and marine health, OrbMedia (2017) found 4.34 microplastics per litre of water.
We use water for everything and considering we need materials to contain 40-60% water to sufficiently compost it is a pressing issue. With an expected 1/3rd increase in water demand and only 1% of the world supply accessible to us, water supply will become a serious issue to human life by 2050 (Water Pollution: Everything You Need to Know, 2021).
Water monitoring is conducted by collecting samples of water for laboratory analysis. It is examined for some specific characteristics such as physical, chemical and biological. This data is then logged for its specific set of time. It can be used to understand what underlying causes may be affecting the quality and if these can be adjusted.
As food and water go hand in hand this issue needs to be addressed to not only preserve water quality but also our food crops. As the majority of our water reserves have already been depleted and a decrease in agriculture production we need to act now due to the acceleration in population and demand.
Climate change also has a negative impact on our water as extreme weather becomes more prominent. It is even more important to produce and dispose of food sustainability due to the growing instability of production.
The world bank (2016) estimate 1.6 billion people are already living in countries with water instability. This is particularly evident in areas facing extreme weather events or climates, for example intense draughts that have bought about famine and hurricanes that can destroy crops in seconds.
The consequence of these water and food shortages are that they can exacerbate social tensions and often lead to conflict such as in the People of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Yemen. This is because access to these necessities have become politicised and inaccessible to those who need them most (Centre for American Progress, 2017).
The UN have recommended some measures to intervene in this crisis the best we can, these include: encouraging management and protection of water sources, promoting shared waters, strengthening governance and increasing sustainable access to hygienic water.
Whilst this is a complex issue, the solution for you is simple: remember to bring your sustainable bottle, have showers not baths, turn off the tap and reserve hose pipes for agricultural workers.