Your mom asks you to get her a glass of water. You walk over to the tap, open it and fill the glass. As easy as that!
Have you ever thought about it that many people do not get their water from a tap? Not all houses have running water.
Then where do they get water to drink and use to cook and do their dishes and laundry?
Some people have to walk very far every day to the closest spring or stream or river. They take a bucket and scoop up some water and then walk all the way back to their houses again.
A spring is a place where water comes out of the earth and a river is a natural channel which is filled with water after it rains and flows over land.
After it rained, some water soak into the ground. People can dig wells or they can drill a hole to make a borehole from where they can also get their water.
A lot of places where people live are not close to a river and a water truck will deliver water to the community.
Drinking clean water
We must be very careful of what water we drink. Some water contains germs that can make you very sick. If you want to drink water from a stream or a river it is a good idea to boil the water first and let it cool down before you drink it.
- Activity - you are going to make your own water purifier. Watch the video and then make your own
If we drink water from a tap the water has been cleaned at a water purification plant. From here the water is stored in dams and resevoirs and then goes through underground pipes to our houses where you will get it if you open the tap.
Conserving water
It is very important that we conserve water (look after and protect it). If it does not rain enough in an area, there will be a drought and people and animals will not have enough water to drink.
All living things need water, otherwise they will die.
How can you make sure you do not waste water?
- Read the following ideas on how you can save water and see if you can add a few of your own. (1 gallon = 3.8 liter)
Illnesses from drinking dirty water
A lot of people use the rivers not only to get water to drink, but they will also to their laundry, swim and play in it and even use the river as a toilet!!!
You can get very sick from drinking infected water. A few illnesses are
- cholera
- Guinea worm disease
- Typhoid
- Dysentery
- Choose any one of these illnesses that you can get from drinking contaminated (dirty) water and do some extra research on it.
