I believe that everyone should have the right to have access to sufficient, clean water. Sadly, this is not currently the case - and this is not limited to developing countries. Many large cities will soon experience "Day 0", meaning they will have to shut off the water supply since there is simply not enough.
I envision a world in which water is valued by everyone and they are mindful of their water use. I know that many people use water and do not think twice about it because they think it is plentiful and cannot even imagine it ever running out. It is important to educate these people and spread the word. This has the potential to have powerful impacts, like the impacts seen in Cape Town - where "Day 0" was postponed because citizens started using water more conservatively.
I think an intervention that has the power to initiate this change is increasing the price of water. This operation would involve many parties such as utility companies and governments to pass these policies. Understandably, this may not be fair or feasible to groups that are unable to afford this price increase. Ways to work around this could be to have a threshold, after which the price is higher. Or, prices adjusted based on household income. Not only will this encourage conservative water use, but it will also raise awareness about this issue - because there IS a water crisis and many people are not aware! Water has no substitute and it is time we start giving it the value it deserves.
Hi Navkiran,
Thanks for your thoughtful post. I will be honest in that prior to this, I was one of the many people who did not think twice about my water usage. I completely agree that in educating people and spreading the word, it will have a huge impact (like it did for me), just as it was seen in Cape Town and Day Zero being postponed. I also agree that we should be increasing the price of water, and I liked the workarounds you suggested for people of lower socio-economic status who may be impacted more greatly by this kind of implementation.
I agree that not many people understand that fresh water is not really a renewing resource, in places like Mexico where water use for agriculture is high, if the aquifers go dry they don't have other options. I think that realistically water conservation methods will only start to happen in places where the problem is being seen (like Cape Town), but I hope that other areas start to take pro-active measures to ensure we don't reach a danger point.
I also agree with increasing the price of water. Of course there are people who don't agree, but the price could be increased just enough so that everyone can still afford it.
I really like the idea of increasing water prices based on household income. I think this takes into consideration of the lower class and the middle class.