Water is an essential part of the human experience. We are made of water. We use water to drink. We use water to clean. We use water to cook. We use water to bathe. In fact, the origins of life on earth stem from the water itself. Water is essential for life on earth, however, it is being jeopardized by the huge amounts of pollution that humans are creating. Companies and industries are particularly bad for producing waste that ends up in our water. This is a serious threat to human health. Unbelievably “Unsafe water kills more people each year than war and all other forms of violence combined” (Denchak). While citizens of developed countries may not think twice about the water that they drink, and how they get it, citizens of developing countries are still at risk of being poisoned by unhealthy water. Many people believe that water is a basic human right. In my opinion, the fact that Americans use 5 times more than the global average is pretty sad. Access to water is a human rights issue as well. Another huge problem is that the vast majority of water on earth is not drinkable. Most of the water on earth is saltwater that cannot be used as a drinking source for humans and  “Less than 1 percent of the earth’s fresh water is actually accessible to us”. This means that the amount of freshwater that we have as a resource for the almost 8 billion people here on earth is very limited. While the human population continues to grow, eventually it will get to the point where there simply is not enough water for everyone on earth. This is a very depressing thought to me. I believe that developed counties have a responsibility to help provide developing countries with access to water. If the United States wants to be a great country, it must act like one.

Works Cited:

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/water-pollution-everything-you-need-know