In fifth grade, I completed a Capstone Project which is a presentation where you share something that you are passionate about so that you enjoy doing it and hopefully continue the use of it in the future. This project was the spark in my life which let me carry on my passion of Water Conservation throughout my life.
We can’t ignore what we cannot survive without — just like we don’t ignore our health. The human body is comprised of 60-70% water by weight. Water is paradoxically a ubiquitous rarity! – only 0.01% of Earth’s water is surface water that humans can use. My favorite poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel T. Coleridge, warns us, “Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink,” which signifies how a universal resource is not of potable quality.
Clean water has become more expensive than gasoline today in the U.S. – it can drive home prices, influence economics, and create geopolitical conflicts. Of the ~800 million people who do not have access to potable water worldwide, 40% live in Sub-Saharan Africa, a place where two-thirds of the population uses surface water to drink. It is unfortunate that 1 in 9 people worldwide doesn’t have access to clean drinking water and that every 2 minutes, a child dies because of unclean water or poor sanitation. Some experts believe that World War III may get fought over access to clean water resources.
The water crisis is not just a problem in developing countries or in Africa. The droughts in California, Colorado, and the Flint-Michigan water crisis have taught us that we shouldn’t take water for granted. According to U.S. Drought Monitor, extreme droughts have spread throughout the Southwest, and reservoir storage levels are below average in most of the Western States.
The US is the second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide globally after China, producing 5.4 billion tons, or 14% of the world’s CO2 emissions per year. Also, the US is the second-largest user of water in the world after China, consuming 216 trillion gallons of water a year; the country with the most water used per capita in the world.
My Capstone Project in 5th grade (2017-2018) reviews water treatment in developing countries.
