The Dirt on Our Water Quality: Effects on Health & Economy
Inspired by our experience with the Orange County Coastkeeper
Around the world, over 2 billion people lack access to clean, fresh water, making water insecurity one of the world’s leading problems. In 2025, two-thirds of the population may face water shortages, meaning that more issues, such as food insecurity, health threats, and economic decline, will arise.
Climate change and droughts are not the only contributing factors to this issue. According to Seyma Bayram from NPR news, “the aging infrastructure and years of mismanaging water” are also to blame. The Environmental Protection Agency regulates public water in the US but it can quickly get unknowingly contaminated by harmful bacteria and chemicals in rivers, lakes, and stormwater. Chemicals can also travel from fertilizers or pesticides, sewer overflows, problems in water distribution systems, and industrial animal farms, to name a few. Some common germs that contaminate tap water are Salmonella, Hepatitis A, and Norovirus, while examples of chemicals include arsenic, copper, and lead.
Data from WASH Unicef
Low-middle income countries in the African region, such as Ethiopia and Papua New Guinea, lack access to clean water in over half of their populations. Data from JMP Unicef shows that safely managed drinking water in Ethiopia is at 13.3% coverage as of 2022, whereas the United States is at 97.5% during the same time. Around 7 million Americans contract diseases from unclean water. However, the water quality is significantly better than most other countries compared to Ethiopia, where harrowing numbers of 60-80% of their population receive health problems due to unsafe water supply, not to mention the death of more than 25,000 children. Not only is the water polluted by environmental factors such as fecal contamination, but the rapid urbanization rate and the high expenses of providing clean water could grow to more than a hundred billion dollars a year. People “spend hours… waiting in long lines at community water kiosks or walking to distant sources like rivers and ponds to find [water]” according to water.org, “This is time spent, and income not earned. An estimated $260 billion is lost each year globally,” significantly affecting the worldwide economic crisis.
The World Bank estimates the value of the global food system at roughly $8 trillion, or 10 percent of the $80 trillion global economy. But, the negative impacts of food safety tampered by water quality, food loss, and greenhouse emissions add up to $6 trillion in costs which are equivalent to over 7 percent of current global economic output each year, “a bill that is simply too high for $8 trillion worth of food,” says Director of Agriculture Global Practice at the World Bank Martien Van Nieuwkoop. Everyone pays for these public health costs through increased taxes, diet-related diseases, and food insecurity. Water sources directly correlate to food production systems, thus putting poorly treated wastewater into crops, leaving toxic substances in our food, and affecting human health. Water is also “discharged from food system activities affecting the water runoff,” states Frontiers in Water, concluding that “up to 12 different pesticides [are] detected at [drinking water concentrations].”
Water quality is a global issue but viable solutions are not unobtainable. Even just learning about local water sources and disposing of hazardous waste properly can improve our water. On a larger scale, limiting the use of pesticides or fertilizers that contain harmful chemicals can help lower the contamination rates of runoff water and working with water utilities to identify sources of pollution will make an even more substantial impact. Many nonprofits like the Orange County Coastkeeper are striving towards cleaner water along with larger companies using modern technology and innovation. The quality of water is a worldwide issue that extends past our community and would benefit greatly from volunteers to take action and work toward resolving the root of the problem.