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Should this worry me?

I'm only through 2/8; I started 3/8 but had to stop because it's so upsetting. This inability to get clean water is frightening. I hadn't realized it was so bad in other parts of the world. I certainly didn't realize it was a problem in the U.S. as well.

I'll keep watching a bit at a time and see where they go from here. Maybe they'll offer some ideas about solutions.
 
Wow wow wow...

I'm half way through this documentary and it has me freaked out.

This is some scary stuff, what the hell is going on ? Are the claims in this film substantiated ? Is this what's really happening worldwide ?

And more importantly... Why isn't this front page news ?

Damn good question OP:
Should this worry us ?!

:eek:
 
The series of videos is quite long; here's my brief summary of some of the film's main points and messages, as I understood them. Perhaps it will be of benefit to some readers. (You can always watch the videos to get the message non-reinterpreted and in context.)

1/8:
Water is important. Yet, we use a lot of chemicals in our agriculture and industry and these end up in the water and cause harm to people and life in general.

2/8:
Big companies are taking control of the water industry over the world. But it causes shortage of useable water. Poor people can't afford expensive water supplied by these companies, so they get dirty water instead and get sick.

3/8:
The goal of the big companies is not to spend money to provide clean water for poor people who need it, but to make profit. It's expensive to clean water centrally and distribute it. Some people in India came up with a system of disinfecting water locally with UV radiation that produces affordable drinking water.

4/8:
There's a lot of money in the water industry. People spend a lot of money on bottled water that is generally not better than tap water but greatly overpriced, instead of spending that money on providing water for poor people who need it. But big companies are taking over water control.

5/8:
Greedy companies make money charging people too much for water. Water dams are important contributors to anthropogenic climate change. Building dams displaces many people. Some people in India built a successful community-based water system.

6/8:
Nestle Corporation began to pump stream water in Michigan to bottle and sell, disrupting local water resources without contributing to the community. Local people battled the corporation in court, but couldn't get them to stop pumping the water.

7/8:
Coca-cola was disrupting water in India and local people succeeded in shutting down the bottling plant. Water privatization is a problem and a threat. People all over the world are fighting to save the world's water. Right to water should be added to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

8/8:
There are various things that can/should be done.

So much for a brief summary of the film's points.


As for my own opinion on the issue:
Should this worry you? I don't know. I do expect clean water to gradually get more scarce, more expensive and more difficult to get. Either people will overcome the problems with technology, or they won't and the growth of our civilization will be limited.

In any case, merely worrying won't accomplish anything. If you're concerned about these things, you should get more educated about them. Get some books, visit a local water supply facility, learn more about water industry in your country. At least you'll be able to make better informed decisions then.
 
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Sounds like the whole thing has a very Socialistic/Anti-Capitalist Bias throughout.

.....RVM45 :cool::eek::cool:
 
I know there is at least one book out currently on the impending problems with water supply in many places of the world, and the possibility of "water wars" erupting.
I believe the already-troubled area of the Middle East is prime for this sort of thing.
 
This is one more reason to drink tap water, if the cost and plastic by-product is not enough already.

Also, I get much of what I drink in concentrated form, like powdered drinks and coffee beans.

It sounds like the more we use our tap for our water supply, the more we make available for others to do the same.
 
Here in Suffolk County, NY, bottled water is 1000 times more expensive than tap water, as is often of lower quality. http://www.longislandnn.org/energy/bottle-less.htm
"Long Island has high-quality, regularly tested, municipal tap water, that meets more stringent standards than bottled water, and costs a fraction of what bottled water does."
 
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This movie definititely has me concerned. The stuff about millions of people being displaced by damming and all those kids getting sick from having to drink bad water, really got to me.

I'll read up on this issue some more, but its good to hear what the folks here think.
 
waterbutts anyone? Add your own water filter system (a bunch of rocks/aggregate), this is just in case the paranoia really eats at you.
 
Water quality is a huge issue around the world, most people have to walk to draw their water from an open source.

In many large urban area there is piped water but it is not potable from the tap, you have to boil it.

There was discussion of low tech filtering and UV irradiation a couple of years ago, but a huge problem for many urban areas is pollution by chemicals and sewage.
 
Sounds like the whole thing has a very Socialistic/Anti-Capitalist Bias throughout.

.....RVM45 :cool::eek::cool:

Oh noes! Not socialism!
Don't people realize that if they can't afford clean water that they don't deserve to have it? Those people should all get better jobs!
 
My buddy just got back from Iraq and was telling me that in his area the women walk about 8 miles to get water while the men sit around and talk lol
 
I find documentary films to be one of the worst sources of information.

Access to clean drinking water is a problem in many places, but its not the fault of evil corporations.
 
Then again, drinking quality water doesn't happen by itself.

I think that's the main issue. I also agree with Thunderchunky. Good drinking water isn't necessarily easy to come by depending on where one lives. To filter, purify and deliver clean, safe drinking water to everyone is a huge undertaking that requires a significant *financial investment*. It might be "better" if local, regional and national governments made that investment directly, but in many cases that is not happening. In those cases private companies are slowly stepping in to fill in the gaps. Why blame corporations for investing capital and doing what local and regional governments have been unwilling to do for their own people?
 
pffft learn from the ancients, drinking water not reliable = invent beer and wine
:p
 

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