Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

2B people don't have safe drinking water: what does this mean for them?

ourworldindata.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 94 posts

Re: 2B people don't have safe drinking water: what does this mean for them?

#71

Post by neurostimulant »

Chris2048 wrote: post #64
londons_explore wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Non-drinkable tap water is mostly due to water not being available 24x7x365. If a water system is turned off even momentarily, the pressure drops to zero, and sewage and groundwater seep into the water pipes, making it unsafe to drink. Countries with unreliable power grids usually don't have drinkable tap water for that reason. It can also be because the water isn't treated (ie. it is just rainwater in the pipes). Wa…

> sewage and groundwater seep into the water pipes How does this happen? Are they not sealed?

The pipes network is very long so small leaks will always happen somewhere due to accidents or wear and tear. These small leaks are enough to contaminate the downstream pipes if the water pressure drops and dirty water get in.

Re: 2B people don't have safe drinking water: what does this mean for them?

#72

Post by wingspar »

njarboe wrote: post #30
londons_explore wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Non-drinkable tap water is mostly due to water not being available 24x7x365. If a water system is turned off even momentarily, the pressure drops to zero, and sewage and groundwater seep into the water pipes, making it unsafe to drink. Countries with unreliable power grids usually don't have drinkable tap water for that reason. It can also be because the water isn't treated (ie. it is just rainwater in the pipes). Wa…

In the west water systems are pressurized using a large reservoir and gravity. I imagine its similar in third world countries? They have unreliable water due to the reasons they have unreliable power: poor ability to plan, not enough supply, undersized systems for current use, deferred maintenance, etc.

Ad hoc distribution… ‘Unauthorized’ distribution…

Re: 2B people don't have safe drinking water: what does this mean for them?

#73

Post by more_corn »

pluto_modadic wrote: post #25
londons_explore wrote: post #7

We also need to think about uses of water. Water is used for drinking (~2 liters/day)... Contamination here really matters. Waker is used for cooking (~20 liters per day). Contamination here matters somewhat, since some forms of pollutants will be rendered harmless by cooking. Water is used for washing (~200 liters per day). Contamination here matters a little too, because washing water can touch something which gets…

"far cheaper than providing large amounts" that doesn't factor in the cost of plumbing an entire town with 3 sets. remember photos of the tangle of wires when DC vs AC fought? It's more expensive especially for a suburb of single family homes to plumb in sewers and water mains (long distances for low flows), vs plumbing in duplexes and apartments. having a secondary water system (e.g., purple pipes / grey water), for…

You’re right it would be crazy to pipe clean water to our homes for drinking and deliver less clean water via ditch for irrigation. No wait, that’s perfectly sane, normal and common.

Re: 2B people don't have safe drinking water: what does this mean for them?

#74

Post by wingspar »

Chris2048 wrote: post #64
londons_explore wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Non-drinkable tap water is mostly due to water not being available 24x7x365. If a water system is turned off even momentarily, the pressure drops to zero, and sewage and groundwater seep into the water pipes, making it unsafe to drink. Countries with unreliable power grids usually don't have drinkable tap water for that reason. It can also be because the water isn't treated (ie. it is just rainwater in the pipes). Wa…

> sewage and groundwater seep into the water pipes How does this happen? Are they not sealed?

Trees grow, pipes crack. Have irrigation pipe leaks at work. All from trees growing and cracking pipes.

Re: 2B people don't have safe drinking water: what does this mean for them?

#76

Post by nhecker »

andrewmcwatters wrote: post #42
londons_explore wrote: post #16

Most of these people are not cut off from the world. You will find a coca-cola bottle in the same village! The solution is to tell them why clean water matters , and provide them a cheap way of making dirty water pretty clean . Ie. a water filter. The cheapest water filters, costing perhaps $10 and able to filter a family drinking water supply for years, will still eliminate most concerning contamination in water. Th…

> years In Phoenix, I've never seen a water filter last because our hard water eats them all up faster than in other places in the US. There must be an ideal combination of filtration systems that others use here and elsewhere that I'm not aware of that last for as long as they do, but standard consumer ones that bring TDS down to zero have very little lifespan here. I can't imagine what difficulties exist in areas w…

In case anyone else is wondering, "TDS" is Total Dissolved Solids. I had to look that one up.

Re: 2B people don't have safe drinking water: what does this mean for them?

#77

Post by 7373737373 »

jenny91 wrote: post #54

Dollar street [1] (linked from the article) by Gapminder is a fascinating resource for learning about what life is really like for many people. [1]: https://www.gapminder.org/dollar-street

In 1994, the photographer Peter Menzel did a project where he photographed families with all their belongings in front of their home: https://www.menzelphoto.com/gallery/Material-World-Family-Po...

Re: 2B people don't have safe drinking water: what does this mean for them?

#78

Post by GuB-42 »

carlosjobim wrote: post #44
londons_explore wrote: post #7

We also need to think about uses of water. Water is used for drinking (~2 liters/day)... Contamination here really matters. Waker is used for cooking (~20 liters per day). Contamination here matters somewhat, since some forms of pollutants will be rendered harmless by cooking. Water is used for washing (~200 liters per day). Contamination here matters a little too, because washing water can touch something which gets…

I'm trying to understand your examples. Those are absolutely massive quantities of water you're mentioning for cooking, washing and farming. I assume that you cook and wash yourself like everybody else, and have a basic understanding on how much for example a head of cabbage should be watered each day. So what do you mean with these numbers?

I just looked at my water bill, I am at about 150L/person/day, which is about average for my country. It includes drinking, cooking and washing. So less than then the 200+20+2 estimate but not by that much, if you enjoy baths and lengthy showers, 222L is possible.

And from what I've seen 2000L/person/day for agriculture is not too outlandish. The production of your garden is likely to be tiny compared to what you eat. A head of cabbage is maybe 1/10th of you daily calorie needs, and compared to animal products, vegetables have low water requirements.

So maybe it is not exactly right, but the orders of magnitude look correct. At least for the first world.

Re: 2B people don't have safe drinking water: what does this mean for them?

#79

Post by Yeul »

neurostimulant wrote: post #69
CorrectHorseBat wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But is that more efficient than having one set of plumbing with safe drinking water? I doubt it. Over here the price difference between drinking water from the tap and the cheapest bottled water is a factor ~200.

> Over here the price difference between drinking water from the tap and the cheapest bottled water is a factor ~200. Does it take the cost of building city-wide plumbing installation and the water treatment facility into account? Someone (probably the government) have to pay for it and many 3rd world nations can't afford to pay for them except for a handful of cities (usually the capital city).

I remember reading that in some Western countries up to half of the ultra clean drinking water disappears because of leaking pipes...

Re: 2B people don't have safe drinking water: what does this mean for them?

#80

Post by Yeul »

GuB-42 wrote: post #78
carlosjobim wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm trying to understand your examples. Those are absolutely massive quantities of water you're mentioning for cooking, washing and farming. I assume that you cook and wash yourself like everybody else, and have a basic understanding on how much for example a head of cabbage should be watered each day. So what do you mean with these numbers?

I just looked at my water bill, I am at about 150L/person/day, which is about average for my country. It includes drinking, cooking and washing. So less than then the 200+20+2 estimate but not by that much, if you enjoy baths and lengthy showers, 222L is possible. And from what I've seen 2000L/person/day for agriculture is not too outlandish. The production of your garden is likely to be tiny compared to what you eat…

In the Netherlands farmers and industry pay a lower rate than households.

It is only recently with climate change that an ATTEMPT is made to get water use down. For millennia the country drowned in water and the issue was pumping it to the sea not preserving it.

Post reply on HN