The Importance of Clean Water for Women's Health
Overview of Women's Unique Health Needs
Women face a distinct set of health challenges and issues, most of which are
wound up with a woman’s ability to grow a human being inside of her uterus.
Women around the world spend a good portion of their time eating, drinking,
and moving for two, as they carry their child to term. Even after the birth, the
mother’s health is still of unique concern, both for her own sake, and for the sake
of the infant who now relies on her love, care, and milk. Unfortunately, access to
clean, potable water is not a global norm, and as many as a quarter of the Earth’s
population still lack access to reliable, clean water. We will consider some of the
ways that women can protect themselves and their children from waterborne
contaminants and the damage they can cause.
How Contaminated Water Affects Women's Health
Water is known as the “universal solvent.” What that means is that water is very
adept at breaking down complex substances into their basic underlying
components or parts. Water doesn't nourish us directly, as it contains no caloric
value. What it does is act as a lubricant and base material for all of the body’s
physical processes. We need water to keep things flowing through us, as our
bodies are made up of roughly 60% water.
The natural processes of cell growth, proliferation, development, and apoptosis
(natural cell death) can be impeded by contaminants in your drinking water.
Whatever is in the water you consume makes its way into your body, and if you
are a pregnant woman, into the developing body of your child as well. Water
contaminants vary widely, with tens of thousands of potential sources of danger.
It is helpful to break water contaminants down into broad types, or classes:
sediment refers to any physical particulate matter in water: rust, clay, dirt, dust,
and so forth. Chemical contaminants may include disinfectants like chlorine or
chloramines, as well as volatile organic compounds from solvents, fuel additives,
industrial fluids, glues, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals, while microbiological
threats could include bacteria, viruses, helminths, and protozoa. If you are
fortunate enough to live in a developed country with good water treatment
infrastructure, such as the United States, then microbial threats should be taken
care of by the city treatment plant. However, if you are on a private well, your
water may be exposed to risks, so it is important to have your well tested regularly
for E. Coli and coliform bacteria, in addition to VOCs, heavy metals, and other
contaminants.
Reproductive Health
Water is an essential element in the reproductive process, and in the formation of
a new life form. So much change is happening so swiftly in the case of a
developing fetus, that clean, healthful water is needed at every step of the
pregnancy, to ensure that the cellular and organ developmental processes go as
they are supposed to. Your unborn child lives in water; it is the basic medium of
its life, and is the arena in which all of the most essential growth and development
takes place. If you are drinking water that is full of dangerous contaminants, those
substances can impede and damage your unborn infant’s growth.
Pregnancy and Maternal Health
It is critical that women drink water for their own sakes, as well, while
pregnant. Carrying around a second human being that is constantly
developing and growing is no easy thing. Pregnant women need to make sure
to be getting the right sorts of foods, and in sufficient quantities to see to
their growing bundle of joy. Dehydration during preganancy can lead to
complications, and increase a general feeling of malaise, or unwellness. With
all of the changes happening in your body while you are pregnant, it is wise
to drink more water than you normally would.
Menstrual Health
In various parts of the world, lack of access to clean, safe, and hygienic water for
bathing and washing may impact women and girls as well. It can be difficult to
stay hygienic when there is no access to clean water, and many women in
impoverished countries suffer greatly from lack of access. It is imperative for
women to have access to clean water, not only for drinking purposes, but also for
personal hygiene and sanitation.
Practical Steps for Improving Water Quality and Health
Depending on where in the world you live, and what your local water conditions are
like, the solution to any problem water you may be facing will differ. However, there are
a few tried and true methods that will help anyone around the world to improve the
quality of their water, if they can access these basic tools. Utilizing a combination of sediment filters, activated carbon filters, and reverse osmosis filtration technology is one
of the best ways to produce clean, potable water on-site, and cover a maximal range of
possible contaminants. Sediment filters clean up physical particulate from water,
removing three-dimensional solids so that you aren’t drinking them. Activated carbon
shines when it comes to chemical reduction, as it works through a process called
adsorption, pulling dissolved chemicals out of solution, and adhering them to itself.
Finally, reverse osmosis membranes, a newer technology, and a very exciting one, is able
to filter water at the molecular level, removing even dissolved salt from seawater, as well
as just about all other dissolved solids that may be in your water.
Waterborne Diseases and Their Impact on Women
The most prevalent waterborne diseases globally are transmitted through human
fecal contamination of public waterways. When a condensed population lives
near a communal water source, that does not have any sanitation infrastructure
set up to treat it, then human and animal waste get mixed in with drinking water,
and the results are bacterial, viral, and parasitic infection, severe gastrointestinal
upset, and in many cases, diarrheal death, through loss of too much bodily fluid.
Roughly half a million people globally die this way each year because of sickness
due to contaminated water.
Access to Clean Water: A Gender Issue
The burdens placed on impoverished peoples that stem from lack of access to
clean water, and waterborne disease, often fall disproportionately on women and
girls. 1 The task of trekking to get clean water–which often involves traveling
dangerous routes and carrying heavy buckets of water while doing so–is often a
task relegated to women, and if the nearest clean water access point is two miles
away, then that means a long daily journey for water, and little time to do much
else during the day. Conditions vary widely, but sadly, the burdens of lack of
access to potable water often burdens women most of all.
Clean Water and Women's Mental Health
1 “Women and girls bear brunt of water and sanitation crisis – new UNICEF-WHO report” WHO,
July
It’s also important to note that access to clean water, for drinking, bathing,
hygiene, and sanitation, and the proper rearing of children in healthy, clean, and
happy ways, places a huge mental stress on women. If getting clean water for the
day is a top priority, and doing so is dangerous, with no certain means of success,
that places strain on the whole family, and the mother, who is usually primary
caretaker to the children, feels the brunt of this lack very keenly.
The Bottom Line
Awareness is one of the most important steps to combating global water
problems, and lack of access to clean, potable water. Solving these problems is
difficult, and despite the best efforts of world governments, charitable
organizations, and NGOs, lack of equitable water access remains one of the most
pressing issues in today’s world, and it is a problem that affects women in unique
and difficult ways. Finding filtration options whenever possible is a good place to
start, as is raising awareness of the issues in the hopes of finding common
solutions.
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