Boston Residents Get a Taste of World’s Struggle for Clean Water!

Here is a perspective from Raj Melville, a Water Centric Board member.

Saturday morning, as Boston area residents greeted  a gorgeous spring day, a pipe that delivers water to over 2 million Bostonians, ruptured.  Hundreds of millions of gallons of water gushed out at a rate of 8 million gallons per hour. The Governor  declared a state of emergency and imposed a blanket order for homeowners and businesses to boil the water now flowing from their taps.

What followed was two days that most Bostonians could never have imagined. There was a run on bottled water at stores, reports of scuffles, and rumors of price gouging as millions of people had to struggle to find clean water for the first time in their lives.

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority tapped into a backup reservoir water system, but that was unfiltered and   described as “untreated pond water.”“Don’t drink the water unless you boil it first,” said authorities.”You may use it for bathing but be sure not to swallow any.” Some residents walked miles carting water bottles. People were concerned they would not get their regular caffeine fix, while others said “I can’t even shower. I don’t want to get any nasty water on me.’’

In the space of 48 hours Boston residents instantly got a first hand lesson on how over 1 billion people -nearly a sixth of the world’s population- live without access to clean water. While residents still had running water coming out of their taps that they could boil, millions around the world still have to walk that mile or more daily, carrying gallons of water on their head. While city residents were fretting about how many minutes to boil water to kill the bacteria, they did not have to deal with the putrid, brown fluid that passes for useable ‘potable’ water in most of the developing world.

Water Centric has been working hard to bring clean water and sanitation solutions to the millions of people who do not have that luxury around the world. Little did we imagine that our very own office in Lexington, Massachusetts would be impacted by a loss of clean water! Today as residents of Boston celebrate their repaired water system and  a fresh glass of water, we hope their thoughts turn to the millions  who go through this day after day around the world and reach out and do something to help.  A six dollar donation ensures water, sanitation and hygiene education to a kid in a school in India. A complete set of services to a typical school of 1000 students costs just $6000. Every little bit helps!