Posted: January 31st, 2022

Water Quality and Scarcity in Developing Countries

instructions:
Review the Belize media and discuss with your colleagues the challenges and successes with water quality or scarcity in developing countries as well as more developed countries. Some things you may consider as you discuss this topic: What are the most significant public health issues for water in developing countries? How do those issues differ from those in a developed country? What are some real examples of these issues and what is being done to overcome them? As Belize and other countries build their infrastructure, what can or should they incorporate into their development to retain a healthy water supply? How do socio-ecological factors influence educational interventions and solutions to water related problems?

Water Quality and Scarcity in Developing Countries

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Water Quality and Scarcity in Developing Countries
Challenges in Supply of Quality and Safe Water
Developing countries experience challenges in the supply of quality and safe water due to water shortage programs. Belize media shows that assessing villages in developing countries shows that water shortage is a common experience. Another major challenge is poor quality water due to the lack of water board. The lack of a water board means there is no regulation of the water quality since there are no set standards. Poor regulation leads to distribution of contaminated water, shortage, and misuse of water sources. One of the successes in developing countries is community support for water projects. Developed countries experience challenges in supplying quality and safe water due to contamination of water by industrial processes such as fracking.
Significant Public Health Issues
The significant public health issues in developing countries include unsafe water, inadequate sanitation, and insufficient hygiene. For instance, the Belize media shows that in the developing countries, healthcare facilities experience an increase in cases of diarrhea among children (Nowicki et al., 2020). Another issue is the poor cultural patterns that undermine the adoption of hygiene and sanitation standards to improve water safety. For instance, one of the approaches to addressing the water issue is community education programs.
The problems differ from those of developed countries. The challenges in developed countries comprise water shortage, unstainable water abstraction, climate change, and fast population growth (Nowicki et al., 2020). Another major challenge is the affordability of water for the poorest people. Pollution is another major water issue in developed countries. For instance, in California, the United States, rising temperatures lead to snowmelt, leading to a rise in sea level and contamination of water supplies.
The state and federal governments are embracing various approaches to overcome water challenges. Some solutions include community education on the need to recycle water and avoid wastage (Rosen et al., 2017). The government is taking measures to improve water recycling processes. Developed countries are using advanced technologies to improve water conservation. The solutions are crucial in ensuring water quality and scarcity challenges are addressed effectively.
Development of Healthy Water Supply
Belize and other countries should diversify their sources of water to ensure consistent supply. The countries should maximize the use of ground and surface water. Belize should establish standards of water quality to avoid the supply of contaminated water. The countries should build a complex distribution system that will reach all the people in need of water (Rosen et al., 2017). It is essential to improve sewage systems since they consume a large volume of water. Sewage systems are also responsible for the contamination of water sources. Belize and other countries should collaborate with communities to earn community support in their water supply programs. The solutions are responsible for revolutionizing the water supply systems in the world.
Socio-Ecological Factors Influencing Educational Interventions
The factors influencing educational interventions include cultural norms, health, economic, and social issues. The issues affect communities’ readiness to participate in community education programs (Nowicki et al., 2020). For instance, some communities are resistant to change, and thus, they cannot embrace new ways of improving water safety. Economic factors such as poverty may undermine the educational interventions since they require funds to reach out to the community. The factors may dent the ability of various stakeholders to educate the public about healthy and safe water supply.
Part B
Recreational Water Concern
Polluted swimming beaches is a health concern since it poses health risks to a swimmer. The sources of pollution include rainwater from pavements or roads that pick up dirt, gasoline, chemicals, pet waste, and fertilizers (Holden et al., 2018). It contaminates the swimming water, thus posing a risk to children and adults. In Los Angeles, California, Malibu Pier is an example of a place with a polluted swimming beach.
The prevention measures include diverting the rainwater away from the swimming beaches. Authorities should develop systems to prevent polluted water from getting into the swimming beaches (Holden et al., 2018). The water should be treated and used for agricultural purposes. It is the responsibility of health authorities to assess the risks in the swimming beaches. The assessment should include examining if the swimming beaches are polluted and the risks the swimmers face.
A 2018 environment assessment report shows that 60 percent of the beaches in the United States are polluted. The varying levels of pollution across the beaches pose a risk to millions of Americans (Holden et al., 2018). The most affected group of people include children and the elderly since their immunity is weak. Some of the diseases include stomach flu, respiratory illness, skin rashes, and hepatitis.
The challenges associated with implementing the solutions to promote safe swimming water include the lack of reliable data to show the polluted water people. The available data does not directly show that people are affected by the polluted swimming beaches (Holden et al., 2018). Another challenge is the constrained state and local budgets. The budgets undermine the ability of the cities to deal with environmental issues. Cities lack sufficient advanced technologies to promote clean swimming water (Holden et al., 2018). The technologies and systems could filter dirty water and avoid pollution of the swimming beaches. It is the local, state, and federal governments’ responsibility to collaborate in addressing water quality issues.

References
Holden, P. A., Steets, B., Van De Werfhorst, L. X., Li, D., Devarajan, N. X., Ervin, J., & Blackwell, A. (2018). Dissecting Sources of Dry Weather Fecal Pollution in Two Urban California Beaches: Role of Bather Shedding. AGUFM, 2018, 22-44.
Nowicki, S., Koehler, J., & Charles, K. J. (2020). Including water quality monitoring in rural water services: why safe water requires challenging the quantity versus quality dichotomy. NPJ Clean Water, 3(1), 1-9.
Rosen, M. B., Pokhrel, L. R., & Weir, M. H. (2017). A discussion about public health, lead and Legionella pneumophila in drinking water supplies in the United States. Science of the Total Environment, 590, 843-852.

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