Why Accessible and Potable Water Is Important to Developing Nations

New York real estate developer Jason Halpern is the founder of JMH Development. In addition to his entrepreneurial endeavors, Jason Halpern contributes to the Charity: Water organization.

Charity: Water is an organization that places a spotlight on the importance of making clean water accessible to everyone in the world. One in ten people in the world lives without potable drinking water, which translates to about 785 million people. The organization aims to bring clean drinking water to people living in developing countries.

Having access to potable water has a few positive outcomes. In terms of productivity, walking for water eats into a lot of time. In fact, according to the organization, women spend 40 billion hours walking to gather water. This time could be used to grow produce, earn income, and receive an education, all of which contribute to reducing poverty. For women who have access to clean, potable water, they typically use this time to launch businesses.

The most important positive outcome of having clean water is related to health. Clean water can save 16,000 lives weekly, and for many communities, fatalities related to the consumption of dirty water is higher than that of violence. In the case of children, 43 percent succumb to disease related to poor water quality.