Water world: how kids are helping to solve the world's water shortage.

In the dusty yard outside their school, children cling to a new red, green, and yellow merry-go-round as it spins round and round. The younger kids laugh and hang on tight as an older boy runs to give the wheel another push. It may sound like a scene you'd see at any playground, but these children in Africa aren't just enjoying a period of recess. Each spin on their merry-go-round is also pumping up valuable water for their entire community from a well deep underground.

When you turn on your faucet at home or school, you expect clean water to pour out. But more than a billion people around the world, especially in Africa and Asia, struggle to get enough clean water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and bathing. "The minimum amount of water required to meet these basic household needs is 20 to 50 liters (5 to 13 gallons) per person per day," says Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project in Massachusetts. That's not much when you consider that the average person in the U.S. uses roughly 378 L (100 gal) per day--more water than anywhere else in the world.

With water covering 70 percent of Earth's surface, why isn't there enough to go around? Almost all of this water is found in oceans; it is not freshwater that people can drink. As for the tiny fraction of drinkable water, it takes a lot of money and effort to build and maintain enough pipes, sewers, and water treatment plants to deliver it to all the citizens of a country. "The problem has more to do with poverty and governments' lack of will to provide access to water for everyone," says Postel.

KID POWER

By drilling into the ground, people can tap into a hidden resource--water held between underground layers of rock or soil. These aquifers contain 40 percent more freshwater than all lakes, rivers, and streams combined. Reaching this groundwater may require a hole to be drilled as deep as 305 meters (1,000 feet) below Earth's surface. This well can provide safe, reliable water to people who live far from any streams or lakes.

The merry-go-round used by students in South Africa is part of the PlayPump water system. It relies on kid-power to draw water up a pipe from a drilled well (see Nuts & Bolts, below). You don't have to be very strong to get the water flowing, says Marissa Valdez, a program manager for the nonprofit organization PlayPumps International in Washington, D.C. "One woman could draw up water with just a few spins of the merry-go-round." But when kids take a turn on one of the more than 800 PlayPump systems installed in Africa (see map, p. 18), they get the added bonus of having fun.

TEEN TO THE RESCUE

From the playgrounds of Africa to communities in North America, kids all over are making a big splash fighting the global water shortage. When Ryan Hreljac, a 15-year-old from the province of Ontario in Canada, was in first grade, he learned about the lack of clean water that some people face. Even though he was only 6 at the time, he decided he could help by raising money to build a well for people living halfway around the world.

By doing chores and asking for assistance from his parents and community, Ryan finally raised the $2,000 needed to build a hand-pump well in Agweo, Uganda. Unlike a PlayPump, this traditional type of well requires someone to work a lever up and down to draw up water.

Two years later, Ryan traveled to the village in Central Africa to see his well firsthand. There, he finally met Jimmy Akana, a boy Ryan had been pen pals with for nearly a year. Jimmy told Ryan how he used to get up at midnight to walk to a watering hole 5 kilometers (3 miles) away. "Sometimes he would make the trip three times, then go to school," says Ryan. Women and children are the ones usually responsible for getting water for their entire family, says Postel. The chore of gathering water leaves little time for work, taking care of their families, or going to school.

After the well was installed, Jimmy's life was much easier. He and the other people in his village no longer had to drink the brown, foul-smelling water that had made some of them sick. Jimmy's village lacks running water and toilets. So waste from people and animals often ended up in the watering hole they once used. This lack of sanitation contaminated the water supply with disease-causing microbes. "Approximately 2 million people die each year from lack of clean water," says Postel. "Most of them are under the age of 5."

WORLD CHANGERS 

Jimmy and Ryan now raise awareness about the worldwide issue of water. Their story was even told in a recent book by Herb Shoveller, called Ryan and Jimmy: And the Well in Africa That Brought Them Together. Ryan and his organization, Ryan's Well Foundation, to date have helped raise more than $1.5 million to build 266 wells in 12 different countries, mostly in Africa (see map, p. 18).

Ryan's advice for kids who want to make a difference: "It doesn't matter how big or small you are, whether you're the ex-president of the United States or a kid in seventh grade. You can change the world."

One simple step is to practice conservation. By using natural resources wisely, like turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth, you can help save the water in your community. As for Ryan, he plans to keep helping those in need of clean water, "There's still so much to do, but that's no reason to stop," he says.

nuts & bolts

Where do aquifers get their water? When it rains, the water seeps down through rocks and soil and collects underground. This process helps replace the water being removed from an aquifer.

Children spinning on a PlayPump power a pump placed in a well.

The pump draws water from an underground aquifer up a pipe.

Water is stored in a 2,500 L (660 gal) storage tank high above the ground.

When the tank is full, excess water travels back down a pipe to the aquifer.

A pipe moves water from the storage tank to a tap.

People turn on a tap to get the clean water they need.

Water held in an underground aquifer.

web extra

Get involved: World Water Day is March 22, 2007. Find out more about this year's theme, "Coping with Water Scarcity," at: www.unwater.org/wwd07/flashindex.html

PRE-READING PROMPTS

Jump-start your lesson with these pre-reading questions:

* Some places in the Middle East lack water because their desert climates receive very little rain. But a dry environment is not the only reason why some people around the world have a difficult time obtaining enough freshwater. What do you think may be causing most of the water shortages around the globe?

* The largest amount of the world's freshwater resources--more than 70 percent--is used for raising animals and growing crops for food. How could a scarcity of freshwater affect how people live?

* In developing nations, 80 percent of all illnesses are caused by water-borne diseases. Since children's bodies are still developing, they are less resistant to these diseases than adults, making them more likely to become sick. Why are people in developing nations so prone to water-borne diseases? Can you think of some contributing factors?

CRITICAL THINKING:

* A PlayPump costs $14,000 dollars to install and even more to maintain. To help pay for costs, the space on two of the four sides of the PlayPump's storage tank is sold to post advertisements. Can you think of some uses for the remaining two sides of the tank that would help benefit the community?

CROSS-CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:

MATH: PlayPumps International plans to build enough pump systems to provide clean drinking water to 10 million people in 10 different countries by the year 2010. To do this, they need to install 7,200 more PlayPumps than they currently have. How many pumps need to be built each year for the next three years in order to reach this goal? Answer: 2,400 pumps

RESOURCES

* To learn more about the nonprofit organizations featured in this article, visit: www.playpumps.org and www.ryanswell.ca

* Learn about World Water Day at: www.unwater.org/wwd07

* The documentary Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life was created as a partnership between the United Nations, hip-hop artist Jay-Z, and MTV to draw attention to the world's water crisis Watch the special online at:

www.mtv.com/overdrive/index.jhtml?id=1545981

You can download a program-related lesson plan at: www.mtv.com/partners/cic

Water World

DIRECTIONS: Fill in the blanks to complete the following sentences.

1. More than a billion people around the world, especially in--and--, struggle to get enough clean water to drink, cook, clean, and bathe.

2. The average person in the U.S. uses roughly--of water a day.

3. Water covers--percent of Earth. Almost all of this water is found in--. It is not--that people can drink.

4.--, or water held between underground layers of rock or soil, contain 40 percent more freshwater than all lakes, rivers, and streams combined. To reach this groundwater, a--may have to be drilled.

5. Approximately--people die each year from lack of clean water. Most of the victims are under the age of--.

ANSWERS

1. Africa, Asia 2. 378 liters (100 gallons) 3. 70; oceans; freshwater 4. aquifers; well 5. 2 million, five