Some friends and I share a hunting cabin. It’s about 45 minutes from where I live, bordering a large block of public land. It’s stick-framed on a concrete foundation, and it’s only about 25 years old, but it’s also primitive in some ways — no electricity and no running water.

Spending time out there, then, always requires bringing in water. Heading out there for the day isn’t any different than any other day outdoors — bring the water you’ll need to drink. Spending the weekend takes a little more effort. You’ll need plenty more drinking water, obviously, along with water for cooking, cleaning and other odd chores. A group of people spending the week will also have to consider some means of showering.

Now, to be clear, I don’t think having to transport water for use at a semi-remote recreational property is a hardship in any way. It’s a minor inconvenience for the privilege of using the place. I can easily fill containers at home or stop and buy inexpensive cases of bottled water on my way out. Still, even with drinking water needs easily met, after a couple days without a shower the inconvenience grows.

Let me again say, inconvenience and hardship are a far cry apart. As I was wishing for a hot shower one morning in late November and not wanting to drive home, I wondered how many people have no access to drinking water or a hot shower in their homes. A couple weeks later it crossed my mind again and I did a little searching. 

According to the United Nations World Water Development Report released last year, approximately 2 billion people around the world don’t have access to safe drinking water, and approximately 3.6 billion people – 46% of the world’s population – lack adequate sanitation services.

Closer to home, a 2022 report from Los Angeles-based nonprofit DigDeep found that more than 2 million people in the U.S. live without running water or basic indoor plumbing. An additional 44 million Americans live with water systems that have been in violation of the Safe Water Drinking Act. And 43 million more Americans rely on water from wells that are threatened. DigDeep says the economic impact of this water gap is measured in billions of dollars annually. 

That’s in the United States, a wealthy, first-world country. But while economic impact can be measured or at least estimated, the mental and physical impact on those individuals — mothers, fathers, children — is harder to quantify and much more difficult to accept. 

Everyone should have access to clean, safe water. No exceptions. The work you do to ensure that for your customers is often unheralded but it’s as important to the health and wellbeing of your communities as the work of any doctor. You have too much on your plates to spend a lot of time touting the virtues of your work, but I’m happy to help out a little in the pages of Municipal Sewer & Water. 

The value of water needs to be understood, and so does the value of your work.

Enjoy this month’s issue.