Power of Water

I love drinking water. Down at Peru, one of the services that CONAPAC offer to the Amazon villages is Clean Water Program. Most children in the villages along the Amazon Rivers consumed water directly from rivers, streams, and ponds growing up, and many still do. This water contains many parasites and bacteria that cause them to become ill and malnourished. CONAPAC builds water towers, treatment plants, and filtration system at the villages. They also host a community-wide water education workshop on the maintenance of the water plants.

I am fascinated by the water filtration system. After I came back from Peru, I did some research on the mechanics behind water filtration systems. I have to admit, I am still as dumbfounded as before I started my research. However, one important piece of information I learned from National Geographic about fresh and clean water is that “freshwater makes up a very small fraction of all water on the planet. While nearly 70 percent of the world is covered by water, only 2.5 percent of it is fresh. The rest is saline and ocean-based. Even then, just 1 percent of our freshwater is easily accessible, with much of it trapped in glaciers and snowfields. In essence, only 0.007 percent of the planet’s water is available to fuel and feed its 6.8 billion people.” So now I am even more grateful for all the clean and easily accessable water that I have in my life.

I want to leave you with one of my favorite poems about water:

“The highest goodness resembles water
Water greatly benefits myriad things without contention
It stays in places that people dislike
Therefore it is similar to the Tao
Dwelling with the right location
Feeling with great depth
Giving with great kindness
Speaking with great integrity
Governing with great administration
Handling with great capability
Moving with great timing
Because it does not contend
It is there beyond reproach.”

– Tao Te Ching, Chapter 2
Translated by Derek Lin