Health

According to the Centers for Disease Control, global access to safe water, adequate sanitation, and proper hygiene education can reduce illness and death from disease, leading to improved health, poverty reduction, and socio-economic development. Resources available in this sub-theme include guidance on installation of cost-effective safe water supply systems and latrines, summaries of health improvements following WASH projects, and other resources that can help to improve the understanding of the health implications of WASH projects.

Health Resources

WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) and COVID-19

Publication date:
June 25, 2021
Effective water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) systems are required to protect populations from the spread of Covid-19. But, the large financial impacts the pandemic has had on providers can make it hard to deliver basic services and expand access to safe and reliable water and sanitation sources...Read more
Regional/Country focus:
Global

Watered Down Justice

Publication date:
July 2, 2021
Safe drinking water is a pillar in good water policy, but many communities of color face barriers that lead to a chronic lack of water access. Serious disinvestments in water infrastructure, which are fueled by systemic racism, have made significant impacts on majority-black cities like Newark, New...Read more
Regional/Country focus:
United States

Water Justice

Publication date:
July 9, 2021
Waters in urban and rural areas can be contaminated from a variety of sources, including industrial discharges, automobiles, wastewater, and agricultural use. Polluted water can cause environmental health hazards such as poor water quality and unsafe waters for recreation. Water utilities play a...Read more
Regional/Country focus:
United States

Water justice: why it matters and how to achieve it

Publication date:
July 9, 2021
Clean water is a vital component of safe, clean, and healthy communities. Despite this, billions of people around the world lack reliable access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. Many communities have been systematically excluded from safe water infrastructures due to racism,...Read more
Regional/Country focus:
Global

Flint Water Crisis: Everything You Need to Know

Publication date:
July 9, 2021
Natural Resources Defense Council
Flint, Michigan’s experience with government mismanagement and pollution has propelled it to the forefront of many environmental justice conversations. Flint, a majority black city north of Detroit, experienced dangerous decreases in water quality after policymakers took the city’s water system off...Read more
Regional/Country focus:
United States

What Can Communities Do About Lead in Drinking Water?

Publication date:
July 13, 2021
An estimated 6 million leaded service lines(link is external) deliver drinking water to households across the United States, and when these lines leach lead into drinking water, it poses a serious public health problem. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, states and cities are working to issue...Read more
Regional/Country focus:
United States

Environmental justice and drinking water quality: are there socioeconomic disparities in nitrate levels in U.S. drinking water?

Publication date:
July 13, 2021
Low-income and minority communities often face disproportionately high pollutant exposures. The lead crisis in Flint, Michigan, has sparked concern about broader socioeconomic disparities in exposures to drinking water contaminants. Nitrate is commonly found in drinking water, especially in...Read more
Regional/Country focus:
United States

Making the Invisible Visible: Results of a Community-Led Health Survey Following PFAS Contamination of Drinking Water in Merrimack, New Hampshire

Publication date:
July 13, 2021
In March 2016, citizens of Merrimack, New Hampshire, learned that their public water supply was contaminated with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). A subsequent state-led investigation revealed widespread contamination of both public and private well water with PFOA and several related chemicals,...Read more
Regional/Country focus:
United States

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