Canada's dirty water images

The photo looks somehow familiar, yet feels misplaced. It's false, yet we've seen this picture before.

WaterAid Canada released the photos for their launch in Canada a few months ago. Doctored photos to make a political statement.  These are the same people who, along with a group of other agencies, bring us World Toilet Day.

Every 60 seconds a child under the age of five, dies because of dirty water. That means over 500,000 children die every year because of unsafe drinking water.

There is a global crisis in one of the basic necessities of life. Ten percent of the world's population has no choice but to drink dirty water. Over thirty percent of the planet's citizens have nowhere safe to go to the toilet, which really translates into terror for millions of women and girls.




The photos of Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and Ottawa are false; we don't have to go down to the river to fill cans with water for our cooking and washing. Canada has some of the safest drinking water in the world. Yet, it's increasingly difficult to find public water fountains. Anywhere.

Not only should we assist other countries with this most basic of human rights, we should guarantee public access to water in our schools and cinemas, in our arenas and playgrounds. We can begin by working to ban the sale of bottled water from public parks and schools. Water is a right for all of us. It must not be yet another profit channel for corporations and governments.

Photos by:

WaterAid, Candace Feit, Nuyani Quarmyne/Panos

Aubry Wade, Layton Thompson, Anna Kari, GMB Akash/Panos

Davebloggs007 via Flickr, Gaelen via Flickr