10 Water for Life
Health problems from unsafe water
It can be difficult to know if water is safe or not. Some of the things that cause health
problems are easily noticed by looking at, smelling, or tasting the water. Others can
only be found by testing the water (see page 11). Understanding what makes water
unsafe and taking steps to protect water from contamination can prevent many
problems from unsafe water.
How do you know if water is safe?
This activity can help people
understand that there may be
something harmful in the water
even if it cannot be seen. Because
germs and toxic chemicals are often
invisible, it is difficult to know what
water is safe for drinking.
Time: 15 to 30 minutes
Materials: 4 clear bottles,
mud, salt, sugar, treated
water
Step 1: Before the activity, fill 4 clear bottles with water that has been boiled,
treated with chlorine, or had some other treatment. To one bottle, add a
spoonful of mud. To another, add a spoonful of sugar. To another, add a spoonful
of salt. Shake the bottles well. Leave the last bottle as it is. Bring these bottles to
the group.
Step 2: Ask people in the group to smell the water in all
the bottles. Then invite them to drink water from any
of the bottles. Most likely no one will drink the muddy
water, but many will drink from the other bottles.
Step 3: When several people have drunk the water,
ask them why they did not drink from the muddy water
bottle. Then ask them what their water tasted like,
and what they think was in it. Did anyone drink the
water with nothing in it? Ask them how they knew it was just water, and did not
contain anything they could not see, smell, OR taste.
Step 4: Begin a discussion about different things that may be in your water that
could make it unsafe to drink. This could include germs that cause diarrhea,
blood flukes that cause schistosomiasis, and pesticides or other chemicals. Are
there reasons to believe that these things may be in the water? Are there other
ways besides looking and smelling to know if the water is safe?