Search

US lags behind the First World in availability of the clean tap water

America is experiencing an epic water crisis. That is the opinion of politicians and experts, who put pressure on president Joe Biden to invest in (clean) drinking water. In the last few days, millions of Americans in different states have been without access to drinking water.

In the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, thousands of Americans had no access to tap water at all. But “the ingenuity of Louisians never ceases to amaze us,” writes the editorial board of a regional TV channel.

A family in Shreveport decided to cook snow in a large pan. Then they let the water cool – and go, the kids in the bath.

On Facebook, the family posted a timelapse video. It is also shared by others. “Snowmageddon,” it sounds.

Because blizzards have plagued the south of America in the past week, the pipes were frozen in many places. Elsewhere, pipes had burst or water was contaminated. Moreover, people allowed the water to run through so that it did not freeze, fatal for the water pressure. Half of the cities ran out.

In Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi, people had to boil their water for use. Eight million Texans had water problems.

The deficits lasted for weeks. That led to frustration. The mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, got into a heated debate with a councilman, while Joe Biden is also urged to finally do something about the backlog of infrastructure maintenance.

“It is clear that we have a water crisis in every corner of the US. If we do nothing, it will be a disaster,” says Brenda Lawrence, Democrat in the House of Representatives to the Guardian. “What in Texas and Flint and so many other places happened, is the result of poor maintenance. I want to shout it from the rooftops and shake America up: safe, clean water is the most important thing to live – otherwise you’ll just die.”Lawrence, along with Bernie Sanders and others, submitted a bill supported by 500 organizations and 70 politicians.

Good news for the snow-boiling family in Shreveport: the water returned to almost all households on Wednesday.




Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *