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The Texas Water Crisis Shows Just How Inefficient Our Water Systems Are. Change Needs to Occur.

Updated: Jun 28

By Joanna Hou, Grade 12


As the winter storms swept through Texas, residents were left without several resources, including much needed electricity and food. However, even as these necessities are being replaced as the winter storm clears, Texans still lack a crucial component: clean drinking water.


The unexpected winter storm burst pipes across the state, leading water to become undrinkable. Furthermore, the wastewater cleaning plants used to keep water clean lost their power completely and couldn't control their sewage management. [1] That sewage waste went straight into the state's overall water supply. Millions of people in Texas were under a "boil water notice", indicating that the water wouldn't be consumable unless boiled. [2] But those were only for residents who were lucky enough to even receive water from their taps. Across the state, thousands of people couldn't even get access to water from their sinks and bottled water was all sold out.


It's also important to note the disparities behind water access for Texans. [3] Those in communities of color, or those who were low income were already much more susceptible to the cold. These are the same communities that were disproportionately affected by the dirtied water supply. It's often much harder for these communities to relocate or even get to water supplies provided by the state. It's often the groups facing the most challenges that are the first to get impacted by water crises, a pattern that we saw continue from the Flint Water crisis.


These two crises are probably just the beginning. As the world continues to warm, extreme weather will occur more regularly. [4] The truth is, we aren't prepared for that. Wastewater plants and water purification facilities in typically warm areas haven't been rebuilt for decades and aren't prepared for freezing or any other major changes. The technology we've created isn't sustainable because the world around us is warming to an intolerable rate.


Clean water is an essential part of human life and needs to be put at a higher priority. While what happened in Texas is devastating, the crisis gives everyone an opportunity to become more prepared in the future. While current water waste plants are not particularly sustainable, they can be, and Texas is a good place to start. By rebuilding our water supply, we can kill two birds with one stone, helping out our environment and ensuring that any quick changes in the environment won't have an impact on our most vulnerable communities.


There are several ways to approach more humane water systems. [5] While classic dams and groundwater supplies aren't very sustainable, there are new techniques being developed all the time, just waiting to be implemented. While current groundwater is wasteful, if we conserve the water and keep it rotating in a cycle, groundwater can become more sustainable. Other newer methods include rainwater harvesting (a more direct and less environmentally-damaging practice) and reclaimed water (water reused from human waste) can take some stress off the dam and groundwater systems, also helping with the environment.


Texas gives us the opportunity to see into the plethora of new challenges that might await us, but also serves as a warning sign. If officials start implementing new, environmentally-conscious water sources, we have the opportunity to start making changes now.


Citations







Check Your Water Privilege

By Ainsley Jackman, Grade 12


Despite the growing conversation around water scarcity, most of the developed world has only an abstract idea of what it looks like in day-to-day life. To us, “water scarcity” means a summer of brown lawns and unwashed cars amidst a California drought. So--hardly anything at all. Clean drinking water is something we take for granted in even the worst of times but is a privilege much of the world goes without.


Western Libya is a current hotspot of water scarcity. Contaminated water is the worst killer of the Libyan Civil war, as many power and water control systems have been damaged and destroyed by the violence. United Nation Children’s Fund spokesperson Mustafa Omar recently shared that almost four million Libyans lack safe drinking water, worsening the rampant and deadly spread of diseases like Cholera and Hepatitis A.


Clean water has become such a valuable resource that in some areas it is being used as a weapon of war. Last April, revolutionary leader Hasan Al-Gaddafi initiated a water cut to gain leverage while bargaining for his captured brother. Following his lead, armed groups forced water workers to shut off the supply of nearly two million people for two days in a ploy to release a relative of their own.


For these people, water is no casual necessity that can be found for free in any public restroom. It is a commodity to be bargained for, a life-source many struggle daily to find--while our survival is practically a guarantee. Hydrating our bodies is a mindless nuisance before we can get on with the rest of our lives.


Here is your reminder that everyone is not so fortunate. Day-by-day survival is not a life most of us can comprehend, but doing our best to imagine it might lend more powerful meaning to the term “water scarcity.”



Plastic straws suck. Literally.

By Katelin Sung, Grade 8


As you sit, sipping your drink from a plastic straw, you’re most likely dreaming about what you’re going to have for lunch...not the millions of sea creatures that die each year from plastic waste. That’s right, 100 million marine animals die per year from plastic waste alone (1). Ranked 9th on a list of the 42 most common debris collected along the coast, straws on the beaches and in oceans are dangerous, especially to birds and sea turtles who might accidentally ingest them (3). It’s estimated that 90% of birds have consumed plastic at one point, the most common plastic being plastic straws from juice boxes (4). Sea turtles also often mistake lightweight, floating plastic like straws and bags for food. Their species is already critically endangered, and our overuse of plastic makes the problem worse. Helping sea turtles also saves the huge role they play in the ecosystem and the beaches, which we utilize and enjoy so frequently.


Now you may be thinking, out of all the plastic waste in the ocean, what impact could my one straw make? Well, your singular straw might not make too much of a difference, but combined with all the straws used by other Americans out there, the number climbs to over 500 million straws thrown away per day (2). Although a small number of straws are recycled, most of them end up flowing into the world’s oceans because they’re too lightweight to make it through certain machines in the recycling process and are easily blown out of trash cans before they reach landfills (2). The plastic straws—your straw—end up in places where sea creatures can find and eat them.


So now that you know all this about the terrible things straws are capable of, how can you play your part to prevent these effects? Let’s just start with an unpopular choice: paper straws. They get soggy too quickly, but think of the benefits to the environment: paper is biodegradable, and thus is no longer a threat to marine life. At least now every time you sip, you won’t have to feel guilty about your contribution to turtle death. There are also other plant-based straws you could use in place of plastic or paper straws, like bamboo straws. Perhaps the easiest option is just not using a straw for your beverages. Simply bringing your cup to your mouth instead of using deadly plastic may decrease the number of straws factories manufacture and can literally save lives.


We all have to pull our own, small weight to lower the staggering numbers of marine animals suffering from human carelessness. By subtly changing our habits, we could really slow down the deterioration of our ecosystem and the world we share with our fellow inhabitants.

Cover photo from National Geographic

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