Many, if not most, of the 62 First Nations reserves in this country that lack a safe water supply are found in isolated areas, far from where most Canadians live.
It is to the credit of the current Liberal government in Ottawa that in its quest for reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous Peoples it is making real progress with its longstanding pledge to ensure every First Nation reserve has a safe supply of water for drinking, washing food and bathing.
But it is an indication of the enormity of the problem that the progress is both limited and halting.
It is a fact of life in far too many Indigenous communities that their tap water is unfit for consumption without first being boiled.
At that time, Trudeau’s promise to make these long-term drinking water advisories a thing of the past in every First Nations community by 2021 was greeted with disbelief.
Life is better in those communities, even if they still face challenges unimaginable to most Canadians.
Moreover, the integrity of First Nations water systems can’t be judged solely by the number of water boil advisories.
Other federal government data suggest the improvements to those water systems aren’t as significant or permanent as the end of all those drinking water advisories might lead us to conclude.
Even so, the government has a long way to go.
Yet this remains something Canada absolutely must do.

Microplastics are now found in essential drinking water sources.
Plastic pollution is finally receiving the attention it needs.
Scientists are carrying an increasing number of studies, while the general public gets access to information on the subject more than ever before.
These have recently been found pretty much everywhere scientists have looked.
I guess, it was just a matter of time before these dangerous pollutants reached one of our main sources of life- drinking water.
These particular type of aquifers are known for their highly porous geology.
This makes it very easy for surface water to penetrate.
What is more important to note here, however, is that such groundwater sources account for about a quarter of the entire supply of drinking water on a global scale.
The team collected and analyzed seventeen samples.
In the mean time, let’s all focus on raising awareness, and reducing the use of plastics as much as we can.

Organizing the event is Downey High School KIWIN’s, a student service club affiliated with Kiwanis.
jerry can just to get clean water.
All funds raised will be donated to the Thirst Project, a non-profit organization that builds wells in Africa and South America where access to clean water is scarce.
Students have set a goal of $12,000 to build their own well.
“I want to be able to give people access to clean water which can benefit the lives of so many people living in developing countries.” Wendy Galvan, a sophomore at Downey High and president of the KIWIN’s club, said she was inspired to help after learning that so many people lack access to clean drinking water.
“I think this walk will really help us do that.
“So many kids living in these developing countries are not able to get a proper education because they have to travel miles every day to collect water.
What makes this worse is that the water they are collecting is unsanitary, water that can make them sick or, even worse, kill them.” Cost to participate in the walk is $10 for Downey High students with an ID and $25 for everyone else.
More than 300 students are signed up to participate, plus an additional 25 teachers.
To register, visit bit.ly/febwalkforwater.

This year, the challenges will continue in full force, according to an annual report from UNOCHA, the U.N. humanitarian agency, called World Humanitarian Data and Trends 2018.
That’s because the root causes are increasingly a messy mix of conflict, climate shocks, poverty and social inequalities.
Humanitarian resources must be stretched even further for more and longer-lasting crises.
More than 80 percent of the funding required that year was for just eight "mega-crises," as the report calls them, that have lasted five years or more, in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Traditional disaster response isn’t cut out for long crises.
In many cases, people lost their supply of water.
And in some conflicts, cutting off access to water was used as a weapon.
For example, the report found that in Yemen there were 28 conflict events in 2017 in which water set off fighting or was a casualty of hostilities.
Even though the cost of humanitarian assistance has increased, people are getting higher quality and better aid, she notes.
Internal displacement is notoriously under-reported, leaving many without the aid they need.

Water The Zambian government sets aside increasingly larger amounts of money for water access and sanitation each year, but less than half of that money winds up being spent in that sector.
“I can’t afford to get all my water from the tap,” Mwale says.
“It’s expensive.” The Zambian government has allocated huge sums of money to improve sanitation and access to water across the country, but many say they still struggle to get what they need.
In 2015, just 31 percent of Zambia’s 15.4 million people had basic sanitation services, according to UNICEF, the United Nations’ child-advocacy agency, and the most recent population statistics available.
The 2019 budget includes 1.98 billion kwacha ($165.8 million) for water supply and sanitation.
Yet, in a trend going back nearly a decade, less than half of that money is spent each year on those services, says Pamela Chisanga, the WaterAid country director in Zambia.
“We can avoid calamities such as cholera if people have access to clean and safe water.” Dennis Wanchinga, the minister of Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection, doesn’t dispute that much of the money allocated for water supply and sanitation is spent elsewhere, but he notes that it’s not being wasted.
Mary Phiri, another Zambian who faces daily water problems, knows how dangerous the consequences of water scarcity can be.
“Sometimes children would drink water from the well meant for washing dishes, because to them, water is water, whether from the well or from the tap,” Phiri says.
Editor’s note: Mary Phiri and Prudence Phiri, GPJ, are not related.

Vitumbiko, 25, had heard stories about women dying during childbirth at her local clinic in Malawi.
Giving birth at a healthcare facility without access to water brings a whole new, shocking set of challenges.
More than two billion people still lacked access to safe drinking water as of 2015, a 2017 World Health Organisation (WHO) report shows.
Meanwhile, health centres that see more than 200 patients each day make do with just one midwife and one doctor.
A 2014 survey of more than 1 000 health facilities that had access to water showed that only half had adequate hygiene standards and even fewer reported decent sanitation, the 2015 WHO report shows.
Without clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene, it’s impossible for medical staff to deliver quality care, putting the lives of patients in danger and contributing to the spread of diseases and the rise of drug-resistant infections as more antibiotics are needed to battle infections that good hygiene might have prevented.
In Malawi, 634 women die during or after birth for every 100 000 babies born alive, 2015 Unicef statistics reveal.
We cannot expect healthcare facilities without adequate water, sanitation and hygiene to provide health services that will keep patients safe.
If they do, they could adopt a resolution that says every clinic and hospital should have adequate water, sanitation and hygiene.
Vitumbiko’s baby arrived safely and well.

Ashley Brandson Martha Troian APTN News While the Liberal government says progress has been made on a campaign pledge to end long term drinking water advisories in First Nations communities, some of those communities say they’ve since lost count of how many times they’ve been under short term advisories.
The latest First Nation community to have its long-term drinking water advisory lifted is Weenusk First Nation in Ontario as of late last year.
Shamattawa First Nation in Manitoba is just one community that has been under a short-term advisory since December 6, 2018, affecting up to 5000 people.
“It’s a boil water advisory, so we can’t drink right from the tap, we have to boil our water just like many other communities in the north,” said Chief Eric Redhead.
It’s just unacceptable to live that way.” Redhead says Shamattawa First Nation came off a long-term drinking water advisory approximately two years ago, but it has since been placed under a string of short-term drinking water advisories.
Redhead said he lost count how many times the community has been on a drinking water advisory since 2016.
David Trout, the community’s water treatment plant operator agrees with Redhead.
A spokesperson with the department says some communities will face recurrent short term advisories but continues to support “First Nations-led approaches to addressing new and ongoing drinking water advisories.” Unclear whether drinking water advisories data collected by government While Indigenous Services displays the number of water-related advisories on its website, it’s difficult to determine if that is the whole picture.
When asked whether or not the department collects data on water and wastewater management, including short-term and long-term drinking water advisories, APTN News was informed repeatedly First Nation communities are owners and operators of this infrastructure, including its own data and that it is up to the community to share this information with the department.
APTN asked the community of Shamattawa if they are collecting their own data and whether OCAP is being implemented.

People living in the settlements of Port Moresby Northeast will soon have access to clean drinking water and sanitation.
The water supply project will cover Manuti, ATS, Bushwara, Parea and Eight-Mile settlements.
This was made possible by the MP for Moresby Northeast electorate John Kaupa, who presented a K1 million cheque to the Minister for Public Enterprises and State Investments William Duma on behalf of Eda Ranu in Port Moresby yesterday.
Mr Kaupa, who is Minister for Housing and Urbanisation, said dealing with water supply for the settlements is very problematic because Eda Ranu has system pipes for the urban areas.
He said his electoral officers have worked closely with Eda Ranu, and after many feasibility studies, have come up with the best working plan for water supply in all settlements in the electorate.
“Eda Ranu will work with my DDA team to bring water into the settlements for everyone.
Without electricity and other necessities people can still live and survive on water,” Mr Kaupa said.
“This K1 million is for Eda Ranu to upgrade the water system in my electorate and is the first payment from the district services improvement program (DSIP) funds.” He said he made a commitment of K2m and NCD Governor Powes Parkop has also allocated K2m, bringing the total to K4 million for water supply.
Mr Kaupa also presented a K350,000 cheque to Eda Ranu as minister responsible for housing, for the completion for water supply to the Duran farm housing project.

In Somalia, Education Cannot Wait and Intersos look toward safe drinking water and school meals to get children back in school Nadifa Ibrahim picks up her hammer and strikes down on the chalk white stones at the quarry where she works with her family and other children displaced by Somalia’s years of civil war, drought and poverty.
Food and safe drinking water are hard to come by, and 1.5 million people face acute food insecurity.
Getting children like Nadifa out of the quarry and back in school requires a unique approach that looks not just at access to education, but also at the intersections of conflict, crises, poverty and hunger, and the root causes that force children into the quarries, into armed groups and out of school.
The project came to a close in August 2018, increasing school enrollment by 13 per cent for boys and 17 per cent for girls, and reaching 4787 children in all, 41% of whom were girls.
"I never ever want to go back to the quarry again, I felt bad seeing other children go to school, but there was nothing I could do."
Unlike many schools in Somalia, the schools for displaced children supported by Education Cannot Wait are free.
The project also set up innovative water and hygiene programmes that support healthier children and easier access to safe drinking water.
Education stakeholders in Somalia are currently developing a multi-year resilience programme funding proposal for Education Cannot Wait.
"I would like to be a teacher so that I educate as many girls as possible.
I have also told my friends in the quarry to come to school as there is everything we need to learn," said Nadifa.

This year, the challenges will continue in full force, according to an annual report from UNOCHA, the U.N. humanitarian agency, called World Humanitarian Data and Trends 2018.
That’s because the root causes are increasingly a messy mix of conflict, climate shocks, poverty and social inequalities.
Humanitarian resources must be stretched even further for more and longer-lasting crises.
More than 80 percent of the funding required that year was for just eight "mega-crises," as the report calls them, that have lasted five years or more, in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Traditional disaster response isn’t cut out for long crises.
In many cases, people lost their supply of water.
And in some conflicts, cutting off access to water was used as a weapon.
For example, the report found that in Yemen there were 28 conflict events in 2017 in which water set off fighting or was a casualty of hostilities.
Even though the cost of humanitarian assistance has increased, people are getting higher quality and better aid, she notes.
Internal displacement is notoriously under-reported, leaving many without the aid they need.