Water Purification Pumps

Today, I went to the beachdefinitely one of my all-time favourite activities. Ottawa has many beaches, all along the Ottawa River, and from a distance they look beautiful. Up close, however, I realized that running sand through my fingers left an unpleasant, sticky sort of feeling on my handsand after swimming, we ran home to take 15-minute showers. The water was full of cigarette butts and algae, with litter washed up in a line along the beach.

Water contamination is a problem around the world, and in some places it's worse than in othersI probably won't get skin diseases from the few mouthfuls of river water that I swallowed today, but I could be at risk of an ear infection. In many states in India and Bangladesh, people suffer cracking, discolouration, and ulcers of the skin due to the arsenic and fluoride found in their drinking water.

This video shows some examples of what happens when you drink water that has been contaminated by arsenic or fluoride. The company ANIR has invented a pump that runs independently of electricity, to purify people's water. It's a great solution to the problem, accessible to many, and inexpensive to use. But I must pose the question: what are we going to do to prevent drinking water from becoming contaminated in this way, in the first place?

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