Hot Docs 2008

Water sustains every creature on this planet. Like the Earth, we are 70 percent water, with 60,000 miles of veins and arteries stretching throughout our bodies, pumping oxygenated blood to keep us healthy and alive. Similarly, the lakes, rivers, streams and oceans make up a vast circulatory system moving oxygenated water throughout the world, keeping the planet alive. But through years of abuse and contamination we are killing our very life source, our water systems. Each year, polluted and diseased water kills more people than AIDS, more people than wars. More than 30,000 people die every day from water-borne diseases. The global water supply isn't merely at risk, it's already in crisis. To make matters worse, the privatization of water supply and the emergence of a global water business are restricting access to clean water to those who can pay. Unless we instigate change, only those who can pay for their water will survive.
-Sarah Whitehouse