Talking Dirty — The Politics of Clean Water and Sanitation

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Abstract
In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the Myanmar delta in early May, and the seismic earthquake that shook China shortly thereafter, access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation have become top priorities among those attempting to prevent epidemic diseases. But even without catastrophic disasters, the lack of access to clean water and basic sanitation represents a silent crisis affecting more than a third of the world's population.1 Some 443 million school days are lost annually to water-related illness, millions of women and girls spend up to 2 hours a day collecting water, and every day in Bangladesh alone 28 million to 35 million people consume drinking water containing dangerously elevated levels of arsenic.2 Given that the United Nations has declared 2008 the International Year of Sanitation — and that in the United States this year marks the 100th anniversary of the first chlorination of a public water supply — this seems an appropriate time to reengage in an ancient conversation about safe water and sanitation.

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