Protecting Sister Water: A Shared Responsibility
On March 22, the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities join many in marking World Water Day.
Water is the essential building block of life. But it is more than just essential to quench thirst or protect health; water is vital for creating jobs and supporting economic, social, and human development.
Today, there are more than 663 million people living without a safe water supply close to home, spending countless hours queuing or trekking to distant sources, and coping with the health impacts of using contaminated water.
This year’s theme for World Water Day focuses on wastewater and ways to reduce and reuse as over 80% of all the wastewater from our homes, cities, industry and agriculture flows back to nature polluting the environment and losing valuable nutrients and other recoverable materials.
We need to improve the collection and treatment of wastewater and safely reuse it. At the same time, we need to reduce the quantity and pollution load of wastewater we produce, to help protect the environment and our water resources.
Discover eight ways to recycle water around your house >
Water Facts:
- Typical U.S. lifestyle requires 100-150 gallons of water per day
- It takes 2,900 gallons of water to make a single pair of jeans
- On average, it takes 2-6 gallons of water per minute for a shower
- 5-15 gallons to run the dishwasher
- 48 gallons for a bag of potato chips
- 400 gallons for a cotton tee shirt
- 32,000 gallons to produce steel for one car
Benefactor Gifts Help Make Clean Water a Reality
In Kenya, Sisters Joanne Gangloff and Bea Leising are committed to providing safe and clean water to those with whom they minister.
Supplying clean water to residents at our St. Elizabeth campus in Timau, Kenya, Africa used to be a challenge. But thanks to the generosity of our benefactors residents can live a better life.
Water filtration tanks, constructed by students from St. Clare Technical School, are used to store water during Kenya’s rainy seasons. During the dry season, the 17 teachers and families who reside at the St. Elizabeth campus have access to safe and clean water from the tanks.
By sharing the gift of your treasure, you enable us to continue to carry our mission to serve those in need with reverence, justice and compassion.
