America is a land of opportunity and progress where we don’t think twice about opening a refrigerator to grab a snack or stopping at a gas station to fill up our tank. We don’t question where most products come from or how everyday conveniences work.
We turn on the faucet at the kitchen sink without thinking about it, and water comes out. As Americans, we expect it. We all feel empathy for those who lack access to clean water, but have we really imagined life without clean water? What if nothing happened the next time you turned the faucet? What if you and your entire city went just ONE day without water?
One Day with No Water
Take a moment to imagine a day without water. You wake up, walk to the sink, turn on the faucet and nothing happens. You turn on the news, and nobody in the city has running water.
Many people would call in sick because of embarrassment over basic hygiene, and others would miss work when schools and daycares are unable to open. You might be able to look past the smell of your own unshowered body and unbrushed teeth, but the cumulative stench of your co-workers gets worse throughout the day. The determined individuals who do show up for work are in bad moods because there is no water for the coffee maker. By midafternoon, the whole office looks like an episode of The Walking Dead. It’s going to take at least a week to catch up after all of the lost productivity, but that is the least of your worries.
The restrooms have become a serious health hazard and more employees are clocking out early and heading home just to face the same frustrating issues there. Vital community services like fire departments and hospitals are severely impacted, resulting in a dramatic increase in life-threatening situations.
When you get home, the laundry and dishes are piling up, and the kids complain about a microwaved dinner. Finally, you put stinky kids to bed and turn on the news only to find out that things are worse than you had imagined. An individual burning brush in their backyard accidentally set their deck on fire. Normally this would have been extinguished quickly, but with no water, the fire spread from house to house destroying dozens of homes. Commercial cooling systems that rely on water are failing, and people living in retirement and nursing homes are in extreme jeopardy. Hospitals are overcrowded and are only accepting patients with the most life-threatening conditions.
The next morning, water is restored, but it will be weeks before life returns to normal. There are disease outbreaks due to the lack of normal hygiene. Some businesses fail due to critical lapses in their manufacturing processes and infrastructure. The truth is, we could never measure the loss of life or the financial cost of one day without water.
Helping Deliver Clean Water for 50 Years
Our modern world would likely come to a screeching halt within hours if we lost access to clean water. Constant access to clean, running water is something we take for granted. We don’t ever slow down long enough to think about life without it. Hopefully, this little thought experiment will be the closest that we ever come to a real day without water.
Specification Rubber Products exists to support our nation’s water infrastructure. For 50 years, Specification Rubber Products have supported the waterworks Industry by providing reliable, high quality, domestically manufactured, certified gaskets and sealing solutions. We look forward to playing a role in clean water delivery for years to come.
