The phrase "don't drink the water" might often be used as a
punchline--Woody Allen even wrote a comic play called "Don't Drink the
Water"--but bad drinking water is a huge and horrific problem on our
planet.  Bad drinking water and the diseases it inflicts--among them
hepatitis, cholera and typhoid fever--are the top causes of child
deaths in developing countries.  In many regions of sub-Saharan Africa
there are simply no pipes and therefore no hope for clean water; even
well water is unreliable and largely unsafe.  Likewise, in Afghanistan
and Pakistan there is a high mortality rate in both children and
adults due to bad drinking water.  And the nation of Iraq faces a huge
challenge even today in building the infrastructure to provide clean
water to all of its citizens.

Even in the United States there are problems here and there with bad

drinking water.  Native American reservations, which have faced so
many tragic health problems over the decades, have in many instances
been found to contain unsafe drinking water.  Hundreds of schools over
the last ten to twenty years have discovered that the water emerging
from its drinking fountains (or "bubblers" as they are called in New
England) contains lead or pesticides or other harmful substances.  In
some cities and rural areas the government has said that pregnant
women or adults with certain chronic ailments should refrain from
drinking tap water.
Clean water must be a top issue for governments and individuals all
over the world.  To put it plainly, a healthy population needs healthy
water.