Contamination of Drinking Water in Sub-Saharan Africa

            Clean drinking water is an issue that affects almost everyone on Earth.  Here in America, there are government agencies that regulate water quality and ensure purity, so there is less of a problem with unsafe drinking water in the modernized western world than in many other areas.  However, in many regions across the globe the water that people drink is often contaminated with industrial and domestic waste, bacteria, and countless other pollutants that are harmful to anyone who consumes tainted water.  One area in particular that has a high level of contamination in drinking water is southern Sub-Saharan Africa.  In countries like Zimbabwe, there are very few regulations put in place to protect the purity of water sources, so in many cases drinking water is contaminated with industrial waste like runoff from mines, fecal matter from people and animals, and harsh chemicals often used in agriculture.

            The source of many of these contaminants is untreated runoff from major population and industrial centers.  In an article in Gibbs Magazine, Sifelani Tsiho cites the heavy pollution of Lake Chivero, the main source of drinking water for the city of Harare, Zimbabwe.  The lake is the terminus of all the drainage pipes and runoff of the city, and thus almost all the cities waste flows directly into the lake.  This is the case in many African regions, the same water source is being used to drink from and dump in.  For this reason, the increasing industrialization and urbanization of some parts of Africa has lead to worsening quality of drinking water. 

            The health problems associated with the pollution of drinking water are severe.  Water polluted with bacteria from domestic waste can cause such diseases as typhoid, dysentery, and cholera.  Chemical contaminants can cause a wide range of ailments including increased cancer risk and developmental problems.