Do not take clean water for granted either in Memphis or at the Paris Olympics 2024

" Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink " – From Samuel Taylor Coleridge, " The Rime of the Ancient Mariner "

A couple of weeks ago, my attention was captivated by a television news story about people in a Memphis apartment complex who had gone five days without access to water. Portable toilets had been set up around the complex.

One of the residents said, “You can’t live without water.” True.

Though I assume the problem has been rectified, the thought of not having clean water stays on my mind. No drinking water, no bathing water, no cooking water, no water to do the dishes, laundry or flush the toilet.

It’s a powerful reminder how important water is to our lives and how we take for granted easy access to clean water. That includes us here in the Memphis area and across Tennessee, as well as people throughout the United States and around the world.

Yet, this liquid gold is becoming less accessible due to climate change impacting our clean water sources, but also because of neglected utility infrastructures. And then there are the man-polluted rivers, lakes and streams. While such water issues may be temporary for us, there are millions around the world who don’t have access to clean water at all.

Shelby County residents have endured boil-water advisories

While good water seems scarce in some places, every single day there are those who experience the flip side of the water crises. Tornadoes, hurricanes, storms and floods are destroying homes, affecting drinking water, and disrupting lives while giving far too many people more water than they can handle.

Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.

Thanks to flooding, storms, freezing weather and even accidents, the Memphis area has experienced its share of “boil water” recommendations. Last January Memphis Light Gas and Water issued a boil-water advisory for more than 600,000 people for five days due to freezing temperatures that caused pipes to break.

In addition, parts of Germantown were without clean water for days in July 2023 after diesel fuel leaked into one of the city’s underground reservoirs.

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(Despite occasional problems, I’m pleased to emphasize that according to a 2023 study using EPA standards for water quality, Memphis has the cleanest drinking water among the 70 large cities surveyed.)

Looser regulations and overwhelmed infrastructure at fault

Our neighboring state capital, Jackson, Mississippi, continues to experience extensive aging infrastructure problems impacting its water system. Jackson residents have boiled tap water to drink, clean and bathe. At times access to water is completely shut off.

Overall, Tennessee and other Southern states are experiencing widespread water pollution problems. In fact, a 2020 report referred to Tennessee waterways as “impaired.” This means they are too polluted to support at least one of their basic uses, such as recreation, fishing, conservation and drinking. The most common pollutant in “impaired” state rivers is e. coli, a bacteria hat is tied to human and animal waste.

The status of Tennessee’s waterways can be traced to state lawmakers loosening regulations on stormwater, animal feeding operations, disposal of animal waste, and sewer systems.

An area of the U.S. where the state of the water is particularly disturbing is near San Diego where millions of gallons of sewage cascade through a canyon into the Pacific Ocean just south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Millions more gallons of treated and untreated sewage trickle down the Tijuana River and into the sea just north of the border in San Diego County.

On the U.S. side of the boarder, the International Wastewater Treatment plant that treats Mexican sewage piped across the border has been overwhelmed by increased volume in recent years. The Mexican state of Baja California says crucial repairs are being made and it plans to invest $530 million on sewage infrastructure over the next few years.

Nearby beaches have been closed for years and beaches farther north bear signs warning “Keep Out of Water.” Surfers and swimmers are not happy, nor are town officials who know the beach restrictions are hurting summer tourism revenue.

Olympics 2024 highlight water sports in midst of a heat wave

Across the Atlantic, swimming in the Seine River that runs through Paris had been banned for a century due to pollution. Since 2015, the French government has spent $1.5 billion to clean up the Seine so 2024 Olympic events can be held in the famous river. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo recently swam in the river as part of an effort to showcase the Seine’s improved condition.

The Olympic 10K swimming marathon, aquatic portion of the triathlon and a Paralympics swimming event are taking place in the river. Even the festive opening ceremony was held on a flotilla of boats sailing 3.7 miles through the city past Paris’ most famous landmarks along the Seine. Some 600,000 spectators lined the riverbanks.

Other cities, including Los Angeles, are studying how Paris cleaned up the river. Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics.

While Olympians and onsite viewers are splashing it up in Paris, let’s keep in mind that France and other countries across Europe are suffering through a tremendous heat wave that is impacting water supplies. On the Italian island of Sicily, officials are enforcing water restrictions on small hotels and guesthouses. Many are turning tourists away because they don’t have enough water to guarantee their guests showers and toilets that flush. Rationing is impacting more than 1 million people across 93 communities. Agriculture, also crucial to Sicily’s economy, is affected as well.

Here at home and around the world, clean water is a major concern. My heart goes out to those people who live along the Amazon River and are dependent on the river’s polluted water. And then there are those in Africa and other countries who are overjoyed when a well is finally built to deliver clean water to their villages.

From people in industrialized nations to those in villages in Africa and along the Amazon, we cannot take our water for granted. Though at times water can wreak havoc in our lives through storms and floods, water is our lifeblood. We must respect its necessity and do our part to keep it clean and safe to drink.

Lynn Norment, a columnist for The Commercial Appeal, is a former editor for Ebony Magazine.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Do not take clean water for granted either in Memphis or at the Paris Olympics 2024