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Where does your drinking water come from?

Written By: Bekkah (Bek) Marshall

The article title when answered reveals a lot about a person’s place and position in the world.

Take a moment and think about it, what’s your answer? What does your answer highlight about your access to clean drinking water?

Daily Water a poetic piece by Bek, Eco & Water Solutions Strategist and Poet

Around parts of the world, if this question was asked to a girl or woman she would raise her hand and point to the direction of a river, lake, pond or stream. Many girls and women shoulder the weight of fetching daily water alone or in groups of other girls and/or women. These daily treks exposes them to potential assaults and animal attacks. All these obstacles faced to successfully collect water teeming with parasites, viruses, bacteria and any other contaminants invisible to the eyes. This water story cycles daily and beacons to be written with different less life threatening possibilities.

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On International Womens Day and each and every day. Clean water access for many girls and women resonates as a human right. Unfortunately many girls and women must daily confront a status of not having enough privilege to drink clean water with ease.

Water Story Share

An invitate to Women Mentors to Teen Girls, Women Scholars, Women Professionals & Empowered Collaborators. Share you water stories with each other. Take action to improve the water story of someone or a community today! 💧

What role will you play in the water stories that beacon for exposure, new developments and outcomes?

Connect With Bek
BMPowered Consulting & Services
Trek With Bek Project

Bekkah Marshall (Bek), Eco & Water Solutions Strategist serves as a consultant and speaker on the topics of Women and Water Issues, Strategizing Water Solutions for Africa & the African Diaspora and Community Empowerment in Addressing & Creating Sustainable Eco connected Water Solutions.

Bekkah has over a decade of experience as a Certified Environmental Health Professional and Environmental Regulatory Official- Drinking Water & Domestic Wastewater. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science – Water Quality & Treatment Specialization from the University of South Florida.

RECYCLED: NAMIBIA’S WATER REALITY

Virtual Trek Location: Windhoek, Namibia

Virtual Trek Briefing: Walvis Bay’s municipality is taking a play out of Windhoek’s book & considering recycling their wastewater into purified drinking water. There are opposing views!

What are the water issues and concerns?

Here check out the first couple lines in this article…

Source: All Africa or Article: https://allafrica.com/stories/202009080792.html

Let’s trek…

See the source image

 📍GPS coordinate of Windhoek, Namibia

Here is the global positioning data for our virtual trek.

The latitude of Windhoek is -22.560881, and the longitude is 17.065755. Windhoek is a city is located at Namibia with the gps coordinates of 22° 33′ 39.1716” S and 17° 3′ 56.718” E. The elevation of Windhoek is 1655.192, the time zone is Africa/Windhoek.

The realness unfolds when the recycling of wastewater creates cups filled with controversy. Come look at this 👀

Municipalities are scrambling for water sources to satisfy growing populations. What’s the water story in your local area?

WATER RUNS DRY: CAPE TOWN WATER CRISIS

Let’s trek…

Please gather around virtually for the details of this trek ….

source: https://newsela.com/read/cape-town-water-crisis/id/40157/

Virtual Trek Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Virtual Trek Briefing: Trekking back in time to Early 2018. Zooming in on Cape Town, South Africa with Capetonians grappling with a growing water shortage that is causing the city’s past of inequality, pockets of poverty, government missteps and a human rights plea to spring to the surface.

Let’s trek backward then forward.

Trek time : 9 minutes 13 seconds

What are the water issues and concerns?

  • water availability
  • water usage
  • water planning
  • increased population
  • potential water conflicts & much more…

Bonus Trek

This video is a perfect example of how scholars, strategists and stakeholders play an important role in addressing water crises.

Trek time : 24 minutes 50 seconds

Cape Town: Day Zero Delayed for Now

Trek time : 2 minutes 35 seconds

 

source: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/cape-town-water-crisis-day-zero-overflowing-dams/

The Cape Town water crisis is a warning to all municipalities across the globe.

It is a reminder to countries and communities that teeter on the edge of a water crisis to strategically plan. It only takes a prolonged drought to cripple a water supply

For now the Capetonians have avoided a total disaster of conflict and water unavailability.

Municipalities are scrambling for water sources to satisfy growing populations. What’s the water story in your local area?

-Bek, Trek With Bek Project

TREKKING WITH PURPOSE

A Colored Environment

A Colored Environment are reflections of the price you pay for being you in different environments. The initial recollection is told through the lens of a Black Woman in Science. Applause can get loud around this accomplishment. Nevertheless the tolls to stay in this lane has a cost. In each environment it becomes colored with experiences of joy & difficulty.

Bek, Water Solutions Strategist

In “A Colored Environment” the toll of being Black in America is explored as a bittersweet existence. This expression fits squarely into the topic of environmental racism.

The term “environmental racism” a deeper look into environmental and water issues that plague low income communities with a high percentage of Black residents.

Let’s trek to Uniontown, Alabama and meet the people and understand their plight.

Trek Time: 10 minutes 15 seconds

This trek is further deepened with the presence of the hookworm parasite which is an indicator of extreme poverty when wastewater is untreated and is in contact with the ground for prolonged periods of time. Union town, Alabama is added on to a list of African countries & communities in Brazil. This list is just one example of many where Africa & the African Diaspora experience similar water quality & treatment issues.

Here are articles about the presence of the hookworm in rural Alabama, villages in Brazil & Kenya.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/05/hookworm-lowndes-county-alabama-water-waste-treatment-poverty

vaccine projected to be adminstered widely in 2020

source: https://www.scidev.net/global/medicine/news/first-hookworm-vaccine-passes-brazilian-safety-trial.html

source: https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/08/03/treating-children-for-worms-yields-long-term-benefits-says-new-study/

strategic solutions

Please note how as a Strategists ( STEM professionals) the need to be empowered & equipped to engage in collaborative solution seeking. In the video environmental – air, water and land intersect.

*Correction in assessment instead of indicating an issue with the porosity of clay the correct term was focusing on the permeability of the clay.

Feel free to leave comments below.

monitor water challenge

The Trek With Bek Project promotes the early & continued exploration of water quality, treatment & its sustainable use.

The Trek With Bek Project encourages Pan African connected Youth, Eco Advocates, Collegiate Scholars & STEM Professionals to collectively participate in efforts that address clean water access and a better environment in Africa & throughout the African Diaspora.

🚨To adjust for COVID 19, a suggestion is that groups use virtual conferencing &/or Facebook live  to assist with participation, sample & data collection.🚨

The Earth Echo Water Challenge is an opportunity to explore the local area while building up community empowerment. This initiative highlights water quality of river, streams or natural bodies of water. The three parameters – dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, temperature, nitrates & phosphates indicate the abilities of an aquatic environment to support or endanger aquatic wildlife and plants. To determine water quality, a test kit is needed.

Bek showcases the test kit: (please note: nitrate & phosphate testing not included in video)

TEST KITS

Order a Test Kit

Apply for a Free Test Kit

Getting started…

Step 1: Select your site

Recommend local wetlands, natural water bodies at a national park , state or local park or a local water body with aquatic wildlife and plants.

Trek With Bek Project sample site.

Step 2: Prepare your monitoring equipment

Step 3: Monitor your site

DISSOLVED OXYGEN
pH
TURBIDITY
TEMPERATURE
NITRATES & PHOSPHATES (NEWLY ADDED)

Step 4: Report your data

EARTH ECHO WEBSITE

www.monitowater.org

APP

Android

Non Android Users

connect with the trek with bek project

BONUS FLASHCARDS

EDUCATOR RESOURCES

COVID19 AND THE WATER

During this pandemic there is a lot of information floating around leaving you submerged between the shores of conspiracies and the CDC ( Center for Disease Control). More than ever-easy to understand facts, compassion and empowerment are needed throughout the globe. This is a human crisis that has caused disruption and requiring everyone to shift towards a new normal. Therefore, today, I will bundled up – compassion, and empowering energy and present to the current information of COVID 19 in the water.

On April 8, 2020, I am drinking more tea and less coffee. I am attempting to be more in tune to my inner productive peaceful self instead of my chaotic multitasker side -that saga continues. Nevertheless, I am in staring at my phone’s screen awaiting the COVID19: A Water’s Professional Perspective -International Water Association to start. My smartphone screen looked like this ⬇️

We all were logging in from all around the globe as water professionals and interested citizens. As a consultant and former regulatory official of public water systems I was taking many notes to share with my global clients and the concerned public connected with Africa & the African Diaspora.

🚨Caution this content may not be best consumed while eating your snacks or random meal 🚨

Here are my notes 🖊:

VIRUS AND DISEASE 🦠

  • Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause illnesses
  • SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease. (Center for Disease Control, Mayo Clinic)

DRINKING WATER 🥤💧

  • Current drinking water treatment methods by cities and bottled water companies are being monitored and tested; currently no evidence of the virus has been found
  • A large percentage of drinking water is sourced from groundwater; therefore risks are very low
  • In the United States of America, the bottled water industry is regulated by the Food & Drug Administration and no evidence of the virus has been found to date
  • Drinking water sourced from surface water must be monitored and tested and risk factors reduced
  • The greater risk of surface water as drinking water are in developing countries where poorly built latrines & open defecation can lead to contamination of surface water
  • Rural poor communities in developing countries are at a greater risk to potential virus exposure due to using surface water as a potable water source; in these instances WASH (sanitation) standards are needed; separation of wastewater & drinking water is key. (World Health Organization)

WASTEWATER 🚱

  • Managing and treating wastewater is of higher concern for most nations and is the focus for researchers, governments and water professionals
  • To date, viable virus has not been detected in wastewater from infected persons’ waste
  • Occupational hazards for wastewater treatment plant workers is a priority, wearing PPE (personal protection equipment) is recommended; concern is untreated wastewater being an aerosol during treatment and inhalation occurring or contaminated surfaces and improper handwashing

COMMUNITY ACTION STEPS

  • Understand where your potable water is sourced & its quality by checking out the most current Consumer Confidence Report, an annual water quality report
  • Establish effective communication with your local regulatory agency
  • Stay informed and collaborate for a better community
Connect With Bek
BMPowered Consulting & Services
Trek With Bek Project

Bekkah Marshall (Bek), Eco & Water Solutions Strategist serves as a consultant and speaker on the topics of Women and Water Issues, Strategizing Water Solutions for Africa & the African Diaspora and Community Empowerment in Addressing & Creating Sustainable Eco connected Water Solutions.

Bekkah has over a decade of experience as a Certified Environmental Health Professional and Environmental Regulatory Official- Drinking Water & Domestic Wastewater. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science – Water Quality & Treatment Specialization from the University of South Florida.

USF Water Research Opportunity in Kumasi, Ghana

WASH RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY – University of South Florida Scholars travel abroad to Kumasi, Ghana

To: Undergrad & Grad Scholars
**Research Applications are usually due Feb 1st for Late Spring & Summer Opportunities

The University of South Florida has a water research opportunity in connection with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology.

Here is the information to apply & for further information:
https://www.usf.edu/nsf-ires/

If you are not a University of South Florida Scholar please search science & engineering research opportunities at your university & connect with your academic advisor as soon as possible.

FREE TRAINING FOR UNDERGRAD SCHOLARS

Want to be better prepared to apply to research opportunities? Register for a free 30 minute mini-course taught by Bek.

What you will learn?

  • The team & community dynamics attached to research opportunities
  • The art of marketing your genius & experiences
  • How to maximize the research application process
REGISTER FOR MINI COURSE

-Bek, USF Alumna – Environmental Science focus Water Quality & Treatment

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