Clean, drinkable water is a necessity for the wellbeing of the human race.   Water quality is becoming an increasingly challenging problem in the world community.     Not only is the shortage of drinking water a big problem, but the quality of the available water is being degraded by various kinds of pollution.   Various kinds of pollutants are tainting water around the world.     The problem of how to keep existing water sources clean and how to find new ways to clean tainted water to make it safe for drinking is being studied by governments and scientists around the world.

We need drinking water to be clean and safe for the health and wellbeing of people using it.     Polluted water can cause severe illnesses, illnesses that are extremely contagious, that can sweep through entire population groups.     Sometimes a water sources, like a lake or stream becomes polluted by overpopulation of the area around it.     Too many people use the water for too many things.     If a population uses a lake to bath in, to wash clothes in, to water cattle in and to dump waste in, it will become polluted.     Add industrial and farm run off and the problem become even worse.     Our water sources need to be managed to protect the water quality.

Water can become unsafe when bacteria and microorganisms get into the supply, rendering it unsafe for human consumption.     Bacteria can be introduced into a water supply by farm runoff, sewage dumping or spills, natural disasters like floods, earth quakes and hurricanes, runoff from roads or parking lots and over use for human and animal bathing.     Industrial chemicals and pesticides can endanger the health of anyone drinking the water they taint.     The world water supply is limited, so when its water quality is degraded to be unsafe to use, there is nowhere to go for more.   No water to drink, no human race.

There is a very large bottled water industry in the world today.     People around the world are becoming so unsure of the safety of their drinking water supplies, they choose to purchase bottled water that has a perception that the water quality is of a safe standard.    

The bottle water industry is essentially self-managed with only limited guidelines and obligations regarding the standards that they need to be met.    In a few developed countries, bottle water can be filled unfiltered straight from the tap or ground water (spring water).    Have a look at your state or country regulations to see what I mean.     

That is a solution for people who have access to bottled water and the money to purchase it, but what about those who are too poor to buy bottled water?

Ultimately, the best solution would be to make the international effort to educate people on how to clean up polluted water sources and keep water quality at safe levels.     Local populations, farmers, industries and governments all must cooperate to keep the worlds water clean and drinkable.     

Is this dream achievable?   It is, without question extraordinarily challenging.   Protozoa’s, bacteria, viruses are growing at rapid rates around the world, not only infecting human, but as well wild animals.      These wild animals inadvertently contaminate our water ways by animal excrement or dead and rotting carcasses in our water ways.  

Science must find better ways to purify drinking water that even the poor can afford.

Fortunately a company SureAqua based in Sydney, Australia has discovered a cost effective way to provide portable safe drinking water for the masses at less than 1 cent a litre.    They have harnessed membrane technology to allow it to filter bacteria, protozoa’s and viruses out of water.     It filters down to 0.01 microns.    This is a minimum 5 times smaller than the smallest virus and 100 times smaller than bacteria and protozoa’s.     

When choosing the right travel insurance for yourself, there are many questions that you need to ask, and these questions will change depending on the location and the purpose of the trip, time away etc.

For example, a policy which is suitable for domestic travel within Australia (when you are an Australian citizen) where you are covered by Medicare, will not be the same policy that you need for overseas travel for business, when taking your laptop and other expensive electronic items. These are differences that you need to be aware of and read all the fine print, particularly when buying your policy on line and not through your travel agent or directly from the Insurer.

Most policies will cover you for;

Some important questions to ask;

Do you qualify for cancellation coverage, hotels and airfares?
Do you qualify for medical expenses that suit your personal conditions and recent medical history at the time of travel?
Will you receive full compensation for lost/stolen luggage? – What’s in your luggage that might need to be itemized (electronics, sporting equipment, jewelry etc)
Are you covered for legal costs if you become involved in an incident/accident that may result in injury of another party?
How much travel will you be doing in the calendar year? Would it be more cost effective to purchase a policy covering you for multiple trips?
Is the policy for my needs overall – for example, there are policies available for Backpacking over general travel, with Family, international, long term travel are some of examples.
How easy is it to process a claim and recoup your out of pocket expenses?
What documentation do I need for a claim, what receipts/reporting (medical) are needed? These are always easier to get at the time – not when you’re back home!!

Always read the entire policy, and then read it again.

How could a Travel Gadget save your life?  Drinking contaminated water can in the worst case be fatal and at best you can be ill for a day or so with gastro. It is so easy to drink contaminated water.  In most cases, you are not able to see the harmful bacteria or protozoa’s (they are the mean one that give you Giardia and Crypto).  They are invisible. 

In most places you travel you should drink only purified water.  How do you know whether the water is clean or not?  You need to take precautions for yourself.  A travel tip, make sure you take a Aqua Safe Straw, Aqua Safe Straw+ and or  Aqua Safe Bottle) as part of your travel accessory.  It is a must of a travel accessory.  Even for everyday use, drinking filtered water is important.  Be sure that the filter removes everything to at least 1 micron.  Don’t accept anything else.  Did you know some bacteria can be as small as 1 micron?  Did you also know that Protozoa’s have hard outer shells that can repel chemicals.  To kill these protozoa’s you need high dosages of chemical making it almost undrinkable and dangerous for many people with allergic reactions or people with thyroids or pregnant women.

His is a travel tip. Always carry a AquaSafeStraw or AquaSafeStraw+ or AquaSafeBottle in your travel luggage.  It’s a must travel accessory.