Mission Trip 2011
The Cost of Water
by Bill Krech

Yesterday I purchased a 20 oz bottle of "purified water" from a convenience store for $1.70.  I paid $0.085 per ounce, and since there are 128 oz. in a gallon of water, the actual cost of the bottled water I purchased was $10.88 per gallon.  The typical water bill in Southwest Georgia is $35.00 for a minimum of 3000 gallons.  If my math is correct the cost of Georgia tap water is $0.0117 per gallon.

Here's my point ... we are totally willing to pay $10.88 per gallon for bottled water, yet balk at paying 1.2 cents per gallon for water out of the "tap".  In America, we are the beneficiaries of the safest and least expensive potable water system in the world! When we turn on the kitchen faucet and clean pure water flows we never even notice or question the miracle, let alone the paltry cost of it to us.

Here's the thing friends, while we take our water system for granted, in Africa people are dying from contaminated water. This is what should be in the forefront of our minds each time we turn on the kitchen faucet.  The cost of a Shallow Well which will provide clean, safe and sustainable drinking water for an entire village ... $400.00.