The BBC reported last week that a water company responsible for supplying water and treating sewage in Cumbria has been pumping untreated waste into Lake Windermere. This was between 2021 and 2023. It was illegal dumping of sewage and it has damaged the water quality in the biggest Lake in the area. The figure reported is over 140 million litres of waste poured into the Lake at times when this was not permitted.

Britain’s water companies are under scrutiny for the pollution of lakes, rivers, streams and ultimately, the Sea.
One campaigner said that Windermere, the jewel in the crown of the Lake District
National Park is being used as an open sewer.
Hopefully the Water company concerned will be taken to task by OFWAT, the Water Services Regulation Authority and will be sanctioned to act responsibly in service to their customers. and keep our water supplies safe.

Keeping water safe to drink combined with making it available to those in great need is a different but not unconnected story. The Global Commission on the Economics of Water  report that more than
2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 3.6 billion people – 44% of the population – lack access to safe sanitation. Every day, 1,000 children die from lack of access to safe water. Demand for fresh water is expected to outstrip its supply by 40% by the end of this decade. Over half of the world’s food production comes from areas experiencing unstable trends in water availability.
For the little boy in our other picture (reproduced last week in the Guardian Newspaper) it makes no difference how much water is wasted in the Lake District. He could well be  dead by the time the balance between making money for shareholders and honest and responsible service to its customers gets sorted out.
In Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, Africa and so many other dark places in the world, the basic right of innocent people for clean water is making the situation far worse. So we have to work for a fair distribution of God’s provision of natural resources making them available to all. Failure to do this would be yet another sign of our misuse of the Planet which is not ours to do with as we like but is for all to share.

Loving God, we ask for Your blessings on children,
mothers, fathers, and communities who are thirsty.
Purify, protect, and multiply their water sources.
Strengthen their resolve so they may fully enjoy the benefits of clean water
— essentials like education, gardens of fresh produce, and good health.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heavenly Father, source of living water,
Proverbs 25:21 says, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.” 
Please convict our hearts to help children, families, communities,
and even our enemies to receive clean, accessible drinking water.

[Mr G]