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Tess Hanson/ Argument Essay

Professor Lisa Packer
English 1010
19 November 2014
Running Our Water vs. Running with Our Water
It was a very hot June 25th, and Id been working for hours on a project with friends.
Running only on the energy supply I had received from my cheese sticks, Ritz crackers and Twix
fun size candies, the repercussions of my diet decisions for the day began to take their toll. The
temperature of the day was surfacing at its peak while I obliviously continued my time spent in
an uncooled barnfilming our video project. Discomfort is what I was experiencing, and it
managed to quickly progress into a headache, cool sweat, and panging feeling in my kidneys. I
dont think I could honestly tell you exactly where my kidneys were before this opportunity of
pain, but in that moment, I knew very clearly where my kidneys were and how much incredible
pain was coming through my lower right back. I thought maybe sitting down, leaning back,
curling up or walking would ease the piercing sensation, but this was uncomfortable beyond
anything I had ever before and since known. Not being able to tolerate the pain any longer, I ran
inside and in agony I kneeled with my head to my knees, crying beside our toilet in the
bathroom. As the aching amplified I began to vomit as a result of the immense pain I was
feeling. I climbed into the shower, thinking that perhaps some warm water might help, but my
silent weeping turned to a diluted wailing. It was then that my mom told me shed take me to the
hospital.
The drive there seemed further than even my road trip to Oregon, as if every light was
determined to be red for eternity. Upon my arrival at the hospital, still crying and in a state of

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complete unrest, I was asked my pain level on a scale from one to ten. I felt practically insulted
but replied with nineat least!and I was soon placed a room where I was given fluid
intravenously, and informed that I was suffering the moving of a kidney stone. For the days and
months following my episode, I was treated with medications and increased fluid intake. It has
been through this treatment that I was able to develop my passion for water and recognition of all
its remarkable capabilities.
When it comes to the topic of water, most of us will readily agree that it is clearly a
necessity. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of how important is
our water intake in regards to our overall health? Whereas some are convinced that water is our
greatest tool for good health, others maintain that it is only necessary to drink water when you
are thirsty. Though I concede that indeed water is one of our ultimate resources towards healthy
living, I insist that water is has far more influence than just our own personal health. In addition
to the health benefits of water, another important issue is water scarcity and the global water
shortage. As this article progresses, I want to address the need, expectation, reality and action
attributes that water has in our life. Ultimately what are at stake here are the lives of our worlds
human population, as well as the life of our Earth.
Water has the capability to benefit many areas of your overall health, making it far more
important than just an element used to fill a pool or keep our lawns plush and green. In a
recent study carried out by Sarah Smith, a 42 year old British woman, her choice to increase
her daily intake of water provided her with feelings of being leaner and fitter and losing the
dark shadows, red blotches and wrinkles in her face. Smith had originally gone to her doctor
because of her conflict with persistent headaches, and found that the only treatment necessary
was the increase of daily water intake (ABC news). In addition to this study, the Center for

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Disease Control and Prevention claims that water helps your body to keep your temperature
normal, lubricate and cushion joints, protect your spinal cord and other sensitive tissues, and
get rid of wastes through urination, perspiration, and bowel movements. The American Heart
Association also states that staying hydrated by means of water is a great preventative
measure against heart disease, diabetes, and kidney dysfunction. The AHA has also said,
Keeping the body hydrated helps the heart more easily pump blood through the blood
vessels to the muscles. And, it helps the muscles work efficiently. It has become common
today to dismiss the signs that your body gives you, and to simply take medication to help
you ignore it, or to simply endure through it. However, it is essential to realize that water is
more than just something that you anticipate will run when you turn your faucet.
Americans today tend to believe that the best way to obtain things are quickly, easily,
and in plenty. Over a span of many years and many developed countries, this has become a
common frame of thought. Many Americans have access to water in such excess that they
cannot even manage, nor do they bother, to adjust sprinklers so that they dont water during
the middle of a hot day. We cannot live with hunger and malnutrition in one part of the
world while people in another part are not only well nourished, but over-nourished(Mead).
There are many selfish Americans that may question why the issue of water is even our
problem. In a recent effort to raise money and awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,
practically overnight the world was bombarded with videos of those nominated to accept the
ALS ice bucket challenge. I was especially intrigued when there was a sudden change to the
familiar videos I was watching. I first saw such a change when a girl in South America said
that she didnt even have clean water to drink, and thousands of Americans were pouring
clean buckets of cold water to raise awareness for an issue. I was captivated soon after as I

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watched Matt Damon accept the ALS ice bucket challenge using toilet water, bringing our
attention to not only ALS, but also the need for everyone to have access to a clean water.
It posed kind of a problem for me because I cofounded water.org and we envision a day
where everyone has access to a clean drink of water(Damon). He went on to tell about how
there are about 800 million people in the world who dont have that kind of access to clean
water, and it is also their effort to bring adequate sanitation to the 2.4 billion people on Earth
who dont have it. It has been proven that healthier people are happier, and also have a greater
disposition to do good, serve others, experience greater joy, and have fewer cases of
depression. Water can be our key to improved health and thinking about others. In a nation
where it has become common to not only think about yourself before others, but to only think
of yourself, water can be the implement for transformation.
Now knowing the need and health benefits of adequate water intake, can we as
Americans really go on wasting and allowing others to do without that basic need? More
than 2.5x more people lack water than live in the United States.(water.org) As we begin to
use water for only smart and necessary purposes, we have the potential to change the world.
Water is important because when water comes, everything changes. As Americans change
their thoughts from inward to outward and begin to increase their desire to help others, we
will have the ability to enhance education as students are freed from gathering water and are
able to return to school. Americans also have the ability to help in reduce hunger, as access to
water is increased, there will be less crop loss. Safe water leads to clean hands, healthy
bodies, and decreased poverty, as those who were once sick are able to go back to work.
Water should not merely be something we let run, but an idea that we can now run with.

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Works Cited
Batson, John. "Staying Hydrated - Staying Healthy." Staying Hydrated - Staying Healthy. American
Heart Association, Sept. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 03 June
2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
"Global Water Shortage: Water Scarcity & The Importance of Water." The Water Project. N.p., n.d.
Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
Lundgren, Nick. "Water.org." Waterorg. Matt Damon, Nov. 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
"Matt Damon Takes the ALSA Ice Bucket Challenge!" YouTube. Water.org, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
Mead, Margaret. "Changing Significance of Food." Journal of Nutrition Education 2.1 (1970): 17-19.
Web.
News, ABC. "Can Drinking Water Really Take 10 Years Off Your Face?" ABC News. ABC News
Network, 01 Nov. 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.