Running head: HEALTH RISKS FROM WATER CRISES 1

Health Risks from Water Crises

Lesly Contreras

Arizona State University

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Design Statement

Water is a crucial aspect of a human beings’ daily life, as we consume it, cook with it,

use it to clean, and to bathe or shower in. Regardless of its use, we use water every single day as

our bodies are made of up to 60% water. Though we are always surrounded by water, not all of it

may be entirely clean. People simply cannot be going around drinking water straight from the

faucet or from the ground because it may be contaminated with lead or bacteria and unfiltered.

Consuming and using safe clean water is important because of the risks or waterborne diseases

people may obtain. The purpose of this infographic is to inform the health risks that may arise

from global water crises through water contamination to those who are not affected by it and can

help those who are.

One major choice in the infographic was to include an image of the world specifically to

address that the issue can be seen all around, not just in specific areas. The color scheme was

also an important choice in order to relate it to the topic and draw the audience’s attention to

specific details, like using the color red to emphasize “Health Risks” in the title. The main color

of the infographic is blue to represent water as a concept; I do not think another color would have

suited better. Some other important choices made in the design includes a quote explaining the

lack of government spending on water access: “Some water experts are worried that increases

sales of bottled water to the developing world will reduce pressure on governments to provide

basic access to non-bottled water” (Cain & Gleick, 2005). After conducting much research on the

topic, several quotes are included in the infographic to inform the audience on the water crisis.

One of the quotes explains the amount of deaths due to waterborne diseases: “Every year there

are more than 3.4 million deaths from waterborne diseases, making it the leading cause of
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disease and death around the world” (Hawthorne, 2018). This quote informs the audience by

striking their emotions and allow the audience to feel sadness or anger.

Another choice that would help make this infographic effective was to include examples

of different places across the globe that are suffering from water crises. One city that was

included as an example was Flint, Michigan. This city in particular has not had access to clean

water since April 2014 and many of these Flint residents have suffered health risks due to high

blood lead levels. Given more time, I would have probably drawn my infographic to give it the

specific details I would have wanted without purchasing a fancy website to create it. I

specifically chose to research this topic because living in Arizona one of many places that

experiences many droughts, so having clean water to access is very important. I cannot imagine

myself going a day without water, so knowing others are suffering and trying their hardest to get

clean water is devastating. To end the infographic, some ways to prevent health risks from water

crisis are included for people to take action in resolving the water crisis and helping those that

are suffering from it.

https://infograph.venngage.com/ps/jzTq3lDQmWY/health-risks-from-water-crisis-_new
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References

Aarhus University. (2014, July 29). Worldwide water shortage by 2040. ScienceDaily.

Retrieved March 14, 2019 from

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140729093112.htm

Bellisari, A. (1994). Public Health and the Water Crisis in the Occupied Palestinian i1

Territories. Journal of Palestine Studies,23(2), 52-63. doi:10.2307/2538231

Cain, N. L., & Gleick, P. H. (2005). The global water crisis. Issues in Science & Technology,

21(4), 79–81. Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=1

7542256&site=ehost-live

Hawthorne, J. (2018, February 15). Critical Facts About Waterborne Diseases In The United

States and Abroad. Retrieved from https://businessconnectworld.com/2018/02/15/critical-

facts-waterborne-diseases-us/

Ruble, K., Carah, J., Ellis, A., & Childress, S. (2018, July 24). Flint Water Crisis Deaths Likely

Surpass Official Toll. Retrieved March 15, 2019, from

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/flint-water-crisis-deaths-likely-surpass-

official-toll/

Suter, M. (2018, November 29). An Update on Yemen's Water Crisis and the Weaponization of

Water. Retrieved March 16, 2019, from

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/an-update-on-yemen-s-water-crisis-

and-the-weaponization-of-water#top