by John McDevitt

Created on: March 18, 2009

No person will ever take water for granted after they've seen "One Water." The emotional impact of this film will transform "we didn't know" into a profound awareness of how precious clean drinking water is to all life, into a new appreciation of the seriousness of the world water crisis, into the stark reality of the daily struggle for clean water and survival. People just want clean water to drink. Is this too much to ask?

Heightened awareness often follows a deep emotional experience. "One Water" with it's artful fusion of visual and sound "images," affects people in ways no evening news sound bite or newspaper article can hope to match. The film reaches deep into our psyches to reveal the common humanness that binds us together.

Stunning images illustrate the contrast between abundance and scarcity. Water pumped many miles uphill at great expense powering the fountains of desert Las Vegas contrast with the image of women (and their children) trekking miles across their desert, fetching water, carrying their heavy burden on their heads back to their families, keeping them alive. Day after day, millions of women in the underdeveloped countries of Asia and Africa repeat this life giving journey, walking an average of three or four miles every day for water.

People in the developed countries take the availability of water and their turn of a tap at the kitchen sink access to clean water for granted. Clean water is normal for us.

In many parts of the world, polluted water is normal and a way of life. "One Water" shows people bathing, sewage floating, a man sweeping his hands back and forth, finally finding "clear" water, bringing it to his mouth and drinking. All from the same sacred Ganges river in India. How can this be considered normal?

It may seem incredible to us in the developed world that so many others are forced into dependence on polluted water as a way of life. Industrial wastewater (90% worldwide) dumped directly into rivers is "normal" in too many places in this world.

How can it be "normal" when water borne disease kills 4,000 children each day? How can it be "normal" when people struck down with water related illnesses fill half the world's hospital beds?

"One Water" calls attention to the seriousness of the world's water crisis by showing people the truth. Access to clean, fresh water is essential to health and to life itself, yet 1.5 billion people lack that access. And the problem is growing. Seven billion people could be affected by worldwide water shortages within the next 50 years.

Water management policies have displaced millions upon millions, forcing them to uproot their lives and leave their homes. "The Three Gorges Dam in China alone drove more than one million Chinese from their homes."

"One Water" features poignant images and music from 15 countries all over the world and includes commentary from, among others, the Dalai Lama who said "Existence - our survival is our right. Water is not man made. By nature (it is) there... So therefore I think it should be considered as a basic human right."

No person leaving the theater after experiencing "One Water" will view water in the same light ever again. "One Water" reveals the powerful truths behind the world's water crisis, lifts people's awareness and nudges everyone who sees this film into some action, however small, beginning the change from scarcity into abundance for all.

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All statistics cited in this article have been provided by The Knight Center for International Media.

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