Waking today I remembered it is April Fool’s day. A day when people play pranks on each other and get caught out. In Odessa in Ukraine, this day is actually a public holiday.
One April Fool that came early (reported on March 27th in the news), was some fake news that officials in the water service in Odessa were planning to run an antiseptic solution through the city’s taps instead of water. The prank continued that the antiseptic supposedly included several different whiskies — a brand for each district.
I wondered if I had just had a bad dream and someone was going to say “April Fool”…but no we are most definitely in the greatest crisis that I have seen globally, the COVID-19 crisis.
We aim to use reputable sources of information at all times, so, I have decided to do a daily blog piece to try to provide as much information as possible on how this crisis affects our relationship with water, globally.
Now more than ever, the sustainable development goal SDG 6 – Clean water and sanitation, needs our attention, because an interface between us and this virus – is how we use and re-use our water supplies, how we manage the wastewater and how we maintain resilience and security of supply.
Starting today – April 1st 2020, I will write a daily blog touching on our relationship with water, the need to protect the security of water and how we can work together to protect this valuable resource; please tune in and give your thoughts too.
Fiona Regan, Director, DCU Water Institute