I NEVER BOTHERED ABOUT WATER FILTERS UNTIL I HAD THIS NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE
Growing up as a village boy in the northern part of Edo state, I lived most of my life in the village as a fisherman.
It was the occupation of my Father and also the major occupation of those of us who lived in that environment. Swimming was like walking for us, because with close proximity of our houses to the River Niger, we always went there to catch our meals and also our sources of livelihood.
The River Niger was our second home. It is not new that villagers in riverine areas see the rivers as their source of water. Either drinking, cooking, washing and even stooling, the river was the source.
I drank river water, bathed in the same river and sometimes defecated in that same river. This was our life as villagers and we felt immune and invincible that nothing could happen to us
I spent most of my young life in Edo state till university stage, and after my graduation, I moved to the commercial capital of the country to seek greener pastures.
After years of hard work and good fortune, I was able to settle down in Lagos and start a family. Meanwhile, due to city life and general environment changes, I joined the bottle water/c-way water drinking gang. I was no longer drinking from the river because obviously you don't have to go to the river to get water in Lagos.
As expected my human biological system fully adapted to the clean water I consumed in Lagos and also due to maturity, I had come to know that the way we drank water from the river in the village was not healthy at all even though some of us did not fall sick.
I still felt I had a strong system, that's why I never felt sick in the village due to river water and was confident that I could still easily consume any kind of water if I pleased. This mindset led me into serious trouble
Six years into my marriage, I was already a Father of two kids, a five year old boy and another of just two years of age.
It was in the 1st week of march, my wife had travelled for one of her cousins traditional marriage and I was left with my boys to look after.
This was no big deal for me because as the first child of five children, I have learnt to look after my junior ones from a very young age. It was going to be a piece of cake because daddy is in charge.
On that Saturday, just a day after my wife travelled, I was seriously drained by doing house chores and watching over my kids. I was trying my best to multi task and was struggling seriously.
When it was time to put my children to bed, I discovered that I had forgotten to buy water in the house while being too busy multi tasking and trying to keep up with the days Job. I could not go out because it was too late and dangerous. This is Lagos, you can always expect the unexpected.
So I made up my mind that if my Five year old son who had a knack for waking up by midnight to ask for water wakes up at night, I will give him tap water to quench his thirst and buy c-way water by morning to have some water in the house. That move almost caused a tragedy in my family
As early as 3am, my five year old was already beginning to cry for water and as planned, I took some tap water from the kitchen and gave it to him to drink. I was slightly worried about the effect of the water on my child, but to clear my fears, I decided to drink the water first before giving him and taste it to see if it had any offensive taste or smell.
You will not be wrong if you called me careless, because due to my forgetting to buy table water, I put myself and my boy in trouble.
By 7am in the morning, I quickly dashed out to buy some water and felt I had been so smart by providing a quick solution to a problem that would have made my night very long.
Just as I installed the c-way water bottle on the machine, I started hearing my son calling out from his room. I ran towards his direction and on getting to his room, I discovered he had vomited on his bed and had soiled his body with poo while standing very close to the toilet.
For any parent, this is an absolutely horror sight. I immediately rushed him to the hospital and before getting to the hospital, he was vomiting and stooling uncontrollably in the car.
Immediately after he was admitted into the emergency ward in the hospital, I also began to react to the water. I was suppose to be there for my son who was admitted and also watching for over his two year old younger brother, but I immediately became helpless and found myself dashing to the hospital toilet every 10minutes.
My wife arrived earlier than planned and had to be the one to take care of our two year old son while my first son and I were battling for our lives in the hospital.
I am telling this story now because I want people to know how things can change in a short while with the consumption of bad water.
Over 3 million people die from water related diseases world wide with children accounting for about 2million yearly.
I was discharged after 3days and my son spent almost a week in the hospital .I swore to myself that this would never happen again. After all it is said that whoever never made a mistake never made anything.
After I and my family survived that tragedy, I made a personal law that any water that is not good for drinking in my house, should not also be used for cooking . I was not ready to take any chances again. As they say, once beaten, twice shy.
While in the hospital recovering, I remember one of the nurses telling me about getting a water purifier which can be used for tap water in the kitchen. She was the person who advised me that any water not good enough for drinking, should not be good enough for cooking also.
This led to discovering this wonderful purifier that makes life to easy for everyone
Unclean water and poor sanitation have claimed more lives over the past 100 years than any other cause. The water-crisis claims more lives through disease than any war through guns.
At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from a water-related disease.
The good news is that it is possible to do something about it. Many organizations work to improve water conditions in developing countries.
You can begin improving the water quality in your home by using this filter
After my near death experience, I have learnt that when it comes to health, no one is invincible.
I don't play with what I put in my mouth and especially with water that I drink and I also try to encourage people too to take proper precautions when necessary.
Death is inevitable, but dying before our time is always a tragedy.
GET THIS MINI FILTER FOR FREE WHEN YOU BUY THE SWS WATER FILTER