It is argued by individuals that since water is the most essential part of human life, it should be provided to every household for free, and access to clean water is a human right. Although the water supply is a human right, I do not support the concept of providing it entirely free of charge.
On the one hand, water supply is a basic necessity; therefore, they should not be deprived of it because of their financial condition. In other words, if people can not access clean water for their daily activities because of their financial condition, they are more likely to rely on unsafe water sources. For instance, the African government can not provide its residents with a supply of clean water due to the country’s economic crisis; consequently, people with low income mostly rely on local rivers and rainwater, which causes several severe health issues, such as diarrhea, cholera, etc. Hence, to ensure public safety, in such a situation, there is no other alternative but to supply water for free.
On the other hand, supplying water for totally free has some drawbacks. People often tend to waste resources that they get for free. It has been seen that in some states of Bangladesh, people waste about 45% percent of the total water supply, mostly in the shower and toilet flush, leading to scarcity of water in the drought season. Moreover, maintaining water plants, pipelines, and building infrastructure costs a lot for the government, so if it becomes totally free, it would be a burden to bear for the government. Hence, in my opinion, a balanced approach of both would be more practical. Authorities can provide a certain amount of water for free, and after a certain limit, residents should pay a reasonable amount.
In conclusion, I agree that water is a human right and must be available to everyone. However, rather than making it completely free, a combination of free basic supply and paid extra usage would be a fair and sustainable solution.