Worzels World - Water, water, everywhere…

Angels may live on different fare, but down here on Earth the primary necessities for life are earth (nutrients), air (oxygen), sun(light) and water. Where these ingredients are supplied in full measure, life thrives. Take one of these elements away and life ceases. So get yourself a sandwich and a beverage, sit in the sun and read this while breathing and you should, if not live, then at least exist for a while longer .

The Grand Ergs of the North African Sahara have fertile soil, plenty of sunshine but no water. There is no life there. Animals, insects or men who find themselves stranded there are quickly dead. Within days their bodies are biltong. Where water abounds though there is plenty. The health of any population is in direct proportion to the quality of their water. And water has been much in the news lately.

After I announced my candidacy for the Kaipara District council I was approached.

“What's your policy on water fluoridation?” the fellow asked.

It was a good question especially as it was a subject I had not considered before. I had no thoughts or opinions on the matter so any policy was right out of the question. Any decent politician and any half-decent poker player would have spotted an anti-fluoride zealot a mile off and answered ‘Fluoride is an insidious poison and eradicating its use is my top priority.’ However this was not my reply.

“Er, I haven't really got one,” I answered in a vague wishy-washy way.

Given the cost of water and the grumbling I have heard recently about water rates that fluoride must be expensive stuff.

I collect water direct from the heavens and God has yet to bill me for it. It lands on my shed roof and is carefully filtered through a combination of rotting ponga fronds, bird droppings and possum dung. It is then deposited into a storage tank which may or may not have a drowned rat or dead possum lying in the bottom. It is 100 per cent natural and there is no fluoride added.

I met someone who insisted that the unsightly sludge that accumulates in water tanks acts as a filter and should not be removed. I don't know if this is true but it is good enough for me. As the old saying goes 'what the eye don't see, the heart don't grieve'. Having cleaned out the tank before I have a fair idea what it looks like and I prefer not to see it. Looking at it makes me feel sick and cleaning it makes me feel sicker still. Nowadays I have given up tank cleaning, my eye doesn’t see, my heart doesn’t grieve and I stay in good health.

More and more around the globe water has become polluted and clean, clear, potable water becomes more difficult to access. Some waterways in China have higher levels of antibiotic residue than people who are taking a course of them. When it rains in London the precipitation mixes with airborne pollution as it falls and brings it to Earth. After rain the cars are dirtier than before. The rain is an acid rain and is so poisonous that it kills trees and plants. The London plane tree predominates because it regularly sheds it’s bark allowing it to divest itself of the poisons which accumulate upon its surface.

Here in New Zealand we take for granted our fertile soil, our temperate climate, and (at least around here) our fresh air and plentiful supply of clean water. I have not visited another country which has such a wealth of life‘s necessities. The open secret to New Zealand’s past prosperity is the abundance of these things. It is shameful that we have squandered such wealth and after a couple of hundred years of producing the basic needs for life such as timber, food and natural fibre for clothing we are a debtor nation whereas countries such as Germany and Holland with a scarcity of such natural resources are not. It is a testimony to poor management and complacency.

When visiting Europe I was amazed to find frozen New Zealand lamb was cheaper than the locally produced product and even more stunned to find our butter and cheese after travelling halfway

around the globe cost less there than it did here at that time. Someone was getting a good deal and I don’t think it was us. But while the sun keeps shining and the tomatoes ripen, when we can put good quality meat on the table and clean water is only as far as the nearest tap, I expect we’ll all just take it for granted a little bit longer yet.

prof_worzel@hotmail.com

More and more around the globe water has become polluted and clean, clear, potable water becomes more difficult to access. Some waterways in China have higher levels of antibiotic residue than people who are taking a course of them.