BechtelFlow

** Director: **Irena Salina ** Release year: **2008   The central agreement of this film is that our current waster use is a problem. Our water resources are slowly running out, and we are not prepared for what may happen in the future. Water has become the third largest industry in the world today, yet it is rarely discussed in the media. Most people don’t even know where their water comes from. These same people believe that water will never be a resource problem because there is so much of it on the earth; but this is incorrect. Our current way of life is taking from our environment at an alarming rate. We need to take a step back and look at how we are using this vital resource before it is too late.  ** What sustainability problems does the film draw out? **  //__Wasteful Practices __// Water is currently a $400 billion industry and is expected to increase exponentially as it becomes scarcer. Right now it is the 3rd largest industry, behind oil and electricity. This is because use water generously in nearly every aspect of our lives. Americans absolutely take for granted how much water we consume on a regular basis. We use water in our daily lives to do everything from flushing our toilets to watering our plants. Both of these examples could just as easily be done with moderately clean water, not the pristine drinking water that flows from our faucets. It really is almost ignorant how abusive we are of the privilege to have clean drinking water access right in our homes. Still, many people choose buy bottled than drink what they already have. Corporations have perpetuated the myth that tap water is not really as “clean” as bottled water in order to make more profit. The truth, however, is that most tap water has to meet stricter standards than bottled water does. In fact, some companies simply bottle tap water and then label it with something similar to “natural spring water” so the people will be encouraged to buy it. This form of marketing is one of the major roots of the problem. Another part of the problem is that nearly everything that is produced today requires the use of water in some level of production. The clearest example of this is agriculture, which is extremely water intensive. Another example is energy generation. Whether we consider nuclear power of fossil fuel burning, most energy generators require some level of water be used for thermal conduction. This water is eventually used up somehow and has to be continually replaced. Water is a finite resource and as long as we treat it like it is limitless we are going to see major problems in the future.  __Health and Access __ Two very closely related sustainability problems that are addressed in the movie are human health and access to fresh drinking water. Over 2 million people die every year to water related illnesses and most are younger than 5 years old. In fact, the lack of access to clean water kills more people annually than any world war. Also, man-made chemicals are introduced into the water supply through pollution and have horrible effects on ourselves and our environment. One example is the chemical known as Atrazine. This is known to contribute to various health problems, but is still found in drinking water around the world. Furthermore, many regions are running out of water resources. This is due to our massive consumption of the resource. Corporations in the water industry are extremely detrimental, as they have slowly fought to gain control over our water supply. Many scientists fear that complete water privatization is in our near future. The problem is that corporations provide water access only to those who can afford it, not those who need it. As much as 1.1 of the world’s 6 billion people currently don’t have access to clean drinking water. In some developing countries, people have to pay for water that is rightfully theirs at a high price. This contributes to a lot of health problems in the area for people who cannot afford the water and are forced to drink find unhealthy sources. Water is essential to life and desperate people will do just about anything for it. One example of a corporate attempt at water privatization was the Bechtel Corporation in Bolivia. The local government agreed to sell all water rights of the region to corporation after feeling extreme pressure from the World Bank. Most of the population was simply unable to afford the price of water and everyone was outraged that they couldn’t even drink the water which fell from the sky because it was not owned by then. A huge revolution took place to overthrow the current government and restore their ownership of the water. A very similar problem is that much of the bottled water which mid to upper class Americans take for granted comes from third world countries. Fugi water for example does not actually come from Fugi very much at all. It certainly is not fair for us to take water from countries which are already dying of thirst, but this is exactly what we are doing. Bottled water companies drain an astonishing amount of water from many streams, causing serious problems downstream.  ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why? ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">This film was very compelling because it contained a near perfect mix of scientific facts pathos. The movie both told the troubling stories of many individuals as well as convinced the viewer that the problems were on the global scale. The large number of experts that were present was also persuasive. It really did feel like the audience was there watching these people protest for fair water rights.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Title: **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> Flow
 * What is the central argument or narrative of the film? **

** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? Why? ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">I was the least compelled by how this film tried to use a scare tactics approach to convey the problem. I agree that it did a good job of convincing the viewer that we need immediate action, but I believe these fears will be washed away when they go home and leave the water running for a half hour while they stand in the shower. The issue I see is that the fear and desperation shown in the movie is a huge contradiction to how most people see water in their daily lives. What we need is better education, not more fear.

** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">What audiences does the film best address? Why? ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">This film can be shown to a very general audience, but best addresses the younger population. The older people are, the longer they have seen that water has been around with relatively few problems. This group will be rather reluctant to change their ways. The younger population, on the other hand, will see this as more of a crisis. Everyone alive uses water, so everyone can help make change somehow. The style of this film is very much more geared toward a younger population because it requires little or no background information and is rather fast paced.

** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value? ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The best thing that could have been added to enhance this film’s environmental educational value is a better analysis of how much water an average middle class American consumes. I’m sure the figures are rather high, but it would be nice to know more exactly what it is. This would allow for better consideration of what conservation steps can be taken. It also would have been good to consider a few simple in home methods of water conservation. Such examples might include taking shorter showers or even turning off lights (the relationship between energy consumption and water use is a little abstract but I addressed it above and I feel the film should have done so as well).

** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">What kinds of action and points of intervention are suggested by the film? If the film itself does not suggest corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being effective. ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Water conservation techniques were introduced into the film that can help retain rainwater and provide a water supply to the surrounding area without the negative control of water companies. Legal battles were also discussed in the movie, such as the one that took place in Michigan against Nestle. Even though the environmental groups lost the legal battle, they made their point. These groups made a difference. Another example was effects of Coca Cola Company which were impacting the water supply and creating several health and environmental problems. Every day, residents of the region gathered outside and protested. Eventually, they gained enough support to show that the presence of the company was detrimental and Coca Cola was forced to shut down the plant. Furthermore, the film has its own petition to be presented to the United Nations to include water as a human right.

** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out? ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The first thing this film compelled me to seek out was where exactly Troy water comes from. I found the answer on [] along with many other useful facts about our water consumption, such as what contaminants may be present and how we can decrease our use. The answer is that Troy water comes from the Tomhannock Reservoir northeast of Troy (up Route 7 or Hoosick Street). According to the website the water source is at an excellent level. I was also compelled to research exactly how much water I consume on average. According to [] my fraternity house uses roughly 2000 gallons of water per day. This may sound like an insanely high amount, but per person we consume just under the per capita national indoor water use (I think). Nevertheless, it is almost impossible to even imagine 2000 gallons of water flowing into that house every single day. There certainly is a lot of room for improvement here.