Energy-Drinking Water-Health Nexus in Developing Countries

Energy scarcity, waterborne diseases, and drinking water shortages are the three significant and fundamentally interlinked factors that are strongly influencing the social and economic growth of developing countries. The deficiency of safe drinking water contributes to many waterborne diseases, causing the demise of several people annually and hampering the growth of society. Desalination processes are often energy-intensive and expensive. Several developing countries facing energy deficiency are forced to build desalination plants to fulfill the demand for potable water. The energy required for desalination is fulfilled by importing oil, which is an additional economic burden on countries that are already paying high oil import bills. Burning a massive quantity of oil is the foremost cause of environmental degradation. The objective of this chapter is to explore the nexus among the energy, drinking water and the people's health in developing countries by using the assessment of several worldwide published reports and papers. This study identifies that community facing energy crises usually be deficient in safe drinking water services; consequently, they suffer from infirmity, which increases economic burden through the loss of work productivity. With a deficient cash reserve, the community is incapable of fulfilling the demand for energy and safe drinking water. The chapter concludes that energy, drinking water, and health nexus administration is essential for economic growth, sustainable development and energy security of developing countries.