Today, March 22nd, is World Water Day.

After a day shuttling my children, who are both on spring vacation, from play-date to activity and back again, I counted the glasses of water that each one drank.  My 6 1/2 year old son inhaled more than 12 glasses of water and my almost 4 year old daughter had at least 10.

Glasses of fresh, clean, abundantly plentiful water.

I never got into water drinking as a kid, and, as an adult, I struggle every day to make sure that I don’t forget to hydrate.

When, at the end of a busy day, I get home and realize that I am completely parched, it is a simple act to turn the faucet and drink a glass of New York City’s finest.

There is water to drink, bathe and, in the summer,  even to fill water balloons and power the sprinklers in the city parks.

During the summers of my pregnancies, it felt like I took 100 showers a day–just to stand under the water and cool off.  When choosing a hospital in which to give birth to my babies, the availability of water for sanitation (or even for ice chips!) never once crossed my mind.

783 million people, or 11% of the world’s population, do not have safe water to drink and that this, coupled with poor sanitation, results in 2,000 children dying every day.

Having access to clean water changes everything.

Water is just the beginning.

To see the World Water Day 2013 click here .