Photo courtesy Vestegaard Frandsen, Inc.

If you've seen the food pyramid, then you know that grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, meat and beans, and oils are essential food groups. The pyramid is designed so that your daily diet will provide you with vital nutrients. Although it's not listed on the food pyramid, one other nutrient is necessary for your survival. That nutrient is water. Even though it isn't specifically mentioned, water actually is an important part of the food pyramid. Water can be found in vegetables, fruits, milk, meat and even grains. But the water you get from those food sources isn't really enough to keep you going. That's why it's recommended that you drink several 8-ounce glasses of water a day.

Water is colorless, odorless and tasteless. So you might be thinking, "What's the big deal? Why do I need it?" Water carries out some very important roles in your body. Water helps transport nutrients and oxygen throughout your body. It also helps your body absorb those nutrients. Water helps eliminate waste from your body. Water cushions your organs and joints. And, water helps regulate your body's temperature. Water is so important that your body is somewhere between 50 to 70 percent water. That water is everywhere. Your blood is 83 percent water, muscles consist of 75 percent water and bones are 22 percent water. Now you're beginning to see why you need water to live.

An alarming 18 percent of the world's population does not have access to safe drinking water. In sub-Saharan Africa, 42 percent of the population lives without direct access to safe water.

But what if you couldn't get any water? Or, imagine that what you could get made you really sick. This might be difficult to picture. Most of us here in the United States have access to plenty of potable water. Potable water is also known as drinking water - meaning that it's clean and fit for human consumption. When you're in school or at the library, you can go to the water fountain. At home, you can simply put a glass under the faucet, or grab a pitcher or jug from the fridge. And voila, you have fresh, safe drinking water. But what if you couldn't do that?

People around the world - but most especially in Asia and Africa - face this very serious dilemma every day. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, more than 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water! Because of unsafe water supplies, it is estimated that almost 1 million people die every year. A huge percentage of those people are children. Some reports indicate that unsafe drinking water kills approximately 3,900 children every day.

Kofi Annan (Secretary-General of the United Nations) has said, "We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation and basic health care." It's true - this is how very important clean water is.

The United Nations has developed a set of goals -- The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) - aimed at improving the human condition around the globe by 2015. A big part of those goals is to improve access to safe water. Many individuals and groups around the world are working to help make the MDG a reality. One such organization is the Vestergaard Frandsen Group.