Danubius International Conferences, 11th International Conference The Danube - Axis of European Identity

The Value of the Water in the Romanian Christian Tradition and its Current Legal Protection

Nelu Gheorghiță
Last modified: 2021-06-11

Abstract

Ever since the ancient times, water has been a sacred element, an indispensable element of life, a symbol of femininity, motherhood and fecundity. It was the primordial substance from which all life forms were born.

We notice that its value is also given by the fact that the existence of water sources was and it is still nowadays, a determining condition in the establishment and development of human settlements, which led to a contradictory situation: on the one hand, man needs water in order to survive, and on the other hand, he forgets about its importance and, out of a desire for modernity, he pollutes and makes it dirty.

That is why, in time, people have realized that in order to have a healthy life you need a legal protection of the water, especially after the industrialization and the growth of population have led to an accelerated rhythm of its pollution.

In this respect, especially since the last decade of the twentieth century and up to now, several conventions and laws have emerged against water pollution, both the industrial and the domestic pollution.

In this paper we will try to show what is the material and spiritual value of the water to the Romanian people and what legal steps have been done and we believe some more should be done, in order to protect the purity and quality of the water.