Water & Natural Resources

“Water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink.”

Even though our planet is 70% water, only a small percentage of that is fresh water. The rest is salt water which cannot be used. The 2.5% of fresh water exists mostly as ice or permanent snow cover. We have only 1/3 of that percentage available for use. According to some predictions, by the year 2025 around 1.8 billion people will have no access to drinking water.

Everything we do requires water, for drinking, washing, growing food, and for industry, construction and manufacturing. With more than 7.5 billion people on the planet, and the population projected to top 10 billion by 2050, the situation is set to grow more urgent.

Water seems the most renewable of all the Earth’s resources. It falls from the sky as rain, it surrounds us in the oceans that cover nearly three-quarters of the planet’s surface, and in the polar ice caps and mountain glaciers. It is the source of life on Earth.

So why are we stressing about it?

Depletion of water means scarcity of water which means that there there that water sources are running dry. Water scarcity is the lack of sufficient available freshwater resources to meet water demand. It affects every continent.

About 1.1 billion people are facing water shortage in the world. Water scarcity is a real problem which is currently affecting 7% of the world’s population.

Fresh water is essential for life -- and there's not nearly enough of it for the world right now. Why is that, and what could we do? Christiana Z. Peppard lays out the big questions of our global water problem. And no, shorter showers are not the answer.


Let’s look at some of the causes of water depletion.

CAUSES OF WATER DEPLETION

Excessive demand of water: due to overpopulation, the demand of water has increased considerably. More quantities of water are used and wasted over the time. The population growth already occurred and will continue at an unpredictable rate. A report showed that around 200 river basins, home to 2.67 billion people, already experience water scarcity. That way, anxiety about water availability grows as freshwater use continues at unsustainable levels.

Climate change: due to global warming and change in the climate, huge amounts of surface water and groundwater are being evaporated due to excessive heat. What’s more there is a decline in the level of water in the reservoir and dams due to evaporation.  Also, low rainfall has reduced considerably over the years. This is mainly because of large scale deforestation and drastic climatic changes. These add to the reduction in water resources.

What’s more, climate change is bringing droughts and heatwaves across the globe, as well as floods and sea level rises. Pollution is growing, both of freshwater supplies and underground aquifers. The depletion of those aquifers can also make the remaining water more saline. Fertilizers leaching nitrates into the supplies can also make water unsuitable for drinking or irrigation.

WATER. It's the most essential and pervasive element of life. Yet, nearly half of humanity will face water scarcity by 2030 due to climate change and population growth. What can be done about the looming crisis of a global drought?

Pollution: Pollution is a major cause of water shortage. There are many sources, for example pesticides and fertilizers that wash away from human waste or industrial waste and pollute the ground water. Most of the industrial wastewater are dumped to clean water sources. Water is polluted when this type of chemical are deposited into water bodies, thus making it unfit for human consumption. Oil spillage and fecal matter also makes the water contaminated.

Deforestation: This can be considered a major cause for water depletion. Large scale deforestation considerably lowers the capacity of the soil to retain water and this affects the water table. Deforestation removes trees that protect watersheds and improve water quality. Forests play an important role in the water cycle, by reducing runoff and stabilizing water flows, and helping water return into the atmosphere as clouds. Urban expansion requires roads that increase ambient temperatures, remove native plant species, and increase water runoff.

Agriculture: agricultural activities steadily increasing by the day which means more water is pumped for use. Agriculture uses 70% of the world’s accessible freshwater. It takes between 1 and 3 tonnes of water to grown 1kg of cereal. A kilogram of beef takes up to 15 tonnes of water to produce. It is estimated that between 2.000 and 5.000 litres of water are needed to produce a person’s daily food. This way of using water is resulting in drying out rivers, lakes and underground aquifers. Countries that are huge exporters of food such as China, Australia or the United States— are close to reaching their water resource limits.

Despite water covering 71% of the planet’s surface, more than half the world’s population endures extreme water scarcity for at least one month a year. Current estimates predict that by 2040, up to 20 more countries could be experiencing water shortages. These statistics raise a startling question: is the Earth running out of clean water? Balsher Singh Sidhu takes a closer look at water consumption.

Effects of water depletion

Hunger
As we saw above, agriculture requires huge amount of water in order to  grow crops and to care for livestock animals. So water shortage means the practice of growing crops and farming will be greatly impacted. And with the population estimated to increase, and so the demand for food, you can imagine what can happen!

Health Problems
In many developing nations, water scarcity forces people to drink water of low quality from flowing streams, majority of which are contaminated. Accordingly, they are infected with water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and dysentery that kill people. Water shortage may also mean sewage systems are stagnant which creates room for the build-up of bacteria and harmful insects that result in infections. Besides, sanitation might become chaotic when water is scarce especially in restaurants, clinics, and public places thus compromising the health of the general public.

Habitat Loss and Destruction to Ecosystems
When water is scarce, then it means the natural landscapes suffer the most as it contributes to desertification, lose of plants and death of wildlife and other animals. As a result, these ecological catastrophes create habitat loss that, in turn, leads to food shortages and poor quality of life. For instance, the Aral Sea in Central Asia that used to be the world’s fourth largest freshwater lake has been reduced by more than a third in a period of only three decades. The water is now very salty, and the ecosystems within and around it have been extensively destroyed due to overuse of the water resource, mainly influenced by water scarcity in the region.

Disappearance of Wetlands
According to WWF, more than half of the planet’s wetlands have lost since 1990 which is largely due to water scarcity. The wetlands have become dry to the point of losing its natural capability to hold water. Human activities are the main contributors because of water overuse, pollution, and interference with the underground aquifers.

What if we could see through the crust of the earth to locate and measure precious groundwater? It’s no longer necessary to do “exploratory surgery” on the earth, says Knight, whose team uses satellites to track fresh water. Relying on the most sophisticated new measurement tools, Knight predicts and explains our fresh water future.

Solutions

Recharging aquifers/groundwater
Groundwater retraction has tripled in the past five decades because of industrial and agricultural uses. To avoid doing more damage, governments and organizations need to take measures to recharge aquifers or groundwater by undertaking projects aimed at infiltrating or injecting excess surface water into the underground aquifers. This may include aspects such as restoration of watersheds and wetlands and the practice of green infrastructure which aims at reducing impervious surfaces.

Water re-use and Effective Water Treatment Technologies
Water re-use strategies can restore water scarcity in cities, schools, hospitals, and industries. The main strategies here include reuse and recycling and the use of zero-liquid discharge systems. Zero-liquid discharge system is whereby the water within a facility is constantly treated, used and reused again and again without being discharged into the sewer or other external water systems.

The non-potable water (grey water) can be used for washing cars, irrigating landscape, industrial processing and flushing the toilets. Such a system allows the waste water that would have been discarded to become a helpful resource. Water re-use or grey water can hence save a lot of fresh water for human consumption in times of water shortage and water stress.

Desalination
Desalination is the treatment of salt water. The treatment process aims at obtaining fresh drinking water from the salty ocean waters or groundwater with high salt concentrations that make them unsuitable for human consumption. Nations could invest in desalination technologies as a means of attaining a more reliable water resource system to meet the ever rising water demands. However, its a very expensive process.

Water Management
Water management by the use of regulations and policies can help reduce water scarcity. The regulations and policies can address the water-related problems including aspects such as water reuse, water resource management, water rights, industrial water use, wetland restoration, domestic water supplies, water pollution, and others. In precise, water management has the capability of addressing human interventions and the various natural events in connection with resources and the long-term water policy decisions on the environment and economy.

Infrastructure Repair and Maintenance
One of the key ways of solving the problem of water scarcity can be through infrastructure repair and maintenance of water channels. Leaking pipes and sewage systems normally lead to water wastage and contamination respectively. If these infrastructures are left unattended to over time, the cumulative effects can create water shortages. Millions of liters of water are lost yearly in various regions of the world owing to leakages and sewer contamination, creating water shortages.

Water Conservation
Water conservation is one of the leading ways to grow out of water scarcity. It is an indirect approach to reducing water demands and is it usually critical in maintaining the supply-demand balance. During droughts and in densely populated regions, for instance, water conservation efforts ensure there is a supply-demand balance. The approaches can easily be implemented as they involve simple ways of saving water. For water conservation to be effective enough, it has to work hand in hand with water management policies.

According to the UN, nearly one in three people worldwide live in a country facing a water crisis, and less than five percent of the world lives in a country that has more water today than it did 20 years ago.

What do you do in your daily life to save water? By tagging us with #theconsciouschallenge you can share your ideas!

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