Water supply crisis – Part 1 – Causes & facts

In my presentation I would like to raise an issue that might have direct influence on your lives. I hope that you will find it interesting, at least in some part. The topic I've chosen is the water supply crisis. There's no life without water and world's water supply is shrinking.

Some organizations claim that this problem doesn't exist. Maybe it's true that it can't be observed all over the world, but in the nearest future it can affect many countries. Human demand for water is raising everyday and world's water resources are finite. Earth's supply of fresh water is stored in aquifers, surface waters and the atmosphere. Although there is a lot of water in the oceans, we must remember that it's saline water and must be converted to drinking water. The amount of energy needed for conversion is prohibitive today. In a result a very small fraction of the world's water supply derives from desalination.

What causes water supply crisis?

The reasons are complex but I'll try to briefly outline some of them:

• The world's population tripled in the 20th century, the use of renewable water resources has grown six-fold. Within the next fifty years, the world population will increase by another 40 to 50 %. This population growth - coupled with industrialization and urbanization - will result in an increasing demand for water and will have serious consequences on the environment.
• Governments and companies responsible for the management and allocation of water are prone to conscious or unconscious bias towards the rich and powerful. Lack of infrastructure often means no safe water or adequate sanitation services are provided for poor rural and urban communities.
• Consumption is rising due to economic development and growing standards of living. From 1900-1995 global consumption of water rose six-fold.
• Millions of people have no choice but to drink water that could kill them. Globally water related diseases are the single largest cause of sickness and death.
• The natural environment, which is the home and source of water, is often destroyed by industrial pollution and degradation. Deforestation and soil erosion are major causes of dwindling water supplies.
• In addition to the effects of poor sanitation water is also polluted by industry and agriculture. The results of this combined pollution cause disease on a huge scale. The poor are usually the first to suffer from pollution as they are often forced to use water from downstream sources and do not have the access to adequate sanitation that the rich enjoy. Contaminated water spreads bacteria and parasites, for example causing diarrhea, and carries water-based hosts, such as guinea worms.
• Climate change is increasing the number of natural disasters such as floods and droughts, both of which have a negative impact on water resources.
• Globally there is a huge shortfall in finance and investment in the water sector, both for investment in new operations and for maintenance of existing infrastructures. This lack of investment and the absence of effective planning and management of scarce water resources are often the root causes of water shortages and inadequate sanitation. Governments lack the will, or the capacity, to develop and integrate sustainable water management policies.
• Groundwater resources are heavily over-used. People pump out more water than is returned in the natural cycle.

The Aral Sea is one of the most drastic examples of how water usage can completely change the landscape and ecosystem. The picture below shows the Aral Sea has lost more than 1/2 of it's area because the water was diverted for irrigation purposes.

Facts

• 2 out of 3 people will be living with water shortages by 2025
• Over 2.4 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation
• At the start of the 21st century unclean water is the world's second biggest cause of death for children
• 3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease
• 43% of water-related deaths are due to diarrhea
• 84% of water-related deaths are in children ages 0 – 14
• 98% of water-related deaths occur in the developing world
• 884 million people lack access to safe water supplies, approximately one in eight people
• An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than the typical person living in a developing country slum uses in a whole day

Questions

• Are you aware about the water crisis? Do you think it's a real problem?
• Do you think it's worth to take some action to improve the situation?

Sources

• http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/index.php?id=25
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_crisis
• http://water.org/waterpartners.aspx?pgID=916
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1234244.stm
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/world/2000/world_water_crisis/default.stm
• http://waterwiki.net/index.php/Water_and_Health
• http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/environment-book/dyingseas.html