Limited supply of fresh water
Salt water in seas and oceans make up about 97% of this amount. Fresh water frozen in the form of snow and ice makes up another 2%. Only 1% of the total amount of water on Earth is fresh water that is readily available for human consumption. Fresh water can also be found in rivers, streams and lakes called surface water. Some fresh water can also be found deep underground and is known as groundwater.
Uneven distribution of fresh water
Canada has 20% of the world's fresh water supply, while India has only 10% of the world's fresh water supply. India's population is more than 30 times larger than that of Canada. Uneven distribution may be due to the differences in climate. This has affected agriculture, thus leading to food shortage for the people.
Water pollution
Fresh water resources are increasingly being polluted by human activities. For example, waste from factories and households are often carelessly dumped into rivers and this pollutes the rivers. Many of the lakes on Earth are too polluted to be used for activites such as drinking and fishing. For example, Lake Baikal in Russia which stores about 20% of the world's fresh water supply, is now heavily polluted by waste chemicals from surrounding factories.
Rising demand for water
Population Growth
The total supply of fresh water on Earth will have to be shared among more people. Thus, more water will be needed and thus this leads to an increased demand for water.
Growth of agriculture
As the population increases, more food is needed to feed more mouths. Thus, more water is needed to grow food.
Growth of industries
The growth of industries leads to a rise in water consumption as water plays an important role in the daily operation of these industries. For example, water is needed to clean and cool machines and as a raw material in making products such as food, chemcials and paper.
Changes in lifestyle
When a country becomes more developed, people will adopt a modern lifestyle and can afford to buy items which provide them with more convience and comfort. For example, th use of washing machines and air-conditioners will lead to an increase in the demand for water.
Responses to the rising demand for water
Increasing the price of water
When the price of water is increased, people will be more encouraged to use less water as they do not want to pay more. Thus, this helps to reduce the rising costs of producing and distributing water. However, this method is not the best way to solve the rising demand for water. People who can afford to pay the higher prices will be able to use the amount of water they want. However, the poor cannot and thus, they will suffer even more.
Increasing the supply of water
Increasing catchment areas, buying water from countries through international agreements and the use of technology such as water recycling and deslination. One example of water recycling is NEWater which is produced in Singapore.
In Singapore, PUB, the national water agency has put in place a water supply strategy kown as the "4 National Taps Strategy"
Tap 1: Water from local catchment areas
Tap 2: Imported water
Tap 3: NEWater
Tap 4: Desalinated water
Conserving water
Saving water can be done by useing water resources carefully to ensure that unneccessary wastage is kept to a minimum.
Reflection:
I feel that everyone of us should play a part in saving water, so that the impact of water constraint will lessen. Little drops make a mighty ocean, so even if we each save a little water, it will still make a great impact. We should also buy less products that require the use of water so that the demand for water will decrease, and will lessen the impact of the problem of constraint.
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