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Water Scarcity
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Water Scarcity
Water is one of our most precious resources, and yet most of us take it so much for granted. Today, the problem of water scarcity has become a serious one, with far-reaching ill effects. A lack of good, clean water can cause unpleasant diseases such as trachoma, typhus, plague, typhoid, gastrointestinal viruses, dysentery and cholera. The scarcity forces people to keep water aside for later use – this is easily contaminated and offers favourable conditions for disease-spreading insects like mosquitoes, responsible for malaria, dengue and hemorrhagic fever, to name just a few. Proper control of water resources can avoid such unhealthy situations.
Increasing urbanization, higher levels of population and resulting increase in the industrial and domestic consumption of water as well greater quantities of water required for food production, have created scarcity of water for 40% of the world’s people.
What Is Water Scarcity?
A region is said to be under “water stress” when yearly water resources are less than 1700 m3 per person, and when they are less than 1000 m3, it is suffering from water scarcity. Let’s look at some of the facts about water scarcity. Approximately a third of world population is under water stress. A fifth (1.2 billion people) suffers from water scarcity, and soon, about 500 million more will join them. The year 2020 is likely to see a growth of 40% in water consumption, with an increase of 17% in irrigation consumption.
Why Is Water Scarce?
Although three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, most of that is sea water, leaving only 2.5% fresh water that must quench the world’s thirst and keep everyone clean. Of this, 74% is frozen and a lot more lies deep underground. Only 0.3% of the world’s freshwater is in rivers and lakes, easily accessible to us.
Lack Water, Lose Health
With increasing population levels, water becomes even scarcer because of greater pollution and degradation of the environment. It is estimated that in less developed nations, about 90% of untreated wastewater is poured into natural water bodies, contaminating clean water supplies. Annually, there are approximately 250 million instances of illnesses connected to water, resulting in up to ten million fatalities. An alarming 12,000 cubic km of water is contaminated globally.
Did you know that diarrhea is the second greatest reason for the deaths of children under five years of age? The spread of this dreadful illness can be avoided by the use of clean water, and good sanitary and hygienic practices.
No Water, Low Productivity
When people don’t have access to clean water, the consequences include deteriorated health, nutrition and even education – since, for instance, a person can spend so much time fetching water that he or she may not have time for school or work. According to the World Health Organization, 5.6 billion man days would be added yearly if everyone had adequate supplies of clean water and good sanitation.
Why Do We Need Clean, Fresh Water?
So many people have limited access to good water. Poor sanitation facilities, time wasted fetching water from great distances are just a few of the results of scarcity of water. Dirty water is an ideal site for bacteria, parasites and amoeba – an appalling fact is that water-related diseases kill a child every eight seconds.
Water Scarcity Affects Us All
Water scarcity has an adverse effect on the production of food. Without water to irrigate plants and keep livestock healthy, we cannot grow nutritious crops and keep our stomachs filled. Agriculture consumes 80% of the water used worldwide, and with the increasing numbers of people that the earth has to support, by 2030, we’ll need up to 17% more water in this area alone. Consider this: an individual needs around four litres of water a day, but it takes between 12 and 5000 litres to grow or raise the food he or she needs. For example, 1000 – 3000 litres of water are required to grow a single kilo of rice! It is a matter of concern that 60% of irrigation water goes to waste because of leakage and evaporation.
A Dry Future?
Water scarcity is a matter of grave concern as far as the future is concerned. The problem looks increasingly alarming, with a 2025 projection of 2 billion people suffering from lack of enough water for drinking, hygiene and irrigation. This lack is felt most in West Asia, with water use ten percent more than the available resources. What’s more, global warming is likely to lead to irregular rainfall, accentuating the problem.
What Can We Do?
The problem is not one we can shrug off as someone else’s. It’s vital that each of us accepts the responsibility for the conservation and protection of our water resources. Try to support groups that seek ways to give people adequate quantities of clean, healthy water.
We must be aware that a major reason for water scarcity is not so much unavailability, as poor management of the resource. Assiduous study of effective water management methods and careful handling of the natural water resources we have access to will help avoid an arid tomorrow. One way of saving water is to improve the efficiency of irrigation methods or use alternatives such as drip irrigation to minimize water consumption. Controlling deforestation and land development will prevent soil erosion, which is a reason for groundwater scarcity.
Another point to bear in mind is the fact that since almost 400 million people across the world depend on wetlands, using these areas as sites for sewage treatment, chemical absorption and contaminant filtration would help conserve our most valuable resource. Developed countries should try to reduce their domestic consumption – this is ten times the amount that is used by homes in developing nations, where a typical individual consumes 10 liters of water a day.
So when World Water Day rolls around next year on March 22, will you able to say that you are doing your bit to conserve water, the essence of life?
References
www.who.int/features/factfiles/water/en/index.html
www.gristmagazine.com
www.unep.org/dewa/assessments/ecosystems/water/vitalwater/21.htm
www.worldthinkingday.org/en/activities/cleanwater
www.worldwatercouncil.org/
