Water Scarcity By: Isabel Haro, Daniela Carranco, JosĂŠ MarĂa Riera 8C
Table of Contents 1. Water Scarcity: Cause and Effect (Daniela Carranco) 2. Water Scarcity: Sustainable Solutions (Isabel Haro) 3. Works Cited
Cause and effect of water scarcity Daniela Carranco Water scarcity is caused when there is a lack access of clean water for people to use. It is also caused by the constant growth of population that demands high amount of water to satisfy their needs. It is believed by the World Water Vision Report that the main cause of water scarcity is the bad management by the government officials. It is believed that is crisis of managing water so badly that billions of people and the environment suffer a lot. It is also considered that part of the cause is for human reasons and the other half is for natural events. This is only some of the very qualified prediction but it is to say that water scarcity has not a true reason. Some of the main causes that are believed to be are: population growth, food production, climatic change and variability, land use, water quality, water demand, poverty and economic policy, legislation and water resource management, political realities. It also brings some bad effects. In is mainly to bring dead by dehydration It is estimated that water is used 70% in agriculture and cattle and we only consume 10% of it, soon there will no longer be for any of it. And the percentage of water diseases is increasing 4% every day. Around the world 1 out of 5 kids less than 5 years are dead do to lack of water sanitation. If we do not take awareness of our causes that we create then this will be increasing very fast and very high. What will happen to the world if this happens?
Water Scarcity: Sustainable Solutions Although water scarcity may seem like a problem that can’t and never will be solved, there are certain measures that we can take to make what we have last longer. It is our duty to make some sacrifices while we think of better and bigger solutions. Keeping our future and next generations in mind, we can start taking small but helpful steps today and have enough water to live securely tomorrow. One of the initiatives that are being used most around the world, especially to provide water for poor communities which need to use a small amount of water for several people, is using 200 liter tanks in every household. The pumps that provide water are low pressure, which means that they deliver water in small quantities so that 200 liters can be enough. Families that use less than 200 liters receive the service for free. This idea can be applied all over the world, forcing people to use only the amount of water that they need and working not to waste any. Another proposal that is already being applied right now is to make easy modifications to homes so that their plumbing and heating systems work correctly. Using an efficient water heater reduces the amount of it that is lost while waiting for it to heat up. Checking for leaks and faults in a house’s plumbing and fixing these will help deliver water correctly, diminishing the quantity of water that is wasted because of systems that don’t work well. Since 70% of the water taken from the ground and rivers is used for agriculture, ideas are arising in order to solve this problem. Drip irrigation uses less water and still waters the entire field. Another project would be to purify and treat sewage water that is being dumped in the ocean and use it for agricultural purposes only. Several other initiatives have come up, which are simpler than those mentioned before. For example, governments have considered raising the price of water so that people won’t want to waste as much and will only use the amount necessary. Household water can be purified every day for the use of the same family. There are other measures that could be applied so that we have a nearly endless supply of water. Desalination of the water of the ocean and salt water in plants could be our last resort, but it isn’t being used frequently nowadays, since it is very expensive and could damage wildlife that uses salt water as habitat. This technology is used only in specific parts of the Middle East and the USA. Some experts think that new water distribution treaties should be
made between countries so that those who are wealthier can’t hoard it, and poor people can have access to clean water too. Most of these solutions seem hard to apply and too complicated to work, especially since they require for the government to take action, but every citizen in the world can contribute to diminish water scarcity. Simply taking shorter showers, washing cars with a bucket and sponge instead of a water hose and closing the tap while soaping up the dishes are already taken actions towards solving this problem. We must think about our future and the next generations, doing something, anything, before we regret it and water scarcity makes it impossible for the human race to keep living in planet Earth, or living at all.
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