3.6-3.7 Water & Enviromental Risks and Economic Development

Question 1

Uses of water

Answer 1

Agriculture: to water plants
Industrial:Heated to make steam to turn turbines, Cooling down reactors
Domestic: Household e.g. cooking, cleaning, drinking Recreational e.g. swimming, sports

LEDCS are more likely to use agriculture and MEDCS are more likely to use industrial

Question 2

Methods of water supply

Answer 2

Dams: barrier placed across a river made from concrete
Reservoirs: artificial lake that develops behind a dam
Wells: a shaft sunk into the ground to obtain water
Desalination: Thermal: evaporation of water to remove salt
Reverse Osmosis: forces water through semi-permeable membrane to remove salt
Sewage Treatment: Removal of contaminants from waste water & household sewage
Requires physical, chemical & biological processes to remove all the contaminants and make safe

Question 3

Causes of water shortages

Answer 3

Population Growth: increased pressure on water sources as world’s population grows
Pollution: water sources are being polluted by industries
Demand: as development increases globally so does amount of water needed
Sewage: lack of proper sewage treatment means that waste is often pumped directly into water sources
Political: water sources are often shared; some people control large percentages of the shared resource, leading to shortages for others
Mismanagement: water is used inappropriately causing water shortages

Question 4

Impact of water shortages

Answer 4

Drought
famine
Dehydration
Hallucination
Dirty water, diseases

Question 5

Solutions to water shortages

Answer 5

Desalination: governments should invest more in desalination plants
Sewage Treatment: governments should enforce better policies regarding disposal and reuse of waste water
Conservation:
Half flush toilets & showering instead of bathing
Watering the garden at dusk to prevent evaporation
Collecting rainwater to use on garden
Using appropriate plants for the climate
Using drip irrigation rather than sprinklers

Water Charities:
Building wells to access groundwater
Building toilets to reduce sewage & pollution
Teaching appropriate farming techniques
Low cost schemes to filter and clean water

Question 6

Sweden water case study

Answer 6

PSI
- Already in 2012 the country reached the government’s 2020 target of 50 per cent 8 years ahead of schedule
- Sweden currently has three nuclear plants with six nuclear reactors in commercial operation
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Energy supply
- Sweden has a rich supply of moving water and biomass, which contributes to the country’s high share of renewable energy
- Sweden has a low population density and a high forest area per capita, so it has a high domestic potential of solid biomass. Most of its bioenergy (80%) comes from solid biomass.
- Sweden currently has three nuclear plants with six nuclear reactors in commercial operation
- Sweden also has a growing use of wind power of wind turbines
- Over 100 hydro powered dams

Water supply
- Half of Sweden’s local water supplies come from surface water, that is, from lakes and running watercourses.
- the other half come from groundwater.
- 95,700 lakes in Sweden
- we have around 190 000 km of water pipelines in Sweden
- Reservoirs