How Human activity can make water stress worse? Flashcards
How Human activity can make water stress worse?
a) Sewage disposal in developing countries is expected to cause 135 million deaths by 2020. In the
UK we add 1,400 million litres of sewage to our rivers daily although most of it has been treated
b) Chemical fertilisers contaminate groundwater as well as river and water supplies. These add
nutrients to the water leading to an increase in the growth of algae downstream.
c) Industrial waste – every year the world generate 400 billion tonnes of industrial waste which is
pumped untreated into rivers, seas etc.
d) Dams – trap sediment in reservoirs which reduces floodplain fertility and the flow of nutrient
from rivers into seas.
e) Abstraction – removing water from rivers and groundwater sources can cause issues that in some
arid areas rainfall can never recharge these underground stores and the removal of freshwater
from aquifers in coastal locations can lead to salt water incursion.
