Sustainable Water

Question 1

How many of the world’s population live in areas receiving only 25% of the world’s annual rainfall?

Answer 1

2/3

Question 2

What does water scarcity count as?

Answer 2

= less than 1000m3 per year

 Physical scarcity – when more than 75% of country’s blue water flow is being used

Question 3

What is water stress?

Answer 3

1700m3

Question 4

What will climate change do to those in water vulnerable zones?

Answer 4

Convert vulnerability to stress (4 billion)

Question 5

Stats for English water in 2010

Answer 5

water per head = 2500 m3. South East of England, pop density of 425/ km2 = 266mm rainfall/ capita/ year – less than 610m3 per person - less than Egypt

Question 6

Where was water privatised in 2000?

Answer 6

Cochabamba, Bolivia

Question 7

Water can water sustainability be defined as?

Answer 7

3As affordable, accessible, available
OR
Quality, equity, affordability

Question 8

What physical factors affect water supply?

Answer 8

 Macro-level – climate determines global distribution of water. Topography and distance from sea has big regional impact
 River Systems- Amazon annual discharge – 175,000m3 sec-1 from a catchment of 6,915,000 km2
 Geology – permeable chalk and porous sandstones can store vast quantities of water underground
 Only 2.5% of global water is freshwater. Only 1% of 2.5% is easily accessed.

Question 9

How do human activities influence water supply and demand?

Answer 9

 By 2025 total projected water withdrawals are predicted to reach 5,000km3 per year, of which agricultural = 2/3rds

o Untreated sewage disposal – waterbourne diseases such as typhoid, cholera and hepatitis
o WHO estimates by 2020, 135 million people worldwide could die from water-borne diseases.
o Chemical fertilisers used increasingly by farmers contaminate groundwater as well as rivers = eutrophicate lakes leading to hypoxia
o Industrial waste – dumped into rivers and oceans, Heavy metals and chemical waste (PCBs) – GANGES
o River management schemes often affect river ecology and sediment patterns
 Leads to conflict – Tigris-Euphrates basin, River Jordan, Colorado.
 Groundwater conflict in Africa

Question 10

What are the solutions to achieving water sustainability?

Answer 10

• Increasing storage capacity - pumpkin tanks
• Dams
• water transfer schemes
• Groundwater sources and replenishment
• Desalination
• Management of demands

Question 11

What are the demands on water?

Answer 11

• Agriculture - 70%
• Grey water, magic stones, high tech, GM crops, hydroponics and aeroponics
• Industry - 20%
• recycling (coca-cola 99.5%)
• Domestic - 10%
• Water conservation
• Black water storage

Question 12

What is a successful sustainable Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) solution?

Answer 12

o India – Gujarat – bottom up solution to overcome water supplies – appropriate intermediate technology = year round water supplies enabling triple cropping and quadrupled production per hectare. Knock-on effect- household income raised by 5x.