Water Flashcards
Four uses of water
Agriculture (animals + irrigation)
Households (toilets + washing machines + drinking water)
Industry + energy prod. (Manufacturing + cooling process)
Dams (Leaks + evaporation)
Causes for growing demand for water
Popualtion growth - More poeple –> more water needed.
Domestic demand - Development = more tech (eg washing machines) –> more water
Agricultural demand - Pop.growth + farming in more arid areas bc of climate change –> more irrigation
Industrial demand - pop. + wealth growth –> more demand for industrial products
Energy production - (Leakage from dams), coal + nuclear plants –> cooling processes –> may pollute it / water evaporates –> removed from local use.
Strategies to increase water supply - Dams + reservoirs
Dams block rivers –> creates reservoirs holding water –> large supply year round –> less water insecurity + monitors flooding as river flow can be monitored (also HEP) + (collects rain
Strategies to increase water supply - List
Dams + reservoirs
Water transfers
Desalination plants
Strategies to increase water supply - Water transfers
Water surplus in one area + shortage in another –> so water transferred.
Canals + pipes transport water to rivers/reservoirs
Used in Las Vegas
Strategies to increase water supply - Desalination plants
Removes salt from seawater
(Very expensive + uses a lot of energy)
(Used in California)
Solution to water shortages + pollution (without increasing water supply) - List
Irrigation
Reduced leakage (dams + pipes)
Water metering
Constuction of wells
Conservation + education
Stone bunds
Solution to water shortages + pollution - Irrigation
Drip irrigation use bc more efficient (wastes less water
Redistributes water to places where its needed.
Solution to water shortages + pollution - Reduced leakage
Updating old pipe networks
Stops water from leaking + disappearing from local use.
Solution to water shortages + pollution - Water metering
Charging people per unit water used instead of flat fee
–> Reduces wastage bc people don’t want to pay.
Solution to water shortages + pollution - Construction of wells
(Done in communities which can’t afford pipes)
Accesses groundwater (aquifiers) –> provides clean water
Solution to water shortages + pollution - Conservation + education
Water users educated about methods to reduce water wastage.
Eg. watering lawn at night, showering not bathing, reusing shower water for garden.
Water shortage causes (not causes as to why there’s a growing demand) - List
Climate change
Groundwater depletion
Pollution
Political
Mismanagement
Water shortage causes - Climate change
Rising sea levels - Threaten coastal freshwater wetlands + risk of sewater entering aquifiers.
Warmer temps - Increase evaporation from rivers / surface stores
Water shortage causes - Groundwater depletion
More water being taken out of aquifier than is being recharged.