Scarcity of potable water is increasing along with the population. 2.5% of the world’s water is fresh. 0.7% is available for consumption, 87% of which is used in agriculture. (Water and Climate Change)
It is an expensive/lengthy process to obtain water for the less fortunate, as they do not always have means of access, leading to contaminated water consumption, primarily in less developed countries, LDC’s, as shown below, thus causing millions of deaths worldwide.
Figure 1. Map of the world colour coded according to water scarcity conditions.
(A global shortage)
Four main reasons for the global shortage of potable water are:
· Rapidly increasing population
o The current world population is just under 7 billion, and is expected to rise to over 9 billion by 2050. As the population grows, principally in the less developed countries, consequences of not having access to potable water the most are experienced.
· Increased urbanization
o As global urbanization takes place, water will be directed towards the more commercial activities and to a “concentrated population”, leaving even scarcer amounts of water available for the developing population. "Asian cities alone are expected to grow by 1 billion people in the next 20 years," therefore great supply of water is needed to meet demands for these highly developed countries (HDC’s). Activities such as over pumping can deplete the water table as well. (Villiers, 7)
· Increase in standards of living
o As more countries move into a more developed state, the standard of living increases, along with water intake daily per capita, once again leaving moving water away from essential needs.
· Climate Change/Global Warming
o Distribution of precipitation is polarized, therefore deserts become dryer and monsoons become longer.
o Rate of evaporation is affected – as temperature increases and humidity decreases, it becomes easier for ground water to evaporate rather than infiltrate into the ground water table. This is because the heat energy will allow the water particles to escape from the surface of the water particle upon several fast collisions. Humidity is the moisture content in the air, and as this decreases, the water particles have a lot of room in the air to evaporate.
o More intense rainfall for shorter periods of time, resulting in more surface run-off and less infiltration, which spells groundwater depletion.
o Irrigation results in fertilizer components dissolved in the water which runs through streams and rivers, contaminating it and not making it safe potable water.
(Water and Climate Change)
SINGAPORES WATER SHORTAGE
- Singapore has the monetary advantage to be able to invest money in supplying water, upon its availability.
- Currently water is imported from Malaysia and processed from reservoirs. This year the contract Singapore has with Malaysia’s water will expire, reducing amounts of water imported.
- As a result of this foreseen circumstance, Singapore created two new sources of water, desalinated water and NEWater.
- They will significantly contribute to the water supply of Singapore.
(National Taps)
