Water security
Having reliable and sustainable source of enough good quality water to meet everyone’s needs for industry, agriculture and personal health
What does water security depend on?
- population density
* water available
Water deficit
Lack of water to meet peoples needs
Water surplus
More water than what is needed
Why is there a greater demand for water?
- rising population- more people need water and crops which require water
- economic development- manufacturing uses a lot of water, 15% of all water is used to produce energy, more people can now afford toilets and showers
What physical factors affect water availability?
- climate- rainfall and temp
* geology- impermeable rock doesn’t allow water to soak in
What economic and social factors affect water availability?
- over abstraction- caused by high demand, population growth, more frequent showers
- pollution of water- less clean water available
- limiter infrastructure- sewage contaminated supply
- poverty- lack money to buy water
What are the problems water insecurity can have?
- pollution and disease- cholera
- food production- irrigation for agriculture uses a lot of water so less crops are grown
- industrial output- less manufacturing
- conflict- over water
What strategies can be used to increase water supplies?
- water transfer- movement from surplus to shortage
- dams and reservoirs
- desalination- removal of salt from seawater
How can water transfer help increase water supply?
- large scale engineering to move water to places in need
- the water is transferred by canals and pipes
- can reduce water insecurity in the receiving basin but can cause massive environmental, social and economic problems
How can dams and reservoirs help increase water supply?
- trap large amounts of water
- during times of surplus water it is trapped and then can supply when it’s in deficit
- they are expensive
- reservoirs can cause conflict when they flood
Where does Birmingham get its water supply?
•Elam valley in mid Wales where reservoirs provide a continuous supply to the city
How can desalination help increase water supply?
- removal of salt from seawater
* it is expensive because energy is needed to heat it
Where is the first large scale solar powered desalination plant?
•Saudi Arabia
How much of water gained in Dubai is from desalination?
98.8%
One plant produces 140 million gallons of water per day
How efficient is Dubai’s new desalination plant?
82%
How can water supply be made to be sustainable?
- water conservation
- groundwater management
- recycling grey water
What can grey water be used for?
- irrigation
- industry
- power plants
- toilet flushing
How does recycling grey water help?
- less energy needed to treat water unnecessarily
* conservation of energy
How can groundwater management help?
- levels of water extracted can be monitored
- laws can be passed to prevent too much groundwater being extracted
- farmers encouraged to use less artificial fertiliser and pesticides
- International agreements between countries
How can water conservation help water supplies?
- fixing leaked pipes
- fitting dual flush toilets can save 3.5 litres per flush
- efficient washing machines
- showers over baths
- then off taps after use
- drip irrigation
What is a large scheme water transfer?
Chiba wetter south to drier north
How much water is transported per year?
•44.8 billion cubic metres
How much did it cost?
$62 billion
