So what solutions do we have to the water woes? For a start, choose tap water over bottled water. When there is no demand, there is no supply.
Next, as people around the world face water shortages, many of whom are in developing countries, we need to ensure better management of current water supplies. And 30 years of applied research supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has found community-based or local water management simply to be “more efficient, more effective, more equitable, and more environmentally sustainable than the usual top-down practices”. The reason is simple: “It is at this level that the effects of water scarcity are most keenly felt and it is here that solutions must be implemented”.
Some of these community-based solutions include harvesting rain, protecting and recharging aquifers, monitoring water quality, recycling wastewater and improving the management of watersheds and irrigation.
For example, on India’s Deccan Plateau, researchers, working closely with local expertise, have helped tribal people of the Akole Taluka region improve crop yields and year-round access to water. The strategies used were simple. “Gullies were plugged and water was diverted, thus slowing down runoff and reducing erosion. Water pooled and seeped into the soil. This increased crop yields and served to replenish groundwater supplies. Later, rooftop harvesting and storage tanks were built, filled first by rains each year and later, in the dry season, by bullock-cart deliveries”.
Elsewhere around the world, many countries are seeking new ways to better manage and increase their water supplies.
In China, Lake Taihu, the country’s third largest freshwater lake, is the major drinking water source to people in Jiangsu Province. In 2007, blue-green algae overwhelmed the lake, thus reducing water supplies to two million people in Wuxi City. To overcome this problem, millions of algae-eating fish fry were released into the lake. Lake administration also closed 78 percent of fish-breeding activities in the lake, which were the main culprit for nitrogen pollution that encouraged the growth of algae.
In Jordon, the Wadi Ma’in, Zara and Mujib water treatment and conveyance project is treating brackish streams to recover pure water. It will deliver 100,000 cubic metres of water daily to 700,000 people in Amman. This project also helps to reduce overpumping of aquifers and allows them to replenish; releases water currently pumped to Amman to other cities to promote development in those outlying areas; provides more treated wastewater for irrigation; and fosters employment and economic developments with jobs created during plant construction and to run project facilities.
Since September 2002, NEWater has been used for indirect potable use by mixing with raw water in the reservoirs before undergoing conventional treatments. This follows a report from the Panel of Experts endorsing NEWater as a safe and sustainable source of water, given its consistently high quality that meets the requirements of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) National Primary and Secondary Drinking Water Standards, and the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Drinking Water Guidelines. Currently, 3 million gallons of NEWater (about 1 percent of total daily water consumption) is introduced into water reservoirs. PUB plans to increase this progressively to 2.5% of total water consumption by 2011.
Today, we say that water is “a common heritage of people and nature, and a fundamental human right”. By the same token, we need to recognise that with this right comes the responsibility to ensure that we become good stewards and to protect and conserve this scarce resource for generations to come.
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