Water connects every aspect of life

Access to safe water and sanitation can quickly turn problems into potential

Watch Clip: Water Crisis – A Short Introduction

Percent of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water, 2000

Percent of Total Disease Burden Caused by Unsafe Water, 2000

Renewable Freshwater Supply by Country*, 2000

The Sad Reality of Water 844 million people worldwide live without access to safe drinking

water 2.3 billion live without access to improved sanitation Every 90 seconds a child dies from water related illness 1 in 9 people lack access to safe water; 1 in 3 people lack access

to a toilet. More people have a mobile phone than a toilet.

The Sad Reality of Water cont.

1 million people killed by water, sanitation and hygiene-related disease each year

The 3rd leading cause of child death is diarrhea, a majority of which is water-related

One-third of all schools lack access to safe water and adequate sanitation

$32 billion of economic benefits each year from reductions in health care costs if there was universal access to safe water and sanitation

Children in poor environments often carry 1,000 parasitic worms in their bodies at any time

The Sad Reality of Water cont.

Women are disproportionately affected by the water crisis, as they are often responsible for collecting water.

Women who have to collect water spend an average of six hours a day collecting water

This takes time away from work, school and caring for family.

Lack of water and sanitation lock women in a cycle of poverty.

When women have access to safe water, they can pursue skills outside of their traditional roles and experience greater autonomy and independence.

Access denied… numerous examples like the following exist around the globe:

o Rajasthan, India – Have enough water to supply to area, but Coca-Cola accused of extracting too much, so farming has suffered in the region

o Bolivia – French owned water supply company overcharging locals for water use; 200,000 local peoples did not connect to line – can’t afford to

o 40,000 in Detroit can’t afford to pay water bills and resorted to water tapping at night

What are some solutions for future sustainability of water use?

Watch Clip: Water – Our Most Precious Resource

Water for the Future cont.

1. Improve irrigation for agricultural practices

Some 70% of the world’s freshwater is used for agriculture.

Improving irrigation can help close supply vs demand gaps.

Rather than overwatering crops and losing high amounts of water to runoff and saturation, develop drip irrigation systems that reduces water use on farms

Sensors in the soil can monitor moisture content and release water as needed and prevent over-saturation or times when too dry

Problem with this technology is in the expense

Water for the Future cont.

2. Educate the public to change consumption & lifestyles

• Changing wasteful & outdated behaviours involves education to motivate new behaviors.

• Coping with the coming era of water scarcity will require major overhaul of all forms of consumption, from individual use to the supply chains of major corporations.

• Some regions led by India, Australia and the Southwest U.S., are already facing the freshwater crisis. The most critical task is making sure the problem is much better understood worldwide.

Water for the Future cont.

3. Shrink Corporate Water Footprints

• Industrial water use accounts for approximately 22 percent of global consumption.

• The corporate footprint includes water that is directly and indirectly consumed when goods are produced.

• As sustainable manufacturing becomes more important, given the increasing severity of water scarcity, experts question the costs of one industry sector in particular:

• Bottled Water industry – mostly free water to the companies (i.e. Nestle)

Water for the Future cont.

4. Develop energy and cost efficient desalination plants

As technology has improved, methods for using sea water and running through desalination plants is ever improving.

Future of southern California

Concerns with desalination:

Affordability – developing world would struggle to pay for it

Energy use – requires a lot of energy to run plants

High concentrations of salt being returned to the sea. Is it damaging?

Water for the Future cont.

5. Appropriately price water

Our water consumption rates are reflective of the cheap price tag on using it.

If water prices were increased in countries that can afford it, we’d change our consumption habits and reduce wasteful use & highly polluting practices

Water for the Future cont.

6. Improve water catchment

Water catchment systems are essential for areas with no other reliable (year round) water sources.

• Involves improving runoff capacity of the land surface through various techniques including collection of runoff with drain pipes and storage of collected water.

• Pakistan and India—two countries that contend with some of the worst effects of climate change—are overhauling rainwater harvesting systems.

• These efforts provide independent control of water resources.

Water for the Future cont.

7. Recycle wastewater

• Converting wastewater into water that can be reused for other purposes.

• Defining wastewater = graywater vs black water.

• Dishwasher, washing machines, shower, etc vs sewage

• Reuse of graywater may include irrigation of gardens and agricultural fields or replenishing surface water and groundwater (i.e., groundwater recharge).

• Reuse of black water is also being done in some regions & technology on treatment of this water is vastly improving

Watch Mini-Documentary (26 mins):

H2WOE – Inside India’s Water Crisis – A Warning to the World