Water Issues

Use this PowerPoint in conjunction with your exercise book to help you

revise.

You need to be able to:

• Describe how you use water• Describe the causes and impacts of water pollution• Describe the issues associated with bottled water• Explain the causes of flooding and recommend

strategies for their management• Define water vulnerability and describe the effects

of water vulnerability • Explain how water can cause conflict

How do you use water?

The average Brit uses 150 litres of

water a day!

Water pollution

You need to be able to describe the causes of pollution

And explain the impacts

Bottled water

Although many people see bottled water as a necessity it is actually having a very damaging impact on the environment.

• Back to tap• Impacts of bottled water

Flooding

Flooding is not just caused by heavy rain. Both physical and human factors can influence the likelihood of flooding. Make sure you can explain how these factors

influence flooding.Physical Human

Intense rainfall Deforestation

Prolonged rainfall Urban areas

Lack of tree/plant cover

Impermeable rock

Snow melt

Steep sided valleys

Flooding

Flooding can have both positive and negative impacts. To reduce the number of negative impacts flooding can be managed through a variety of techniques. Make sure you can explain how the different

strategies reduce the impact of flooding.

Hard engineering are strategies imposed on the natural environment in an attempt to control it.Soft engineering are strategies which work with the natural environment to reduce flooding.

Water vulnerability

Water vulnerability is when people do not have good access to safe, clean water. This can make them vulnerable to a range of problems associated with poor water access.

Make sure you can explain how dirty water can affect people’s lives and how clean water can improve them.

Where there is nowhere safe and clean to go to the toilet, people are exposed to disease, lack of privacy and indignity. When communities defecate in the open, disease spreads fast and water sources are polluted. Women and girls often have to wait until dark to go to the bush or a discreet part of town to defecate, where they are at risk of attack and abuse. Improved sanitation has proven impacts on health, quality of life and poverty reduction. However, progress in increasing sanitation coverage has been slow for a number of reasons: •Lack of political will and institutional responsibility. •Improving sanitation is difficult and requires people to change their behaviour. •The health benefits are not immediately seen or always understood. •The poorest and most marginalised people lack a voice and are often unable to invest in improving sanitation.

Water conflictAs demand for water hits the limits of finite supply, potential conflicts are brewing between nations that share trans-boundary freshwater reserves. More than 50 countries on five continents might soon be caught up in water disputes unless they move quickly to establish agreements on how to share reservoirs, rivers, and underground water aquifers.

Water conflict website

Risks of water wars rise with scarcity