What water problems are facing the world today?

Question

What water problems are facing the world today?

Answer 1

Why should we all be responsible for saving water?

because there is so little that we can use

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25% of the planets surface is land

75%of the surface is water and it is rising

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97%of the Earths water is salt

fresh water is only 3% of all the Earths water

most of it is beyond out reach

now much ice is melting and running into the seas fresh water lost for ever.

STORAGE or Location of % of the fresh water

ice and glaziers 74%

groundwater 800 meters + 13.5 %

groundwater less than 800meters 11.o%

Lakes 0.3%

soils 0.006%

Atmospheric in circulation 0.0035%

rivers 0.03%

frozen land or permafrost is not included and represent an unavailable storage of 40%

so of the 3% about 11.6 ,is easily available to us ,in rivers, lakes and ground water surface aquifers,more and more of this is becoming contaminated

overpopulation of an extra 70 million people a year (increasing all the time )and expanding agriculture ,which uses 70% of available potable water supplies ,has brought the good(sweet) water suplies to critical levels ,some countries have been in trouble already quite a while .

now climate change and desertification because of irresponsible agriculture ,overgrazing and deforrestation is damaging world fresh water production .

it is a good reason for concern and if we do not rectify matters by changing agricultural methods ,reforrest ,stop deforrestation,become more economic with water use ,stop producing more people ,stop wasting and contaminating water, we will be in serious trouble all round

and could end up looking like Mars

WATER POLUTION

FIRSTHAND CONTAMINATION

Rivers and Lagoons

millions of batteries are thrown in the rivers and Lagoons by night fishermen

1 small penlight battery contaminate 10.000 litres of water

raw sewage added to water flows like cannals and rivers ,

trash dumped on rivers edges ,

Industry contaminates practically unchecked

farmers using agro chemicals (fertilizers ,herbicides & pesticides)then deforrest and the rains washing the topsoils impregnated with contaminants into the rivers

thousands of women that do the washing in rivers using harmfull detergents.

farmers dump acidic coffee husk into the waters which kills millions of fish ,

on the coasts

oil spills that contaminate coastal waters,

Oceans

industrial wastes that are dumped into deep oceanic trenches

SECONDARY POLUTION

changes in water temperature enhances harmfull algae,(remember the red tide)

and kills many fish who are critical to temperature ,when sea water enters lagoons here in Mexico many fish die ,due to sudden temperature changes

and these are some of the things we can do

SOLUTIONS

wetlands like swamps have always been Natures natural filters for natural water flows,aquatic plants clean the water ,the anchored plants as well as the floating ones

we should redesign wetland flora with in natural water systems to help contra contamination.

stop sewage systems that connect to natural water flows ,forbid and police the dumping of rubbish on waters edges ,

the best way is through the educational systems ,starting at kiddy schools and rising in intensity with progression.

but in Mexico this is not accepted because this kind of education is not in the ciriculum.

In short the ways to protect the waters is

laws and punishment ,government vigilence ,education ,

alternative farming methods away from using chemicals ,which eventually end up in the ground water supplies

to merely clean polution or try to clean is never effective because of population growth ,it gets worse by the year ,an impossible task

we must attack at the roots and that is the contaminating mentality

EFFICIENT WATER USE

IN THE HOUSE

one can connect the sink straight to the toilet sistern and so use the water twice ,first to have a shave and then to flush the toilet

also if you bend the ball valve you can regulate the level of the sistern

and always have your grey water and black water seperate

so that the sink and shower water goes directly into the garden saving on irregation and at the same time ,making the sewage smaller and easier to deal with ,this also goes and iregates the garden but via a sitern of two compartments and a french drain ,on which you plant trees,

ON THE LAND

economic systems of irregation like drip irregation

and design using a lot of stone walls ,that condense water in the night

and planting leafy plants for the same purpose

building wind breaks ,to counter act the drying effects of the wind and farm towards agro forestal ,using as many trees as posible to limit evaporation .using shade nets before we have tree cover

and use MULCH

by cutting down the weeds before they produce seeds and leave them where they fall,they will cover the ground and put even more organic matter on top,you can use saw dust,leaves green or dry,and when you plant make a little space and plant in the mulch.this is the easiest quickest and by far most benificial way(for the quality of you soil)to prepare the land for planting

to prevent weeds from coming all you have to do it turn out the lights,you can even use cardboard or black plastic(this is good for strawberries because they will rot if they touch humid ground,and the bugs can get to them).

mulch is the same principal as compost but it includes the whole garden surface

the top part of the soil where the topsoil is being produced houses a world or microbiotic life.

Mulch is organic material green or dry that covers the ground,the thicker the better the composting process will turn it in to black topsoil

the humidity is preserved underneath and promotes the devellopment of worms(their exists no better compost than their excrements)and a variety of micro biotic life which together with the mulch produce more topsoil.

the mulch also keeps the ground temperature even and guards against the impact of the rain ,which would other wise brings salt to the surfave if on unprotected land

Mulch also prevents the soil from drying out because of the sun and,

WATERHARVESTING

the natural way of nature is to evaporate moisture for clouds and this gets blown to places with less water any way ,what obstruct the clouds from getting to deserts ,tend to be mountains that are in the way,

but generally speaking ,the normal weather patterns spread rain evenly over the planet to balance out the temperatures and humidity.

As far as catching rain is concerned ,we do this all the time ,and have done so already since Babylonian times,and is a part of the more advanced Agriculture,that existed with the Egyptians,Central ,and south American indigenous peoples,and many others ,today we call this water harvesting.

In Permaculture the rule is to harvest water to the point of Zero runoff.

this means that all of the rain that falls on an area is absorbed by the terrain and not a drop leaves it.

by building dams,ponds or swales, with interconecting ditches,

if there are enough of these ;the places ,where before the rain water ran over the ground into the rivers and on to the sea ,(in a matter of hours or days),It now runs into absorbant dams or swales and saturates the ground and eventually reaches subteranean water deposits ,taking many months to do so.

Or it fills up ponds that can be used for Aquaculture.

And so a convex situation that repels water is transformed in a concave ,absorbant one and turning the area in to a sponge.

in Spain and Portugal ,which still display many examples of the conquering Moorish influence,One can find many remnants of Waterharvesting,such as aquaducts and tanks underneath the patios ,which collect the rain water from the roofs ,to be used in dryer times.

in Arabia ,on a large scale ,land has been shaped to catch and lead,rain water into sandy areas or to agricultural lands.sand is almost as good as dams because it absorbs water and holds it.

Answer 2

drying up of rivers and lakes

contamination of rivers & lakes

pollution of groundwater

falling water tables

falling water tables causing arsenic contamination

increased commercialisation of supplies

& increased competition for available supplies.

to name but a few

Answer 3

The answer above is excellent.

I'd like to add that people really just aren't aware and/or don't care about their water consumption.  Hosing down driveways, staying in the shower for 30 minutes, refilling pools, excessive lawn watering, letting water run while brushing teeth, etc.  If everyone could make an effort to conserve water, we'd be in a better situation.