Water Access, Use and Security Notes

Water Security

  • Definition: Reliable availability of acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihood, and production, coupled with acceptable water-related risks.
  • Depends on: Water availability, clean water, sufficient funding, and political stability.
  • Includes access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) and Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM).

Water Insecurity

  • Definition: Lack of sufficient good quality water for livelihood, health, and production.
  • Causes:
    • Water scarcity
    • Pollution
    • Climate change impacts
    • Natural disasters
    • Poverty
    • Political conflicts

Factors Influencing Water Security

  • Access, Availability, Quality, and Stability
  • Sustainable water sources: year-round rainfall, perennial river flows, and groundwater flows.
  • Long-term changes: droughts (e.g., megadrought in Western USA from 2000-2021).

Global Water Security Disparities

  • Highest: High Income Countries (HICs) in high latitudes (e.g., Canada, Sweden, Finland).
  • Lowest: Low Income Countries (LICs) in dry areas (e.g., Sahel region, Northern India).

Poverty and Water Resource Development

  • Poverty limits the development of water resources (e.g., desalination).

Desalination

  • Definition: Removal of salt from seawater to produce clean drinking water.
  • Importance: Vital for countries with limited freshwater but access to coastlines.
  • Types: Reverse osmosis and thermal desalination.

Reverse Osmosis

  • Requires high energy to force saltwater through membranes.
  • New technology is reducing costs.
  • Problem: Disposal of removed salt can negatively impact ecosystems.

Factors Affecting Water Supply

  • Climate change (precipitation changes, floods, droughts, melting glaciers).
  • Population growth.
  • Increased standards of living.
  • Increased demand for farming and industry.
  • Increased pollution.

Factors Affecting Freshwater Availability and Access

  • Social:
    • Population growth increases demand.
    • Education increases demand for clean water.
  • Economic:
    • Water use varies between rich and poor countries.
    • Agriculture is the largest water user.
    • Access depends on cost.
  • Cultural:
    • Climate change.
    • Gender inequalities.
  • Political:
    • Shared water resources lead to disputes.
    • Marginalized groups have less access.

Transboundary Waters and Conflicts

  • 60% of world's freshwater flows are transboundary.
  • Over 3 billion people depend on water crossing national borders.
  • Few countries have cooperation agreements for shared water resources.

Human Use of Water

  • Societies must increase supply or efficiency with population growth/economic development.
  • Access varies due to population, agriculture, and climate change.
  • Poor water quality causes more deaths than violence.

Global Water Distribution

  • Uneven distribution: \frac{3}{4} of rainfall in areas with \frac{1}{3} of the population.
  • Amazon and Congo Basins account for large runoff percentages.
  • Climate change, conflict, and population growth will increase water stress.

Unsustainable Demands

  • Increased demand in MICs due to population, living standards, agriculture, and industry.
  • HICs use more water due to lifestyle.
  • Global freshwater availability is decreasing.

Improving Water Supplies

  • Dams
  • Reservoirs
  • Rainwater catchment systems
  • Desalination plants
  • Wetland enhancement

Dams and Reservoirs

  • Advantages:
    • Flood and drought control
    • Irrigation
    • Hydroelectric power
    • Navigation
    • Recreation and tourism
  • Disadvantages:
    • Evaporation
    • Salinization
    • Displacement
    • Ecological impacts

Rainwater Catchment Systems

  • Collection and storage of rainwater.
  • Can be used to supplement water supply and reduce erosion.
  • Depends on rainfall and may contain pollutants.

Wetlands

  • Semi-aquatic ecosystems.
  • Wetland enhancement improves functions.

Water Scarcity

  • Limited water availability.
  • Level depends on precipitation, availability, population, affluence, and technology.

Types of Water Scarcity

  • Physical: Limited by water abundance (consumption exceeds 60% of supply).
  • Economic: Limited by storage and transport systems.

Water Conservation

  • Techniques for domestic water conservation.
  • Examples of domestic, industrial, and agricultural Techniques for water conservation.

Managing Water Supply in Singapore

  • Depends on rainfall, imported water, reclaimed water (NEWater), and desalination.
  • Pricing and conservation programs are used to manage demand.
  • Developing water resources to reduce dependency on Malaysia.