Sustainability Issues Course
Blog Presentation
Water – Conservation Methods / Initiatives
While it may seem that water is everywhere, being that over 70% of the earth is water, it is made up of mostly salt water which is unusable. Unfortunately, 99% of the water on our earth is unusable, which only leaves 1% of our water that can be safely used for human consumption. Lakes make up 0.86% of our water supply while rivers only make up a mere 0.02% of our safe drinking water. Ocean water can be treated for human use and consumption, but a. it’s a lengthy and expensive process for mass quantities, and b. it can be lethal if not done properly. Here is a breakdown of the earth’s water supply.
Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission
The process of purifying salt water into drinking water is done through a process called Desalination. “The traditional process used in these operations is vacuum distillation—essentially the boiling of water at less than atmospheric pressure and thus a much lower temperature than normal. This is because the boiling of a liquid occurs when the vapor pressure equals the ambient pressure and vapor pressure increases with temperature. Thus, because of the reduced temperature, energy is saved”. 1 This process not only produces safe drinking water, but conserves energy as well. This process is being used in Israel, where they just opened the world’s largest reverse osmosis desalination plant. This plant will provide more than 127 million cubic meters of purified water a year, providing roughly 20% of the annual household consumption in Israel.
This desperate situation causes many to stop and ask several questions. What is the largest source of waste of water? Is it possible to recycle water? How can we conserve water? Is water a right, or is it a privilege? One thing we do know is that humans cannot survive without water. A person can go without food for several weeks; however, a person can only live roughly 3 to 5 days without water. Therefore, water is critical to our survival on this planet. And with the knowledge that our usable water is roughly 1% of our water supply on this earth, this leads us to a grave concern. While some countries view water as a privilege, most industrial countries view water as a right and tend to waste water at a much higher rate due to that belief. The countries that perceive water as a privilege, while they are conserving water at a much higher rate than those who view it as a right, continue to have contamination issues and are unable to purify their water correctly. “About 20% of the world's population lacks access to safe drinking water and about 50% lacks adequate sanitation.” 2 They are receiving their water through rivers and streams and other sources that lack the either a natural purification process or a safe way to purify their own water. And communities, who view water as a right, are themselves running into complications of purifying water quick enough to meet the needs and demands of the local community. With such pressing issues, within both communities, it’s important to take a good look at how we use water today, and investigate ways to change those habits and become more responsible with our precious water usage. First thing to look at is how close we are guarding the usable water we do have. Studies show that many various countries are polluting their waters in very different ways:
“Some more water pollution facts: Asian rivers are the most polluted in the world. They have three times as many bacteria from human waste as the global average and 20 times more lead than rivers in industrialized countries. Thirty percent of Ireland's rivers are polluted with sewage or fertilizer. The King River is Australia's most polluted river, suffering from a severe acidic condition related to mining operations.100, 000 marine mammals, 1 million sea birds and other aquatic lives are killed due to plastic waste in water and coastal area. Bangladesh has some of the most polluted groundwater in the world. In this case, the contaminant is arsenic, which occurs naturally in the sediments. Around 85% of the total area of the country has contaminated groundwater, with at least 1.2 million Bangladeshis exposed to arsenic poisoning and with millions more at risk. Pollution of freshwater (drinking water) is a problem for about half of the world's population. Each year there are about 250 million cases of water-related diseases, with roughly 5 to 10 million deaths.” 2
The graphic below demonstrates how various homes, business, factories, and even animals are contributing to the world’s water pollution.
Water Filters and Purification Guide from the EPA
As you can see, water pollution is a worldwide issue and is a problem that deserves every cultures attention. Now that we know how industries are polluting our waters, how are we as individuals polluting our waters? Did you know every time you use the restroom, or do laundry, wash the dishes or pour grease down the drain, that you are polluting the water? Grey water is any waste water generated from those every day domestic activities. Black water is waste water that contains sewage from human waste. And finally there is potable water that is safe and clean drinking water. Private individuals pollute up to 80% of our earth’s safe drinking water.
The Safe Drinking Water Foundation states: “ Plant nutrients, such as phosphates and nitrates, enter the water through sewage, and livestock and fertilizer runoff. Phosphates and nitrates are also found in industrial wastes. Though these chemicals are natural, 80 percent of nitrates and 75 percent of phosphates in water are human-added.”
The Oil Spill Blog
The second issue to examine is how do we use our water more wisely? How can we use water that isn’t safe for drinking, to provide the irrigation and hydration of the community around us? Many homeowners are utilizing a system called rainwater harvesting. They have made improvements to their homes so that they are able to literally harvest any natural moisture that the weather may provide. They are able to take that harvested rain water and purify and filter it so that it is safe for human consumption.“By some estimates, residential water usage can be reduced by 50% or more if we harvest and reuse our rainwater. The payback for commercial establishments can be even greater.” 3
The graphic below demonstrates this system and how it is being used in homes today.
Black Diamond NOW – Rainwater Collection systems
Another method of conserving water through recycling or redistribution is through water reclamation. Water reclamation is a process that takes waste water from homes and businesses is then purified through a process using biological and chemical treatment so that it is safe to be returned into the environment. WaterSMART, an organization from the Bureau of Reclamation, offers education, grants, and more for individuals, state agencies and local governments to assist with water reclamation. For those of you who know nothing of the Bureau of Reclamation, they were established in 1902 and have been a major contributor to the development of our western portion of the nation.
“The Bureau of Reclamation is best known for the dams, power plants, and canals it constructed in the 17 western states. These water projects led to homesteading and promoted the economic development of the West. Reclamation has constructed more than 600 dams and reservoirs including Hoover Dam on the Colorado River and Grand Coulee on the Columbia River. Today, we are the largest wholesaler of water in the country. We bring water to more than 31 million people, and provide one out of five Western farmers (140,000) with irrigation water for 10 million acres of farmland that produce 60% of the nation's vegetables and 25% of its fruits and nuts.”
The Bureau of Reclamation
-We can recycle instead of create more waste that, in turn, demands more water usage for our waste management facilities.
-We can dispose of our household chemicals more responsibly instead of introducing those toxins into our water supply.
-We can purchase items that haven’t been packaged with poisonous dyes that go into our groundwater in our landfills.
-We can limit our travel and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that is released into our atmosphere.
-And lastly, we can practice water conservation through methods such as rainwater harvesting and recycling grey water for plant irrigation.
We can all make a difference, once we know how to conserve and makes those improvements, we can begin our steps in the right direction.
International Water Conservation
Resources for this Blog Entry
Data source: Igor Shiklomanov's chapter "World fresh water resources" in Peter H. Gleick (editor), 1993, Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World's Fresh Water
Resources (Oxford University Press, New York).
Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission - http://www.pacificwater.org/pages.cfm/water-services/water-demand-management/water-distribution/
International Water Conservation - http://www.keepbanderabeautiful.org/waterconservation.html
Discovery Health - http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/death-dying/live-without-food-and-water2.htm
2. Buzzle.com – Water Pollution - http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-water-pollution.html
The Oil Spill Blog - http://www.oilgoneeasy.com/oil_spill_blog/storm-water-pollution
Water Filters and Purification Guide from the EPA- http://www.waterfilters-camping-water-purifier.com/pollution-sources.html
3. Black Diamond NOW – Rainwater Collection systems - http://www.blackdiamondnow.org/2009/10/rainwater-harvesting-one-solution-to-stormwater-runoff.html
The Bureau of Reclamation - http://www.usbr.gov/main/about/
1. Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination
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