Availability and Security of Water Services
Water has become a crucial resource worldwide. Surface water and groundwater are the primary sources of water. The impacts for the the availability of water were generated from work from a variety of sources (FCO 2010). At present, approximately 1.5 billion people, out of a total world population of around 6 billion, live in major watersheds where average river runoff is less than 1000 m3/capita/year (a widely used threshold indicating potential exposure to water resources stresses)(FCO 2010). By 2080, under a moderate population growth projection, approximately 35% of a larger world population-close to 3 billion people-could be living in water-stressed areas (FCO 2010).
Content Table
- Drinking Water Security
- Recycled Water Availability
- Climate Change: Affecting Water Supply Services
- Related Articles
- References
- Further Reading
- Links
Drinking Water Security
In this new era of heightened domestic security concerns, drinking water professionals are working vigilantly to safeguard our most valuable natural resources: water (AWWA 2010a). Drinking water professionals have been aware for a long time of security issues surrounding the provision of drinking water to the public, from securing reservoirs and wells to protecting treatment facilities to guarding materials on those facilities to guarding materials on those facilities to the distribution system (AWWA 2010b). They work closely with local, state, and federal officials to identify emergency scenarios and develop strategies for cooperative responses (AWWA 2010b).
Figure 1. Water Withdrawal (Source: CIWEM 2009)
Figure 2. Global Freshwater Withdrawal (Source: CIWEM 2009)
Figure 3. Water Use at the End of the 1990s (Source: CIWEM 2009)
Figure 4 Change in Water Availability (Sources: CIWEM 2009)
Water Availability Study
Water is used most heavily in agriculture, approximately 70% of the available supply globally is used for crop production, yet water for agriculture receives little attention on the world stage and this means that water policy and food policy are disconnected! Indeed the nexus includes energy, not just hydropower, or the energy required to move water to populations but equally crop production, energy used in farming, transfer of goods and energy in terms of biofuel crops, the latter competing for water and for land used to grow food (CIWEM, 2009). How reliant are nations around the world on water that falls in other countries (CIWEM, 2009)? Globally crops and goods are traded and they all have a 'water footprint', yet this is not taken into account at trade negotiations or when economic treaties are being agreed (CIWEM 2009).
Figure 5. World Water Availability 1980-2015 (Source: Global Trends 2015: A Dialogue About the Future with Non-government Experts (Page 37), National Intelligence Council, 2000.)
Recycled Water Availability
Recycled water means water which, as a result of treatment of waste, is suitable for a direct beneficial use or a controlled use that would not otherwise occur and is therefore considered a valuable resource (;CDWR 2010). Water recycling offers resource and financial savings and wastewater treatment can be tailored to meet the water quality requirements of a planned reuse (USEPA 2011a). Recycled water for landscape irrigation requires less treatment than recycled water for drinking water (USEPA 2011a). No documented cases of human health problems due to contact with recycled water that has been treated to standards, criteria, and regulations have been reported (USEPA 2011a).
In Australia, recycled water is usually treated wastewater which is further treated to varying qualities that is “fit for purpose” for its intended use. It can then be used for (Water Corporation 2011):
- Irrigation of sports grounds, golf courses and public open spaces;
- Industrial processing;
- Groundwater replenishment;
- Toilet flushing / clothes washing / garden watering;
- Environmental benefits (eg: maintaining wetlands);
- Irrigation of food crops;
- Irrigation of non-food crops (eg: trees, woodlots, turf, flowers);
- Construction / dust surpression; and
- firefighting.
With rapid economic growth and industrialization, Southeast Asia is among the fastest-growing markets for wastewater treatment and reuse with average annual growth projected at upwards of 15 percent in the years ahead (Agarwal 2011). Added to this, the world's growing concern about water supply is making the wastewater reuse market more and more attractive (Agarwal 2011).
In Southeast Asia he fueling market of water recycling is being driven by (Agarwal 2011):
- Increased demand for water: Soaring population, explosive industrialization and urbanization in Asia have drained the water resources leading to surmounting pressure for water
- Increasing environmental concern over wastewater discharge: Rising awareness about preserving the water resources has made the treatment of wastewater mandatory, ultimately pushing the reuse market
- Affordability: The maturity of membrane technologies in the wastewater treatment sector has reduced costs and broadened the scope of the wastewater reuse market
- Public policy: Stringent regulations pertaining to discharge of wastewater drive the market for wastewater treatment, benefiting the reuse market indirectly
Figure 6. Water Recycling (Source: California Department of Water Resources 2010)
Figure 7. The Market Size for Environmental Goods and Services in Southeast Asia (Source: Agarwal 2011).
Climate Change: Affecting Water Supply Services
All regions of the world show an overall net negative impact of climate change on water resources and freshwater ecosystems (USEPA 2011b). Areas in which runoff is projected to decline are likely to face a reduction in the value of the services provided by water resources (USEPA 2011b). The beneficial impacts of increased annual runoff in other areas are likely to be tempered in some areas by negative effects of increased precipitation variability and seasonal runoff shifts on water supply, water quality and flood risks (IPCC 2011).
The future effects of climate change on water resources in the U.S. and other parts of the world will depend on trends in both climatic and non-climatic factors (USEPA 2011b). Evaluating these impacts is challenging because water availability, quality and streamflow are sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation (USEPA 2011b). Other important factors include increased demand for water caused by population growth, changes in the economy, development of new technologies, changes in watershed characteristics and water management decisions (USEPA 2011b). Climate is a fundamental driver of the water cycle. It determines how much water is available (supply) and how much water we need (demand) in the short and long term (CSIRO 2010). In the short and medium term, weather patterns determine variability in water supply and demand on a day-to-day and season-to-season basis – the weather one year may be drier or wetter than the last.In the long term climate, that is the average of the weather over a period, differs from decade to decade (CSIRO 2010).
For poor countries that have always faced hydrologic variability, climate change will make water security even more difficult and costly to achieve (World Bank 2011). Climate change may also reintroduce water security challenges in countries that for a hundred years have enjoyed reliable water supplies and few, if any, water shocks (World Bank 2011). Extreme variability of precipitation is expected to place 2.8 billion people at risk of water shortages (World Bank 2011). According to World Bank, managing water resources using an integrated approach will be critical to mitigate social, economic and environmental impacts. Coastal zone management, water supply, and infrastructure as well as agriculture will all be affected (World Bank 2011).
Figure 8. Impacts of Climate Change (Source: CDWR 2011)
Figure 9. Projected Percentage Change in Water Deficit Index for 2030 (Source: World Bank 2011)
Related Articles
References
S. Agarwal. 2011. Wastewater, not a Waste Anymore-Resuse Market Hot in Southeast Asia.http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/market-insight-top.pag?docid=52309089 (Accessed on August 27, 2011)
American Water Works Association. 2010a. Straight Talk on Water Security. http://www.drinktap.org/consumerdnn/Home/WaterInformation/WaterSecurity/StraightTalkonSecurity/tabid/216/Default.aspx (Accessed on August 24, 2011).
American Water Works Association. 2010b. Water Security. http://www.drinktap.org/consumerdnn/Home/WaterInformation/WaterSecurity/tabid/77/Default.aspx (Accessed on August 24, 2011).
California Department of Water Resources. 2010. Recycling. http://www.water.ca.gov/recycling/ (Accessed on AUgust 27, 2011).
California Department of Water Resources. 2011. Climate Change. http://www.water.ca.gov/climatechange/cc101.cfm (Accessed on August 27, 2011).
Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM). 2009. Global Water Security.http://www.ciwem.org/policy-and-international/international/global-water-security.aspx (Accessed on August 24, 2011)
CSIRO. 2010. Understanding How Climate Change Affects Water Supply. http://www.csiro.au/science/climate-and-water-supply.html (Accessed on August 27, 2011).
Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). 2010. Water Availability. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/global-issues/climate-change/priorities/science/water-availability (Accessed on August 20, 2011).
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2007. Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. http://www.ipcc-wg2.org/index.html (Accessed on August 27, 2011).
United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). 2011a. Water Recycling and Resuse: The Environmental Benefits. http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/recycling/ (Accessed on August 27, 2011).
United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2011b. Water Resources. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/effects/water/ (Accessed on August 27, 2011).
Water Corporation. 2011. Water Recycling. http://www.watercorporation.com.au/W/water_recycling.cfm (Accessed on August 27, 2011)
World Bank. 2011. Water and Climate Change. http://water.worldbank.org/water/topics/water-resources-management/water-and-climate-change (Accessed on August 27, 2011).
Further Reading
2. Towards Drinking Water Security in India
4. Research Into Access to Recycled Water and Impediments to Recycled Water Investment (Australia)
5. Role of Water Reuse for Enhancing Integrated Water Management in Europe and Mediterranean Countries
6. Decuring L.A.'s Water Supply
7. Texas Recycled Water Implementation Plan Volume 1
8. India, Bangalore: Use of Recycled Water to be Mandatory
9. Climate Change and Water Resources
