Water, our most precious resource

(Notes are located below this picture)

Statistics:

 97.5% of the Earth’s water is salty (and is not fit for humans to use and drink)
 Only 2.5% of freshwater remains
 2/3 of the fresh water is unable to be used due to being in glaciers and polar ice caps
 There is only 0.5% of fresh water in our lakes, rivers and groundwater (which is used for
agricultural, industrial and personal use
 Only 0.007% of the world’s water supply is safe for consumption (which needs to be shared
with more than 7 billion people)
 1.2 billion people live in areas around the world that experience water scarcity
 Meat consumption is expected to double by 2050
 The total demand of water will exceed the available global water supply by 40%
 Agriculture accounts for 70% of total water consumption
 Industrial activity accounts for 20% of global water consumption, which requires extensive
amounts of water
 28% of water is lost in London due to leaks in their water distribution networks, sanitation
systems and wastewater treatment facilities
 20% of water is lost in New York due to lack of repairing in their water infrastructure
 36% of water is lost in Boston due to lack of repairing in their water infrastructure
 15% of water is lost in Sydney due to broken and aged water facilities/infrastructure
Problems: Where and why

 The pollution is making the quality of water poor around the world
 The 0.007% of water is not being distributed evenly around the world
 Some areas in the world that experience water scarcity are Southwestern United States, India,
Spain, North Africa, Australia and Northern China
 The is a high demand for fresh water around the world because of how our global population
has tripled and the water consumption rate has multiplied by six
 People now consume more meat and 15,000 litres of water are required to produce 1 kilo of
beef, meaning that as population grows, and a higher demand of meat grows, our fresh water
rate will decrease
 Agricultural use of water causes depletion of groundwater resources in some regions around
the world
 Industrial activity accounts for 20% of global water consumption, which requires extensive
amounts of water
 In the process of industrial activity, the industrial wastewater is released into waterways,
polluting water, which makes the quality of the water poor
 Water distribution networks, sanitation systems and wastewater treatment facilities need to be
installed in areas around the world that are lacking in water or that have unclean water. This
has a high demand for engineering, pipes and construction (which uses a lot of materials and
money)
 Developed countries which have aging infrastructure for water distribution networks,
sanitation systems and wastewater treatment facilities desperately needs repairing and
upgrading
 Poor quality and aging water infrastructure in developed countries creates a loss of water due
to leaks in pipes

Solutions:

 People are now adopting technologies (like micro-drip irrigation) which allows farmers to
reduce using more water significantly from their agricultural uses by up 70-80%
 Industrial water recycling technologies like advanced filtration and zero discharge closed-
loop water recycling systems help ease the strain on the water supply, helping reduce water
pollution
 People are planning to produce and install water distribution networks, sanitation systems and
wastewater treatment facilities in areas around the world that are lacking in water or that have
unclean water
 Developing countries around the world that have aging infrastructure (such as water
distribution networks, sanitation systems and wastewater treatment facilities) are able to fix
leaks thanks to metering systems and advanced underground sensors – which allows them to
fix them quick and easy without digging up entire city blocks
 Countries in water scarce coastal regions (which includes Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
and Spain) are switching to desalination plants
 Singapore plans to increase their desalination capacity by 30% in 2060 by the help of
companies around the world that provides desalination plants (Rebeco Sam company invests
in these and other water solution providers)