Looking at our planet from the heights of outer space, a comparison immediately arises with a blue ball, which is completely covered with water. At this time, the continents seem to be small islands in this endless ocean. This is quite natural, because water occupies 79.8% of the entire surface, and 29.2% falls on land. The water shell of the Earth is called the hydrosphere; its volume is 1.4 billion m3.
Water resources and their purpose
Water resources- These are waters from rivers, lakes, canals, reservoirs, seas and oceans that are suitable for use in agriculture. This also includes groundwater, soil moisture, swamps, glaciers, and atmospheric water vapor.
Water appeared on the planet about 3.5 billion years ago and initially it was in the form of vapors that were released during the degassing of the mantle. Today, water is the most important element in the Earth's biosphere, because nothing can replace it. However, recently, water resources have ceased to be considered limited, because scientists have managed desalinate salt water.
Purpose of water resources- support the vital activity of all life on Earth (humans, plants and animals). Water is the basis of all living things and the main supplier of oxygen in the process of photosynthesis. Water also takes part in climate formation - absorbing heat from the atmosphere in order to release it in the future, thereby regulating climate processes.
It would be worth remembering that water sources play an honorable role in the modification of our planet. People have always settled near reservoirs or water sources. Thus, water promotes communication. There is a hypothesis among scientists that if there were no water on Earth, the discovery of America would have been postponed for several centuries. And Australia would still be unknown today.
Types of water resources
As already said water resources- these are all the water reserves on the planet. But on the other hand, water is the most common and most specific compound on Earth, because only it can exist in three states (liquid, gaseous and solid).
The Earth's water resources consist of:
- surface water(oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, swamps) are the most valuable source of fresh water, but the thing is that these objects are distributed quite unevenly over the Earth’s surface. Thus, in the equatorial zone, as well as in the northern part of the temperate zone, water is in excess (25 thousand m 3 per year per person). And the tropical continents, which consist of 1/3 of the land, are very acutely aware of the shortage of water reserves. Based on this situation, their agriculture develops only under the condition of artificial irrigation;
- groundwater;
- reservoirs created artificially by man;
- glaciers and snowfields (frozen water from glaciers in Antarctica, the Arctic and snowy mountain peaks). This is where most of the fresh water is found. However, these reserves are practically unavailable for use. If all the glaciers are distributed over the Earth, then this ice will cover the earth with a ball 53 cm high, and by melting it, we thereby raise the level of the World Ocean by 64 meters;
- moisture what is found in plants and animals;
- vapor state of the atmosphere.
Water consumption
The total volume of the hydrosphere is amazing in its quantity, however, only 2% of this figure is fresh water, moreover, only 0.3% is available for use. Scientists have calculated the freshwater resources that are necessary for all humanity, animals and plants. It turns out that the supply of water resources on the planet is only 2.5% of the required volume of water.
Around the world, about 5 thousand m3 are consumed annually, while more than half of the consumed water is lost irrevocably. In percentage terms, the consumption of water resources will have the following characteristics:
- agriculture - 63%;
- industrial water consumption - 27% of the total;
- municipal needs take 6%;
- reservoirs consume 4%.
Few people know that in order to grow 1 ton of cotton, 10 thousand tons of water are required, 1 ton of wheat requires 1500 tons of water, the production of 1 ton of steel requires 250 tons of water, and 1 ton of paper requires at least 236 thousand tons of water.
A person should consume at least 2.5 liters of water per day, but on average this same person spends at least 360 liters per day in a large city, since this figure includes all possible uses of water, including watering streets, washing vehicles and even firefighting.
But the consumption of water resources does not end there. This is evidenced, for example, by water transport or the process of breeding both marine and fresh fish. Moreover, for breeding fish you need exclusively clean water, saturated with oxygen and free of harmful impurities.
A great example of the use of water resources is recreational areas. There is no such person who would not like to relax by a pond, relax, and swim. In the world, almost 90% of recreational areas are located near bodies of water.
The need to protect water resources
Considering the current situation, we can conclude that water requires a protective attitude towards itself. Currently, there are two ways to conserve water resources:
- reduce fresh water consumption;
- creation of modern high quality collectors.
Storing water in reservoirs limits its flow into the world's oceans. Storing water underground helps prevent its evaporation. The construction of canals can easily solve the issue of delivering water without penetrating into the ground. Humanity is also thinking about the latest methods of irrigating agricultural land, making it possible to moisten the territory using wastewater.
But each of the above methods actually affects the biosphere. The reservoir system, for example, does not allow the formation of fertile silt deposits; canals interfere with the replenishment of groundwater. Therefore, today one of the most effective ways to conserve water resources is wastewater treatment. Science does not stand still in this regard, and various methods make it possible to neutralize or remove up to 96% of harmful substances.
Water pollution problem
Population growth, the rise of production and agriculture... These factors contributed to the shortage of fresh water. In addition, the share of polluted water resources is also growing.
Main sources of pollution:
- industrial waste;
- municipal wastewater;
- plums from the fields (meaning when they are oversaturated with chemicals and fertilizers;
- burial of radioactive substances near a body of water;
- wastewater coming from livestock complexes (water is characterized by an excess of biogenic organic matter);
- shipping.
Nature provides for self-purification of water bodies. This happens due to the presence of plankton in the water, ultraviolet rays entering the water, and the sedimentation of insoluble particles. But unfortunately there is much more pollution and nature on its own is not able to cope with such a mass of harmful substances that man and his activities provide to water resources.
Unusual sources of drinking water
Recently, humanity has been thinking about how to use unconventional sources of water resources. Here are the main ones:
- tow icebergs from the Arctic or Antarctica;
- carry out desalination of sea waters (actively used at the moment);
- condense atmospheric water.
In order to obtain fresh water by desalinating salt water, desalination stations are installed on sea vessels. There are already about hundreds of such units in the whole world. The world's largest producer of such water is Kuwait.
Fresh water has recently acquired the status of a global commodity; it is transported in tankers using long-distance water pipelines. This scheme works successfully in the following areas:
- the Netherlands gets water from Norway;
- Saudi Arabia receives resource from Philippines;
- Singapore imports from Malaysia;
- water is pumped from Greenland and Antarctica to Europe;
- The Amazon transports drinking water to Africa.
One of the latest achievements is installations with the help of which the heat of nuclear reactors is used simultaneously for desalination of sea water and production of electricity. At the same time, the price of one liter of water costs little, since the productivity of such installations is quite high. It is recommended to use water that has passed through this route for irrigation.
Reservoirs can also help overcome freshwater shortages by regulating river flow. In total, more than 30 thousand reservoirs have been built in the world. In most countries, there are projects for the redistribution of river flow through its transfer. But most of these programs have been rejected due to environmental concerns.
Water resources of the Russian Federation
Our country has a unique water resource potential. However, their main drawback is their extremely uneven distribution. So, if we compare the Southern and Far Eastern federal districts of Russia, then in terms of the size of local water resources they differ from each other by 30 times, and in terms of water supply - by 100 times.
Rivers of Russia
When thinking about the water resources of Russia, first of all, we should note the rivers. Their volume is 4,270 km 3 . There are 4 water basins on the territory of Russia:
- the seas of the Northern and Arctic Oceans, as well as the large rivers flowing into them (Northern Dvina, Pechora, Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Kolyma);
- the Pacific Ocean (Amur and Anadyr);
- seas of the Atlantic Ocean (Don, Kuban, Neva);
- the internal basin of the Caspian Sea and the flowing Volga and Ural.
Since in the central regions the population density is greater than, for example, in Siberia, this leads to the disappearance of small rivers and water pollution in general.
Lakes and swamps of Russia
Half of all fresh water in the country comes from lakes. Their number in the country is approximately 2 million. Of these, the largest ones are:
- Baikal;
- Ladoga;
- Onega;
- Taimyr;
- Khanka;
- Vats;
- Ilmen;
- White.
A special place should be given to Lake Baikal, because 90% of our fresh water reserves are concentrated in it. In addition to the fact that this lake is the deepest on earth, it is also characterized by a unique ecosystem. Baikal is also included in the UNESCO natural heritage list.
Lakes of the Russian Federation are used for irrigation and as sources for water supply. Some of the listed lakes have a decent supply of medicinal mud and therefore are used for recreational purposes. Just like rivers, lakes are characterized by their uneven distribution. They are mainly concentrated in the Northwestern part of the country (Kola Peninsula and the Republic of Karelia), the Ural region, Siberia and Transbaikalia.
The swamps of Russia also play an important role, although many people treat them with disrespect by draining them. Such actions lead to the death of entire huge ecosystems, and as a result, rivers do not have the opportunity to cleanse themselves naturally. Swamps also feed rivers and act as their controlled object during floods and floods. And of course, swamps are a source of peat reserves.
These elements of water resources are widespread in the North-West and North-Central part of Siberia; the total area of swamps in Russia is 1.4 million km 2.
As we see, Russia has great water resource potential, but we should not forget about the balanced use of this resource and treat it with care, because anthropogenic factors and huge consumption lead to pollution and depletion of water resources.
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A few facts about water
- Water covers more than 70% of the world's population, but only 3% is fresh water.
- Most natural fresh water is in ice form; less than 1% is readily available for human consumption. This means that less than 0.007% of the water on earth is ready to drink.
- More than 1.4 billion people do not have access to clean, safe water worldwide.
- The gap between water supply and demand is constantly growing, expected to reach 40% by 2030.
- By 2025, a third of the world's population will depend on water scarcity.
- By 2050, more than 70% of the world's population will live in cities.
- In many developing countries, the percentage of water lost is more than 30%, even reaching 80% in some extreme cases.
- More than 32 billion cubic meters of drinking water leak from urban water supply systems around the world, only 10% of the leakage is visible, the rest of the leakage disappears unnoticed and silently underground.
Human development is accompanied by an increase in the Earth's population, as well as growing demands for resources from the economy. One of these resources is fresh water, the shortage of which is quite acute in a number of regions of the Earth. In particular, more than a third of the planet’s population, that is, more than 2 billion people, does not have constant access to a drinking resource. It is expected that in 2020, water shortage will act as one of the obstacles to the further development of mankind. This applies most to developing countries where:
- Intensive population growth,
- A high level of industrialization, accompanied by pollution of the environment and water in particular,
- Lack of water treatment infrastructure,
- Significant demand for water from the agricultural sector,
- Average or low level of social stability, authoritarian structure of society.
World water resources
The earth is rich in water because... 70% of the Earth's surface is covered with water (approx. 1.4 billion km 3). However, most of the water is salty and only about 2.5% of the world's water reserves (about 35 million km 3) are fresh water (see Figure World water sources, Unesco, 2003).
Only fresh water can be used for drinking, but 69% of it comes from snow covers (mainly Antarctica and Greenland), about 30% (10.5 million km 3) is groundwater, and lakes, artificial lakes and rivers account for less than 0.5% of all fresh water.
In the water cycle, of the total amount of precipitation that falls on Earth, 79% falls on the ocean, 2% on lakes, and only 19% on the land surface. Only 2200 km 3 penetrates into underground reservoirs per year.
Many experts call the “water issue” one of the most serious challenges to humanity in the future. The period 2005-2015 has been declared by the UN General Assembly as the international decade of action " Water for life».
Drawing. World freshwater sources: sources of distribution of about 35 million km 3 of freshwater (UNESCO 2003)
According to UN experts, in the 21st century, water will become a more important strategic resource than oil and gas, since a ton of clean water in an arid climate is already more expensive than oil (Sahara Desert and North Africa, the center of Australia, South Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Central Asia).
Globally, about 2/3 of all precipitation returns to the atmosphere. In terms of water resources, Latin America is the most abundant region, accounting for a third of the world's water flow, followed by Asia with its quarter of the world's water flow. Next come the OECD countries (20%), sub-Saharan Africa and the former Soviet Union, each accounting for 10%. The most limited water resources are in the countries of the Middle East and North America (1% each).
Countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Tropical/Sub-Saharan Africa) suffer the most from drinking water shortages.
After several decades of rapid industrialization, major Chinese cities are among the most environmentally unfavorable.
The construction of the world's largest hydropower complex, the Three Gorges hydroelectric complex on the Yangtze River in China, has also led to widespread environmental problems. In addition to the erosion and collapse of the banks, the construction of a dam and a giant reservoir led to siltation and, according to Chinese and foreign experts, a dangerous change in the entire ecosystem of the country's largest river.
SOUTH ASIA
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
India is home to 16% of the world's population, yet only 4% of the planet's fresh water is available there.
India and Pakistan have water reserves in inaccessible places - these are the glaciers of the Pamirs and the Himalayas, covering mountains at altitudes above 4000 m. But the water shortage in Pakistan is already so high that the government is seriously considering the issue of forcibly melting these glaciers.
The idea is to spray harmless coal dust over them, which will cause the ice to actively melt in the sun. But, most likely, the melted glacier will look like a muddy mudflow, 60% of the water will not reach the valleys, but will be absorbed into the soil near the foot of the mountains, environmental prospects are unclear
CENTRAL (MID) ASIA
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
central Asia(according to UNESCO definition): Mongolia, Western China, Punjab, Northern India, Northern Pakistan, northeastern Iran, Afghanistan, areas of Asian Russia south of the taiga zone, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
According to estimates by the World Resources Institute, fresh water reserves in the countries of Central Asia (excluding Tajikistan) and Kazakhstan per capita are almost 5 times lower than the same figure for Russia.
Russia
Over the past ten years, in Russia, as in all mid-latitudes, temperatures have been rising faster than the average on Earth and in the tropics. By 2050, temperatures will increase by 2-3ºС. One of the consequences of warming will be the redistribution of precipitation. In the south of the Russian Federation there will not be enough precipitation and there will be problems with drinking water, problems with navigation are possible on some rivers, the area of permafrost will decrease, soil temperatures will increase, in the northern regions the yield will increase, although there may be losses due to drought conditions (Roshydromet) .
AMERICA
Mexico
Mexico City is experiencing problems with the supply of drinking water to the population. The demand for bottled water already exceeds supply, so the country's leadership is urging residents to learn how to save water.
The issue of drinking water consumption has been facing the leaders of the capital of Mexico for quite a long time, since the city, where almost a quarter of the country lives, is located far from water sources, so today water is extracted from wells at least 150 meters deep. The results of the water quality analysis revealed an increased content of permissible concentrations of heavy metals and other chemical elements and substances harmful to human health.
Half of the water consumed daily in the United States comes from non-renewable underground sources. Currently, 36 states are on the verge of a serious problem, some of them on the verge of a water crisis. Water shortages in California, Arizona, Nevada, Las Vegas.
Water has become a key security strategy and foreign policy priority for the US administration. Currently, the Pentagon and other structures concerned with the security of the United States have come to the conclusion that in order to maintain the existing military and economic strength of the United States, they must protect not only energy sources, but also water resources.
Peru
In the Peruvian capital Lima, there is practically no rain, and water is supplied mainly from Andean lakes, located quite far away. Periodically, the water is turned off completely for several days. There is always a shortage of water here. Water is delivered by truck once a week, but it costs tens of times more for the poor than for residents whose houses are connected to the central water supply system.
Drinking water consumption
About 1 billion people on Earth do not have access to improved sources of drinking water. Over half of the world's households have running water in or nearby their homes.
8 out of 10 people without access to improved drinking water live in rural areas.
884 million people in the world, i.e. Almost half of those living in Asia still rely on unimproved drinking water sources. Most of them live in sub-Saharan Africa, South, East and Southeast Asia.
Countries where bottled water is the main source of drinking water: Dominican Republic (67% of the urban population drinks exclusively bottled water), People's Democratic Republic of LAO and Thailand (for half of the urban population bottled water is the main source of drinking water). The situation is also serious in Guatemala, Guinea, Turkey, and Yemen.
Drinking water treatment practices vary significantly across countries. In Mongolia and Vietnam, water is almost always boiled, a little less often in the PDR of Lao and Cambodia, and even less often in Uganda and Jamaica. In Guinea, it is filtered through cloth. And in Jamaica, Guinea, Honduras, and Haiti, bleach or other disinfectants are simply added to the water to purify it.
Households in rural Africa spend an average of 26% of their time just getting water (mostly women) (UK DFID). Every year, in Africa as a whole, it takes approx. 40 billion work hours (Cosgrove and Rijsberman, 1998). There are still people living in the Tibetan highlands who have to spend up to three hours a day walking to fetch water.
Main factors for the growth of water consumption
1. : improvement of sanitation conditions
Access to basic water services (drinking water, food production, sanitation, sanitation) remains limited in most developing countries. It's possible that by 2030, more than 5 billion people (67% of the world's population) will still lack modern sanitation(OECD, 2008).
About 340 million Africans do not have safe drinking water, and almost 500 million do not have modern sanitation conditions.
The importance of ensuring the purity of the water consumed: several billion people today do not have access to clean water(The World Conference of The Future of Science, 2008, Venice).
80% of diseases in developing countries are water related, causing about 1.7 million deaths annually.
According to some estimates, every year in developing countries About 3 million people die prematurely from water-borne diseases.
Diarrhea, a leading cause of illness and death, is largely due to lack of sanitation and hygiene and unsafe drinking water. Every day, 5,000 children die from diarrhea, i.e. one child every 17 seconds.
In South Africa, 12% of the health budget is spent on treating diarrhea: every day in local hospitals more than half of the patients with this diagnosis.
Annually 1.4 million diarrhea deaths could be prevented. Almost 1/10 of the total number of diseases could be prevented by improving water supply, sanitation, hygiene, and water resource management.
2. Development of agriculture for food production
Water is an essential component of food, and Agriculture- the largest consumer of water: it falls on him up to 70% of total water consumption(for comparison: 20% of water use is industry, 10% is domestic use). The area of irrigated land has doubled over the past decades, and water withdrawal has increased 3 times.
Without further improvements in water management in agriculture, water demand in this sector will increase by 70-90% by 2050, even though some countries have already reached the limit in the use of their water resources.
On average, 70% of fresh water consumed is used by agriculture, 22% by industry, and the remaining 8% is used for domestic needs. This ratio varies depending on the country's income: in low- and middle-income countries, 82% is used for agriculture, 10% for industry and 8% for domestic needs; in high-income countries the figures are 30%, 59% and 11%.
Due to inefficient irrigation systems, especially in developing countries, 60% of water used for agriculture evaporates or returns to water bodies.
3. Changes in food consumption
In recent years, there have been changes in the way people live and eat, with a disproportionate increase in the consumption of meat and dairy products in countries with economies in transition. Today, on average, one person in the world consumes 2 times more water than in 1900, and this trend will continue in the future. connection with changes in habitual consumption in countries with developing economies.
In the modern world, 1.4 billion people do not have access to clean water, and another 864 million do not have the opportunity to receive the necessary caloric nutrition every day. And the situation continues to get worse.
A person needs only 2-4 liters of water per day to drink every day, but 2000-5000 liters are spent daily on producing food for one person.
“How much water do people drink” (the average in developed countries is two to five liters a day) is not as important as “how much water do people eat” (some estimates put the figure at 3,000 liters a day in developed countries) ).
For production 1 kg of wheat requires from 800 to 4,000 liters of water, and 1 kg of beef - from 2,000 to 16,000 liters, 1 kg of rice - 3,450 liters.
Increasing meat consumption in the most developed countries: in 2002, Sweden consumed 76 kg of meat per person, and the United States - 125 kg per person.
According to some estimates, a Chinese consumer who ate 20 kg of meat in 1985 will eat 50 kg in 2009. This increase in consumption will cause an increase in demand for grain. One kilogram of grain requires 1,000 kg (1,000 liters) of water. This means that an additional 390 km 3 of water per year will be required to meet demand.
4. Demographic growth
The scarcity of water resources will increase due to population growth. The total number of inhabitants of the planet, currently 6.6 billion people, increasing by approximately 80 million annually. This results in a growing demand for drinking water, amounting to about 64 billion cubic meters per year.
By 2025, the world's population will exceed 8 billion people. (EPE). 90% of the 3 billion people expected to grow the world's population by 2050 will be from developing countries, many of which are located in areas where current populations lack adequate access to clean water and sanitation (UN).
More than 60% of the world population growth that will occur between 2008 and 2100 will occur in sub-Saharan Africa (32%) and South Asia (30%), which together will account for 50% of the world's population 2100.
5. Urban population growth
Urbanization will continue - relocation to cities, whose residents are much more sensitive to water shortages. The 20th century saw a very sharp increase in urban population (from 220 million to 2.8 billion). Over the next few decades, we will witness its unprecedented growth in developing countries.
The number of urban residents is expected to increase by 1.8 billion people (compared to 2005) and account for 60% of the total world population (UN). About 95% of this growth will come from developing countries.
According to EPE, by 2025 5.2 billion people. will live in cities. This level of urbanization will require the creation of extensive infrastructure for water distribution, as well as the collection and treatment of used water, which will not be possible without large-scale investments.
6. Migration
There are currently about 192 million migrants in the world (in 2000 there were 176 million). Water shortages in desert and semi-desert regions will cause intense population migration. This is expected to affect from 24 to 700 million people. The relationship between water resources and migration is a two-way process: water scarcity leads to migration, and migration in turn contributes to water stress. According to some estimates, in the future, coastal areas, where 15 of the world's 20 megacities are located, will feel the greatest strain from the influx of migrants. In the world of the next century, more and more people will live in vulnerable urban and coastal areas.
7. Climate change
In 2007, the UN Climate Change Conference held in Bali recognized that even minimally predictable climate change in the 21st century, equal to twice the 0.6°C increase since 1900, would be seriously disruptive. consequences.
Scientists agree that global warming will intensify and accelerate global hydrological cycles. In other words, intensification can be expressed in an increase in evaporation rates and precipitation. It is not yet known what consequences this will have for water resources, but it is expected that water shortage will affect its quality and the frequency of extreme situations such as droughts and floods.
Presumably, by 2025, warming will be 1.6ºС compared to the pre-industrial period (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - Groupe d'experts Intergouvernemental sur l'Evolution du Climat).
Currently, 85% of the world's population lives in the dry part of our planet. In 2030 47% of the world's population will live in areas with high water stress.
Only in Africa by 2020 from 75 to 250 million people may face increased pressure on water resources caused by climate change. Along with the increasing demand for water; this may affect the livelihoods of the population and exacerbate water supply problems (IPCC 2007).
Impact of climate warming on water resources: a 1ºC increase in temperature will entail the complete disappearance of small glaciers in the Andes, which could lead to problems in the water supply for 50 million people; a 2ºC temperature increase will cause a 20-30% reduction in water resources in “unprotected” regions (southern Africa, Mediterranean).
Global climate change and strong anthropogenic influence are causing desertification and forest loss.
According to the World Human Development Report 2006, by 2025, the number of people experiencing water shortages will reach 3 billion, whereas today their number is 700 million. This problem will become especially acute in southern Africa, China and India.
8. Increase in consumption. Increasing standard of living
9. Intensification of economic activity
The development of the economy and services will lead to additional growth in water consumption, with most of the responsibility falling on industry rather than agriculture (EPE).
10. Increase in energy consumption
According to calculations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), global electricity demand is expected to increase by 55% by 2030. Only the share of China and India will be 45%. Developing countries will account for 74%.
It is assumed that the amount of energy generated by hydroelectric power plants for the period from 2004 to 2030. will grow annually by 1.7%. Its overall growth over this period will be 60%.
Dams, criticized for their serious environmental consequences and the forced displacement of large numbers of people, are now seen by many as a possible solution to the water problem in the face of dwindling supplies of fossil fuels, the need to transition to cleaner energy sources, the need to adapt to different hydrological conditions and the instability caused by climate changes.
11. Biofuel production
Biofuels are used to meet growing energy needs. However, widespread biofuel production further reduces the area available for growing plant foods.
Bioethanol production tripled over the period 2000-2007. and amounted to about 77 billion liters in 2008. The largest producers of this type of biofuel are Brazil and the USA - their share in world production is 77%. Production of biodiesel fuel produced from oilseeds for the period from 2000-2007. increased 11 times. 67% of it is produced in the European Union (OECD-FAO, 2008)
In 2007, 23% of the maize produced in the United States was used to produce ethanol, and 54% of the sugar cane crop was used for this purpose in Brazil. 47% of vegetable oil produced in the European Union was used to produce biodiesel.
However, despite the increased use of biofuels, their share in total energy production remains small. In 2008, the share of ethanol in the transport fuel market was estimated in the USA - 4.5%, in Brazil - 40%, in the EU - 2.2%. While biofuels have the potential to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, they can put disproportionate pressure on biodiversity and the environment. The main problem is the need for large amounts of water and fertilizers to ensure the harvest. To produce 1 liter of ethanol, 1000 to 4000 liters of water are required. Global ethanol production is expected to reach 127 billion liters in 2017.
About 1/5 of the US maize crop was used in 2006/2007. to produce ethanol, replacing about 3% of the country's gasoline fuel (World Development Report 2008, World Bank).
It takes about 2,500 liters of water to produce one liter of ethanol. According to the World Energy Outlook 2006, biofuel production is increasing by 7% per year. Its production may not create real problems in areas where there is heavy rainfall. A different situation is developing in China, and in the near future in India.
12. Tourism
Tourism has become one of the factors driving the increase in water consumption. In Israel, the use of water by hotels along the Jordan River is considered to be the cause of the drying up of the Dead Sea, where the water level has fallen by 16.4 m since 1977. Golf tourism, for example, has a huge impact on water withdrawal volumes: golf courses with eighteen holes can consume more than 2.3 million liters of water per day. In the Philippines, water use for tourism threatens rice cultivation. Tourists in Grenada, Spain, typically use seven times more water than local residents, a figure considered common in many developing tourist areas.
In Great Britain, improvements in sanitation and water purification began in the 1880s. contributed to a 15-year increase in life expectancy over the next four decades. (HDR, 2006)
Lack of water and sanitation costs South Africa approximately 5% of the country's GDP annually (UNDP).
Each resident of developed countries uses on average 500-800 liters of water per day (300 m 3 per year); in developing countries this figure is 60-150 liters per day (20 m 3 per year).
Each year, 443 million school days are missed due to water-related illnesses.
Water market development
Resolving the water crisis
In the UN Millennium Declaration in 2000, the international community committed itself to halving the number of people without access to clean drinking water by 2015 and ending the unsustainable use of water resources.
The relationship between poverty and water is clear: the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day is roughly the same as the number of people without access to safe drinking water.
Since 2001, water resources have been the main priority area of UNESCO's Natural Sciences Sector.
The water problem is one of the most pressing, although not the only one, for developing countries.
Benefits of investing in water resources
According to some estimates, Every dollar invested in improving water supply and sanitation generates between $3 and $34 in returns.
The total amount of losses incurred in Africa alone due to lack of access to safe water and inadequate sanitation facilities is approximately $US 28.4 billion per year or about 5% of GDP(WHO, 2006)
A survey of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region found that groundwater resource depletion appears to have led to a decline in GDP in some countries (Jordan by 2.1%, Yemen by 1.5% , Egypt - by 1.3%, Tunisia - by 1.2%).
Water storage
Reservoirs provide reliable sources of water for irrigation, water supply and hydropower, and for flood control. It is no exception for developing countries that 70 to 90% of annual runoff accumulates in reservoirs. However, only 4% of renewable flow is retained in African countries.
Virtual water
All countries import and export water in the form of its equivalents, i.e. in the form of agricultural and industrial goods. The calculation of used water is defined by the concept of “virtual water”.
The “virtual water” theory in 1993 ushered in a new era in defining agricultural and water policies in water-stressed regions and campaigns to conserve water resources.
About 80% of virtual water flows are associated with agricultural trade. Approximately 16% of the world's water depletion and pollution problems are related to export production. The prices of traded goods rarely reflect the costs of water use in producing countries.
For example, Mexico imports wheat, maize and sorghum from the United States, the production of which consumes 7.1 Gm 3 of water in the United States. If Mexico produced them at home, it would take 15.6 Gm 3. The total water savings resulting from the international trade of virtual water in the form of agricultural products are equivalent to 6% of the total water used in agriculture.
Water recycling
The use of urban wastewater in agriculture remains limited, except in a few countries with very poor water resources (40% of drainage water is reused in the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip, 15% in Israel and 16% in Egypt).
Water desalination is becoming increasingly accessible. It is used mainly for the production of drinking water (24%) and to meet the needs of industry (9%) in countries that have exhausted the limits of their renewable water sources (Saudi Arabia, Israel, Cyprus, etc.).
Water management projects
Approaches to solving the problem of water shortage:
- Breeding crops resistant to drought and saline soils,
- Water desalination,
- Water storage.
Today, there are political solutions aimed at reducing water losses, improving water resource management, and reducing demand for them. Many countries have already adopted laws on the conservation and efficient use of water, however, these reforms have not yet produced tangible results.
Participants in the Venice forum (The World Conference of The Future of Science, 2008) propose that the leaders of the largest international organizations and governments of the leading countries of the world begin large-scale investments in research work related to solving specific problems of developing countries in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. In particular, they consider it necessary to begin a major project as soon as possible desalination of sea water for desert irrigation, primarily in tropical countries and create a special fund to support agriculture.
The structure of water consumption with a predominance of its agricultural use determines that the search for ways to solve water shortages must be carried out through the introduction of agricultural technologies that make it possible to better use atmospheric precipitation, reduce losses during irrigation and increase field productivity.
It is in agriculture that unproductive water consumption is highest and it is estimated that about half of it is wasted. This represents 30% of the world's total freshwater resources, which represents a huge savings potential. There are many ways to help reduce water consumption. Traditional irrigation is ineffective. In developing countries, surface irrigation is mainly used, for which dams are built. This method, simple and cheap, is used, for example, in rice growing, but a significant part of the water used (about half) is lost due to infiltration and evaporation.
It is quite easy to achieve savings if you use the drip irrigation method: a small amount of water is delivered directly to the plants, using tubes laid above the ground (or, even better, underground). This method is economical, but it is expensive to install.
Based on the volume of water lost, existing water supply and irrigation systems are considered extremely inefficient. It is estimated that in the Mediterranean region, water losses in urban water supply systems amount to 25%, and in irrigation canals 20%. At least some of these losses can be avoided. Cities such as Tunis (Tunisia) and Rabat (Morocco) have reduced water losses by up to 10%. Water loss control programs are currently being introduced in Bangkok (Thailand) and Manila (Philippines).
In the face of growing shortages, some countries have already begun to include water management strategy into your development plans. In Zambia, this integrated water resource management policy covers all sectors of the economy. The result of such water management, interconnected with national development plans, was not long in coming - many donors began to include investments in the water sector in the overall portfolio of assistance to Zambia.
Although this experience remains limited, some countries are already using treated wastewater for agricultural purposes: 40% is reused in the Gaza Strip in the Palestinian Territories, 15% in Israel and 16% in Egypt.
Also used in desert regions seawater desalination method. It is used to obtain drinking and process water in countries that have reached their maximum capabilities in the use of renewable water resources (Saudi Arabia, Israel, Cyprus, etc.).
Thanks to the use of modern membrane technology the cost of water desalination has dropped to 50 cents per 1000 liters, but it is still very expensive considering the volumes of water required for the production of food raw materials. Therefore, desalination is more suitable for the production of drinking water or for use in the food industry, where the added value is quite high. If the cost of desalination can be further reduced, the severity of water problems could be significantly reduced.
The Desertec Foundation has prepared developments designed to combine desalination plants and solar thermal plants into one system, capable of producing cheap electricity on the coast of North Africa and the Middle East. For these zones, considered the driest in the world, such a solution would be a way out of water problems.
South-East Anatolia Development Project in Turkey(GAP) is a multi-sectoral socio-economic development plan aimed at increasing incomes in this least developed region of the country. Its total estimated cost is $32 million, 17 million of which have already been invested by 2008. With the development of irrigation here, per capita income tripled. Rural electrification and availability of electricity reached 90%, literacy increased, infant mortality decreased, business activity increased, and the land tenure system became more equal on irrigated lands. The number of cities with running water has quadrupled. This region is no longer one of the least developed in the country.
Australia also made changes to its policies, implementing a number of measures. Restrictions were introduced regarding watering gardens, washing cars, filling swimming pools with water, etc. in the largest cities of the country. In 2008, Sydney introduced double water supply system - drinking water and purified (technical) water for other needs. By 2011, a desalination station is being built. Capital investment in the water sector in Australia has doubled over the past 6 years from A$2 billion per year to A$4 billion per year.
UAE. The Emirates has decided to invest more than $20 billion over 8 years in the construction and launch of water desalination plants. At the moment, 6 such plants have already been launched, the remaining 5 will be built during the above-mentioned period of time. Thanks to these plants, it is planned to increase the amount of water suitable for drinking by more than three times. The need for investment in the construction of new factories is due to the growing population in the UAE.
An ambitious project is planned in the UAE "Sahara Forest" to transform part of the desert into an artificial forest capable of feeding and watering thousands of people by creating vast supergreenhouses. The combination of thermal solar power plants and original desalination plants would allow Sahara Forest to literally produce food, fuel, electricity and drinking water from nothing, which would transform the entire region.
The cost of the Sahara Forest is estimated at 80 million euros for a complex of greenhouses with an area of 20 hectares, combined with solar installations with a total capacity of 10 megawatts. “Greening” the world’s greatest desert is still a project. But pilot projects built in the image and likeness of Sahara Forest may well appear in several places at once in the coming years: groups of businessmen in the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait have already expressed interest in financing these unusual experiments
The Lesotho Highlands Water Project is a large-scale program (since 2002) of constructing dams and galleries to transport water from the highlands of Lesotho, an enclave country located inside South Africa and the size of Belgium, to the dry areas of Gauteng province, located near Johannesburg.
Ethiopia: large amounts of money are being invested in infrastructure (building dams, providing well water to rural areas. Across the country, there is an increase in the number of tenders for projects to improve access to drinking water, large infrastructure projects (boreholes).
In Pakistan, the government is seriously considering the issue of forcibly melting the glaciers of the Pamirs and Himalayas.
Rain cloud management projects are being considered in Iran.
In 2006, on the outskirts of Lima (Peru), biologists launched a project to create an irrigation system that collects water from fog. The structure for another fog tower project on the coast of Chile requires extensive construction.
Based on marketing research materials about water (excerpts),
For more detailed information (water prices in different countries of the world, etc..
Water resources include all types of water, excluding water physically and chemically associated with rocks and the biosphere. They are divided into two different groups, consisting of stationary water reserves and renewable reserves participating in the water cycle process and assessed by the balance method. For practical needs, mainly fresh water is needed.
As already mentioned, water resources are all the water reserves on the planet. But on the other hand, water is the most common and most specific compound on Earth, because only it can exist in three states (liquid, gaseous and solid).
The Earth's water resources consist of:
· surface waters (oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, swamps) are the most valuable source of fresh water, but the thing is that these objects are distributed quite unevenly over the Earth’s surface. Thus, in the equatorial zone, as well as in the northern part of the temperate zone, water is in excess (25 thousand m3 per year per person). And the tropical continents, which consist of 1/3 of the land, are very acutely aware of the shortage of water reserves. Based on this situation, their agriculture develops only under the condition of artificial irrigation;
· groundwater;
· reservoirs created artificially by man;
· glaciers and snowfields (frozen water from glaciers in Antarctica, the Arctic and snowy mountain peaks). This is where most of the fresh water is found. However, these reserves are practically unavailable for use. If all the glaciers are distributed over the Earth, then this ice will cover the earth with a ball 53 cm high, and by melting it, we thereby raise the level of the World Ocean by 64 meters;
· moisture contained in plants and animals;
· vaporous state of the atmosphere.
Availability of water resources:
The world's water reserves are enormous. However, this is predominantly salt water of the World Ocean. Fresh water reserves, for which people's need is especially great, are insignificant (35029.21 thousand km3) and exhaustive. In many places on the planet there is a shortage of it for irrigation, industrial needs, drinking and other domestic needs.
The main source of fresh water is rivers. Of all the river waters on the planet (47 thousand km3, only half can actually be used.
Freshwater consumption is constantly growing, but river flow resources remain unchanged. This creates a threat of fresh water shortage.
The main consumer of fresh water is agriculture, in which its irreversible consumption is high (especially for irrigation).
To solve the problem of water supply, projects for economical water consumption, construction of reservoirs, desalination of sea water, and redistribution of river flow are used; iceberg transportation projects are being developed.
Countries have different levels of water resources. About 1/3 of the land area is occupied by the arid belt, which is home to 850 million people.
· Countries with insufficient water resources include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Germany;
· with average income - Mexico, USA;
· with sufficient and excess security - Canada, Russia, Congo.
One of the ways to provide the population with fresh water is to desalinize salt water. Two millennia ago, people learned to obtain fresh water from salt water by distillation. The first installations for desalination of sea water appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, for which solar desalination plants were used, for example, in the Atacama Desert (Chile). In the second half of the 20th century, nuclear desalination plants began to be used. They are used most of all by countries with tropical climates: Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, etc. The countries of the Persian Gulf receive the most desalinated water per capita. In Kuwait, 100% of the water used is desalinated seawater.
Until relatively recently, water, like air, was considered one of the free gifts of nature, only in areas of artificial irrigation it always had a high price. Recently, attitudes towards land water resources have changed.
Over the last century, the world's consumption of fresh water has doubled, and the planet's water resources cannot meet such a rapid increase in human needs. According to the World Commission on Water, today every person needs 40 (20 to 50) liters of water daily for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene.
However, about a billion people in 28 countries around the world do not have access to as many vital resources. More than 40% of the world's population (about 2.5 billion people) lives in areas experiencing moderate or severe water stress.
This number is expected to rise to 5.5 billion by 2025, accounting for two-thirds of the world's population.
The overwhelming majority of fresh water is, as it were, conserved in the glaciers of Antarctica, Greenland, in the ice of the Arctic, in mountain glaciers and forms a kind of “emergency reserve” that is not yet available for use.
Different countries differ greatly in their freshwater reserves. Below is a ranking of countries with the largest freshwater resources in the world. However, this ranking is based on absolute indicators and does not coincide with per capita indicators.
10. Myanmar
Per capita- 23.3 thousand cubic meters. m
The rivers of Myanmar - Burma are subject to the country's monsoon climate. They originate in the mountains, but are fed not by glaciers, but by precipitation.
More than 80% of the annual river nutrition comes from rain. In winter, rivers become shallow and some of them, especially in central Burma, dry up.
There are few lakes in Myanmar; the largest of them is the tectonic Lake Indoji in the north of the country with an area of 210 square meters. km.
Despite fairly high absolute indicators, residents of some areas of Myanmar suffer from a lack of fresh water.
9. Venezuela
Per capita– 60.3 thousand cubic meters. m
Nearly half of Venezuela's thousand-plus rivers flow from the Andes and Guiana Plateau into the Orinoco, Latin America's third largest river. Its basin covers an area of about 1 million square meters. km. The Orinoco drainage basin covers approximately four-fifths of Venezuela's territory.
8. India
Per capita- 2.2 thousand cubic meters. m
India has a large number of water resources: rivers, glaciers, seas and oceans. The most significant rivers are: Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Godavari, Krishna, Narbada, Mahanadi, Kaveri. Many of them are important as sources of irrigation.
Eternal snow and glaciers in India cover about 40 thousand square meters. km of territory.
However, given the huge population in India, the availability of fresh water per capita is quite low.
7. Bangladesh
Per capita– 19.6 thousand cubic meters. m
Bangladesh is one of the countries with the highest population density in the world. This is largely due to the extraordinary fertility of the Ganges River delta and regular floods caused by monsoon rains. However, overpopulation and poverty have become the real problem of Bangladesh.
There are many rivers flowing through Bangladesh, and large rivers can flood for weeks. Bangladesh has 58 transboundary rivers and issues arising in the use of water resources are very sensitive in discussions with India.
However, despite the relatively high level of water resource availability, the country faces a problem: Bangladesh's water resources are often subject to arsenic poisoning due to its high levels in the soil. Up to 77 million people are exposed to arsenic poisoning through drinking contaminated water.
6. USA
Per capita– 2.4 thousand cubic meters m
The United States occupies a vast territory with many rivers and lakes.
However, despite the fact that the United States has such fresh water resources, this does not save California from the worst drought in history.
In addition, given the high population of the country, the availability of fresh water per capita is not that high.
5. Indonesia
Per capita– 12.2 thousand cubic meters. m
The special topography of the territories of Indonesia, combined with a favorable climate, at one time contributed to the formation of a dense river network in these lands.
In the territories of Indonesia, quite a large amount of precipitation falls all year round, because of this the rivers are always full and play a significant role in the irrigation system.
Almost all of them flow from the Maoke Mountains north into the Pacific Ocean.
4. China
Per capita– 2.3 thousand cubic meters. m
China has 5-6% of the world's water reserves. But China is the most densely populated country in the world, and water is distributed extremely unevenly across its territory.
The south of the country has struggled for thousands of years and today is struggling with floods, building and building dams to save crops and people’s lives.
The north of the country and central regions are suffering from water shortages.
3. Canada
Per capita– 98.5 thousand cubic meters. m
Canada has 7% of the world's renewable freshwater resources and less than 1% of the world's total population. Accordingly, per capita security in Canada is one of the highest in the world.
Most of Canada's rivers belong to the Atlantic and Arctic oceans; significantly fewer rivers flow into the Pacific Ocean.
Canada is one of the richest countries in the world with lakes. On the border with the United States are the Great Lakes (Superior, Huron, Erie, Ontario), connected by small rivers into a huge basin with an area of more than 240 thousand square meters. km.
Less significant lakes lie on the territory of the Canadian Shield (Great Bear, Great Slave, Athabasca, Winnipeg, Winnipegosis), etc.
2. Russia
Per capita– 30.5 thousand cubic meters. m
In terms of reserves, Russia accounts for more than 20% of the world's freshwater resources (excluding glaciers and groundwater). When calculating the volume of fresh water per resident of Russia, there is about 30 thousand cubic meters. m of river flow per year.
Russia is washed by the waters of 12 seas belonging to three oceans, as well as the inland Caspian Sea. On the territory of Russia there are over 2.5 million large and small rivers, more than 2 million lakes, hundreds of thousands of swamps and other water resources.
1. Brazil
Per capita- 43.0 thousand cubic meters m
Brazil's water resources are represented by a huge number of rivers, the main of which is the Amazon (the largest river in the whole world).
Almost a third of this large country is occupied by the Amazon River basin, which includes the Amazon itself and more than two hundred of its tributaries.
This gigantic system contains one fifth of all the world's river waters.
The rivers and their tributaries flow slowly, often overflowing their banks during the rainy seasons and flooding vast areas of tropical forests.
The rivers of the Brazilian Plateau have significant hydroelectric potential. The largest lakes in the country are Mirim and Patos. Main rivers: Amazon, Madeira, Rio Negro, Parana, Sao Francisco.
Not all countries can boast that they have a river basin at their disposal, which does not need to be shared with other states. There are countries that are most endowed with water resources, and there are also those where there is already an acute shortage of drinking water. Why is independence important?
The following example will help you understand the situation better. The Irtysh is the largest tributary of the Ob River. Its source is located on the Mongolian-Chinese border, then the Irtysh crosses China.
The length of the river on Chinese territory is half a thousand kilometers. After this, it flows through Kazakhstan (a length of more than 1,700 km), and then crosses the Russian border, where the distance to the confluence with the Ob is almost 2,000 km.
Previously, there was an agreement between the countries regarding the division of the Irtysh flow. According to it, half (which is about two billion cubic km of water) is taken by China, and half of the remaining flow is taken by Kazakhstan. This cannot but affect the full flow of the river in the area belonging to Russia.
If a river flowed through the territory of only one state, its water supply would not depend on how honestly the neighboring country acts. When several states are involved in dividing a resource, things may not be very good.
If you look at a world map, you can clearly see which countries the rivers flow through, and which of them depend (or do not depend) on their neighbors. There are many more states sharing water resources. Because of this, they are almost completely dependent on water supplies:
- Egypt, Turkmenistan, Kuwait - from 95 to 100%.
- Bangladesh, Moldova, Mauritania, Hungary - from 90 to 95%.
- Netherlands, Niger - 86–88%.
Among the countries of the post-Soviet space, water dependence is as follows:
- Turkmenistan and Moldova - more than 90%.
- Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan - about 75%.
- Ukraine, Latvia - more than 52%.
- Lithuania, Belarus, Tajikistan - from 31 to 37%.
- Tajikistan, Armenia - more than 31%.
- Russia, Estonia - less than 5%.
- Kyrgyzstan is completely independent.
If we compare water resources by volume of reserves, there are states that occupy leading positions.
| The name of the country | Volume of water reserves (cubic km) | Share of transboundary flow (%) |
| Brazil | 8.3 thousand | 34,1 |
| Russia | 4.6 thousand | 4,3 |
| USA | 3.1 thousand | 3,9 |
| Canada | 2.9 thousand | 1,9 |
| Indonesia | 2,7 | 0 |
| China | 2,6 | 0,6 |
| Colombia | 2,2 | 0,8 |
Peru, Venezuela, Burma and many other countries do not have to fear that they will be threatened by a decrease in transboundary flows.
Changes in river water use
Water is needed not only for drinking and irrigation: rivers serve as transport arteries, which is very important in places where it is impossible to build highways. In addition, rivers can be a place for fishing and recreation for people, and a means for generating electricity.
Everything is fine when everything is fine with the rivers. But this is not always possible. Thus, waterways can transport pollutants from upstream countries to downstream countries.
Due to the deterioration of river water quality, not only people, but also lands may suffer. Vegetation, animals, and birds begin to die on the banks of polluted rivers.
First of all, trees that grow near the shores die. But this does not mean that forests located remotely will not be affected. Pollution will spread either over the surface of the soil (during spring-autumn floods) or in its depths (by groundwater).
Significant changes in the volume or quality of river flow can result from:
- To a change in agricultural activities and the inability to use land resources. A lack of water or the inability to use it to water plants due to pollution will make it impossible to grow many crops for food or industry. In addition, water problems can lead to dry pastures. And the lack of animal feed will force the number of livestock to be reduced or completely destroyed. All this can ultimately lead to food shortages due to the impossibility of full-fledged land use. This situation can be observed in many countries that do not have their own rivers.
- To the death of forests. Forests occupy 30% of the land. In the north, coniferous species predominate; in the southern zones, tropical species predominate. Many of them grow near rivers. One such example is Brazil. More than 60 rivers flow through the vastness of this country, including the world's longest, the Amazon. The territory of the state is covered with dense vegetation - tropical forests. Without the presence of the required amount of moisture, in particular from rivers, it is unlikely that forest areas would be so dense. And Brazil, like other countries endowed with forest resources, occupies a leading position in terms of water reserves.
- To global climate or environmental changes. The death of fish and animals is only part of what awaits polluted or depleted rivers. Due to lack of water, their banks turn into swamps and floodplains dry out. If polluted rivers flow through populated areas, the environmental situation in them deteriorates sharply.
Conclusion: today the world economy faces an acute problem that needs to be solved as soon as possible. The matter concerns the rational use of water, especially fresh water. It just seems like there is a lot of water on the planet.
In fact, the picture is as follows:
- 96% of the planet's waters are found in the World Ocean.
- Groundwater - 2%.
- Glaciers contain less than 2%.
- Surface water (fresh) is about 0.03% of the total. These include river, lake and swamp waters.
If we take into account the entire volume of water, then only 0.6 percent of it is fresh water. Every year humanity uses more than 3.5 thousand cubic meters. km of water. This number includes those used for agricultural needs (about 66%) and for industry (more than 20%).
Ocean water is not used for technical needs or for drinking.
World Ocean
The Earth's oceans contain 96% of the water reserves that are used by all countries located on their shores. Accordingly, the reserves of the World Ocean are very important for the development of the productive forces of states.
- The world's oceans contain:
- Bioresources. These are phyto- and zooplankton, fish.
- Mineral raw materials. Moreover, at the bottom of the oceans, minerals are found in large quantities.
Fresh water is a valuable resource that is becoming increasingly scarce. It is obtained by desalination.
- In addition, ocean waters:
- They are transport communications.
- Represent energy potential.
They purify substances of various origins entering them.
If humanity can fully develop the resources of the planet’s oceans, it will be able to solve many problems that are currently global.