Water Scarcity

Group members:
1.

Majeda Ali Yusuf

2.

Talal Fawaz Mahfood

3.

Zahra Ebrahim Kamal

Whats water scarcity?

Simply put, water scarcity is either the lack of enough water (quantity) or
lack of access to safe water (quality). There are two types of water scarcity

Water scarcity has two types..

1. Physical scarcity
Physical water scarcity is when the demand outstrips the lands ability to
provide the needed. Sometimes, there are regions in the world where physical
scarcity is a man-made condition. The Colorado river basin in the united states
is an excellent example of a seemingly abundant source of water being
overused and over managed, leading to very serious physical water scarcity
downstream.

2. Economic scarcity
Economic water scarcity is by far the most disturbing form of water scarcity
because it is almost entirely a lack of compassion and good governance that
allows the condition to persist. Economic water scarcity exists when a
population does not have the necessary monetary means to utilize an
adequate source of water. Much of sub-Saharan Africa suffers under the effects
of this type of water scarcity.

Contributing factors

1. Overdrawing groundwater

Due to The Groundwater Foundation Organization, groundwater is the water

found underground in the cracks of soil, sand and rock.

World is consuming fresh water at least 10 times faster than it is being

replenished in regions of Northern Africa, The Middle East, Pakistan and
China.

Seawater intrusion in groundwater

Due to The Water Replenishment District Of South California, Seawater
intrusion is the movement of ocean water into fresh groundwater.

According to

Due to The United States Environmental Protection Agency, Coastal Louisiana

in US had a salt intrusion in its water and currently is experiencing higher than
expected salinities in fresh waterways.

2. Water pollution
Definition: Water pollution is the contamination of
natural water bodies by chemical or physical substances.
Due to Global Times Newspaper, an estimated 280
million people in China are without safe drinking
water.

There are two common

types
Acid rain

Pollutants from
agriculture

 Acid rain
According to National Geographic, acid rain describes any form of
precipitation with high levels of nitric and sulfuric acids.

Nitrogen
oxides

Sulfur
dioxide

 Pollutants from agriculture

A video from Surfrider Foundation Organization:

3. Climate change
Due to Exploring The Environment educational website, climate
change is a long-term change in weather patterns that characterize
the regions of the world

elting
A glacier is a thick mass of ice that originates on land from the
accumulation of snow.

The World Glacier Monitoring Service, reported that glaciers are melting in all of
the worlds major mountains, including the Andes, the Rockies, the Alps and the
Himalayas.

Due to the book World on the Edge by Lester Brown, In South America, 22% of
Perus glaciers, which feed the many rivers that supply water to farmers and
cities has disappeared

Impacts

1. Climate change effect

Glacial ice melting caused by climate change has effects on the aquatic life
Due to The Extreme Ice Survey, the melting fresh water from glaciers alters the ocean
and can change what scientists call the THC, or thermo (heat) haline (salt) circulation,
meaning currents in the ocean.

2. Water pollution effects

Water borne diseases

More than 2 million people die each year from water-related diseases.
diarrhea is defined as the passage of three or more liquid stools per
day.
Globally, there are nearly 1.7 billion cases of diarrhea disease every
year.
Death of aquatic creatures
Use of pesticides and fertilizers on farms pollutes our waterways.
Due to the World Wildlife Organization, pesticides can kill non-target
organisms, including beneficial insects, soil bacteria and fish.
Fertilizers are not directly toxic, but their presence can alter the nutrient
system in marine areas.

3. Over drafting ground water effects

Land subsidence
Due to the Science For a Changing World Organization, land subsidence is the
lowering of the land-surface elevation from changes that take place
underground.
When water is taken out of the soil, the soil collapses
compacts, and drops.
Land subsidence damage bridges, roads, storm drains
canals, and private and public buildings.

Drying up of wells and increased costs for the user

For water to be withdrawn from the ground, the well must reach below the water
table. If groundwater levels decline too far, then the well owner might have to
deepen the well or drill a new well which will require more energy to drive the
pump.

 Wetland loss
Wetlands are the biological kidneys of the landscape.
The reason behind wetlands destruction is the increased salinity of the freshwater that
is toxic to many plant species.
Due to National Wildlife Federation, Coastal Louisiana in USA is losing 24 square miles
of wetlands each year.

Analysis
Can you imagine life without safe water to drink? Well thats what the world
is headed to.

Bahrain and water shortage

- Bahrain was ranked as the second country in the world to use the most water
per square cm of land (disproportionally large amount of water consumption).
Bahrain's battle with water shortage: Bahrains fresh water springs;
- The issue of water shortages in bahrain is something that is rarely known, let
alone discussed. Indeed, the once prestigious, and pride of bahrain, the
spring waters and wells are drying up, the aquifers and a part of bahrains
namesake is almost vanishing into the abyss.

The reaction
Desalination plants remain the major source of water in bahrain, estimated to
produce around 143 million gallons of water per day (perhaps thats why not
much water is left). However, this project is not immune from
environmentalists concerns.A desalination plant in bahrain some warn that
chlorine (which plays a disinfectant role in the desalination plant) may spew
into the nearby sea and possibly kill or damage the ecosystems or living
organisms present. Such accidents may prove quite costly considering many
fishermen rely on these ecosystems for their fish. Others raise the concern of
chlorine from the fish being transmitted (via their flesh) to humans and could
potentially cause illnesses.

Solutions to over drafting ground water;

water saving
The most obvious way to save groundwater is to not pump it out of the ground.
This can also be the cheapest way to improve groundwater resource
conditions, if there has been excess extraction from a groundwater basins.

Solutions to water pollution

Dealing with water pollution is something that everyone (including governments
and local councils) needs to get involved with. Here are a few things you can do to
help. Learning about the issue (like you are doing) is the greatest and most
important step to take. Here are a few more:
You can help
Never throw rubbish away anyhow. Always look for the correct waste bin.
Use water wisely.
Do not throw chemicals, oils, paints and medicines down the sink drain, or the
toilet.

Solutions to climate change impact on

water
- Theres a lot we can do to reduce emissions, prevent climate change and
protect our threatened freshwater sources. Using less energy is a great place
to start.
- Conserving water, food and other resources is an important step towards
reducing overall energy use.

Either.. Or..
Business as usual
What will happen if our society If our
society chooses to ignore the reality
of limited water resources

Blue growth
By wasting less, polluting less,
reusing more, managing effectively
and becoming more efficient in all
uses of water. The results are:

Case studies about water shortage

There are different ways you can attack the water scarcity problem and solve
it! But there is no definite answer or way to end this problem because it wont
only take months or years but maybe decades to reach to a point where it no
longer a global issue acting the world. Will there be a change? Start by
spreading the word.

Save water, save the world.

Thank you