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Page added on December 6, 2016
Let us save every drop of water
Water conservation means using our water wisely and caring for it properly. Since each of us depends on water for life, it is our responsibility to learn more about water conservation and how we can help keep our water pure and safe for generations to come. Since we all enjoy the benefits of having pure, clean water, we must help conserve water so that we may continue to enjoy these benefits. Water is life because plants and animals cannot live without water. Water is needed to ensure food security, feed livestock, maintain organic life, take up industrial production and to conserve the biodiversity and environment. Hence, there is no life without water. With the God’s gifted earth is the only planet, so far we know that it posses water and this makes it fit for human living and other living organisms to exist on it. This precious substance which are not properly utilize by mankind and increasing demand due to growing population and unsuitable lifestyle, many countries are facing sever water crisis. Year by year per capita availability of water is decreasing which threats to human life in many ways. If proper planning and corrective measures are not taken up in the proper place and proper time many developing countries including India will have to face declining in food production and water security in the near future.
Long before, when the population was low and lifestyle was simple, water was available in plenty and was considered as a free resource. However, with growing demand for water and depletion of the available water, assured supply of good quality water is becoming a growing concern. As the water resources are not evenly distributed, across different continents, some countries have surplus water while many countries are in deficit.
Although, India is not a water poor country, due to growing human population, severe neglect and over-exploitation of this resource, water is becoming a scarce commodity. India is more vulnerable because of the growing population and in-disciplined lifestyle. This calls for immediate attention by the stakeholders to make sustainable use of the available water resources.
2. Global Freshwater Scenario
Global freshwater reserves are rapidly depleting and this is expected to significantly impact any densely populated areas of the world. Low to middle income developing regions as well as highly developed countries will face water stress in the future, unless existing water reserves are managed effectively. The total volume of water on planet is 326,000,000 cubic miles. Out of the total water on the earth 97.5% is in the oceans and only 2.5% of the water on earth is freshwater. Nearly 70% of the freshwater on earth is permanently frozen in glaciers and at the polar ice caps. Less than 1% of the world’s fresh water (~0.007% of all water on earth) is accessible for direct human uses. This is the water found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and those underground sources that are shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost.
Among various continents, Asia has 36% of the available fresh water reserves, with over 60% of the world population where water is a scarce commodity. Compared to Asia, Africa is in a better situation, where 13% of the population has access to 11% of the fresh water reserves. Australia and Oceana have plenty of water with 1% population owning 5% of the fresh water reserves, followed by North and Central America, with 8% population and 15% water reserves and South America with 6% global population and 26% fresh water reserves. Table 1 presents the per capita water use in different continents. The data highlights a close correlation between economic prosperity and water use.
Table 1: Per Capita Water Use
Continents Per Capita Water Use (m3/yr)
Africa 245
Asia 519
North and C. America 1861
South America 478
Europe 1280
USSR (Former) 713
Major consumption of water is for agriculture, industrial production and domestic purposes, apart from being used for fishery, hydro-power generation, transportation and maintaining biodiversity and ecological balance. The proportion of water used for agriculture and industries varies from country to country depending on the lifestyle, extent of industrial development and water use efficiency as presented in Table 2. Developing countries are using comparatively less water for agriculture and more for industrial and domestic purposes, while the developing countries in Asia and Africa use 80-90% of the water for agriculture and only 5-12% of the water for industrial use. This is reflecting on inefficient use of water in agriculture and poor investments in industrial development.
Table 2: Current Water Usage
Usage (%) World Europe Africa India
Agriculture 69 33 88 83
Industry 23 54 5 12
Domestic 8 13 7 5
3. India’s Water Budget
The basic source of water is precipitation in the form of rainfall or snowfall. India’s average annual rainfall is about 119.4 cm which falls over the geographical area of 328 million-ha, which makes total amount of water to 392 million ha-m. If we include snowfall, if may be rounded off to 400 million-ha-m (M ha-m). Out of the total volume of water 300 M ha-m receives during monsoon months and rest receives during non monsoon months. Out of the total precipitation immediate loss to the evaporation is 70 M ha-m, percolation into the soil is 215 M ha-m and contribution to the surface water is 115 M ha-m.
Total annual available surface water flows in the country is 180 M ha-m. It includes about 20 M ha-m brought in by streams and rivers from catchments lying outside the country. About 45 M ha-m pertains to generate flow from ground water as assessed from river flows during non rainy months. The remaining 115 M ha-m constitutes direct contribution by precipitation of which about 10 M ha-m is received as snowfall.
16 Comments on "Let us save every drop of water"
Go Speed Racer on Tue, 6th Dec 2016 10:56 pm
Do your part to conserve dwindling reservoirs, by drinking only imported bottled water. Everybody has to do their part.
makati1 on Tue, 6th Dec 2016 11:04 pm
One way China is taking care of it’s water problems…
“A hundred billion gallons of water per year is being exported in the form of alfalfa from California. It’s a huge amount. It’s enough for a year’s supply for a million families — it’s a lot of water, particularly when you’re looking at the dreadful drought throughout the southwest.”
“By the end of 2012, Chinese ownership had skyrocketed by 1,000 percent, to $900 million.3 They’re also buying up food producers.
In 2013, pork processor Smithfield was bought by Shaunghui, the largest meat processing company in China.4 At $7.1 billion — 30 percent above its estimated market value — it was the largest-ever Chinese buyout of an American company.
Also included in the deal was $480 million worth of American farmland.5 With this buyout, the Chinese now own 1 out of every 4 pigs raised in the U.S.
The Chinese are also buying agricultural resources in Africa, Europe, Australia, Argentina and Brazil. ChemChina (a Chinese-government-owned company) is also currently negotiating a takeover bid for Syngenta, which makes agricultural chemicals.”
America is one huge garage sale for the countries that still have money to spend. And Americans keep sending them hundreds of billions of dollars annually to do so.
makati1 on Tue, 6th Dec 2016 11:05 pm
Ref: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/12/06/cafos-ruin-farm-land-waterways.aspx
forbin on Wed, 7th Dec 2016 4:01 am
it is our responsibility to learn more about water conservation and how we can help keep our water pure and safe for generations to come.
enter Monsanto …….
Forbin
Davy on Wed, 7th Dec 2016 5:48 am
Most people fail to realize energy and water are very interrelated. Most thermal coal and oil plants are water cooled and driven. This makes renewables and gas a great benefit for water conservation since they generally do not need water. Monocultures in dry regions are another issue. That comes down to choice not need. Dry places with lots of sun are great for growing food if there is water. Many of these places grow high value products that could be replaced with less water intensive products. They could be more sustainable by producing local food in polycultures and in a nutrient cycle rotation. These places instead are centers for agribusiness that are money and resource intensive operations. We also have places where drugs are grown in arid regions. Afghanistan and Yemen have water issues and they chose to grow drugs because rich westerners drug choices or in Yemen as a cultural pastime. Pot and coke are other product using water. Industrialization is one of the worst culprits because not only is water used in the processes but the effluent is also destroying watersheds. Many places in Asia the water is not even fit for industry let alone drinking. We are going to see hydro power systems likewise be stressed with this climate change variability. Complex economies do not adapt well to grid instability.
I have a feeling with abrupt climate change we will see water for food production being eventually the most significant climate change issue. Lack of water for drinking is bad but drinking water needs are much less than agriculture needs. Remember all the graphs on population growth numb-nut academics paint and how food production growth is more than adequate. That is not so if water supplies become problematic. When we have strong variability of rain then dry it is very hard on agricultural production. This could be more damaging than the issue of coastal flooding. Economic damage is bad for the economy but hunger kills it.
The depletion of quality and quantity of waters will make its impact before oil depletion and no amount of fossil fuels or alternative energy will change that. It is likely conservation and good practices will not keep up with population demands and destabilization from climate change. Desalinization is a niche technology because of cost and energy demands. We want to think technology will come to the rescue but technology is suffering limits from a declining economy and diminishing returns to innovation. Tell me how Bolivia can afford technology like pipelines and desal? They can’t and nor will richer places once the global economy begins to crash. We are not seeing major new technologies just the slow incremental improvements in ability or efficiency of the manufacturing process of existing older technologies. Incremental technological improvements will likely not keep up with disruptions from climate change or demands of population growth soon.
Water is a global economy limit that is not much talked about but soon it will be the most important issue in many areas. Populations in Asia and Middle East are set to crash into the brick wall of water limits very soon with catastrophic consequences. The west is right behind them especially place like the US southwest or the Mediterranean regions of Europe. Since we are all interconnected in the global economy this will be a domino effect of declining global economic growth.
Cloggie on Wed, 7th Dec 2016 6:36 am
The idea of spilling water on land for agricultural purposes basically boils down to humidifying the atmosphere. That is OK if you have plenty of water like in Europe, but elsewhere it is madness.
But you can very well have simple agriculture without any significant loss of water, other than via the crop leaves:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjAOx5G9fXU
(Dutch)
Have crops grow on water rather than in the soil and seal off the water table from the atmosphere. Solve nutrients in the water and have up to 30% more crop yield than with soil. You don’t really need a glass house in the tropics.
This kind of agriculture can be applied almost everywhere, also in the third world. All you need is few cheap plastic containers and a little bit of water and fertilizer.
Cloggie on Wed, 7th Dec 2016 6:44 am
You can even go further and develop a closed system with fish farming integrated in it and use their poop and pee for fertilizer vegetable production and have a piece of fish with your veggies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezEU8_F5jzc
Don’t forget to feed the fish though.
Davy on Wed, 7th Dec 2016 7:01 am
Techno optimism will not save us because it takes a healthy economy and we don’t have that anymore. The best we will manage is some incremental improvements because of technology and efficiency. There is still plenty of global wealth to realize some of this techno optimism but those forces will decay very rapidly with economic decay. What you see is pretty much what you are going to get soon. We just are not going to break out of the multiple traps we are in. We have just enough technology to fool ourselves and most everyone is fooled by it. It is a false god and a monkey trap. Those who fall for it are caught up in a complexity trance. Anything more complex gives them a buzz. It makes me sick but I am a minority.
Cloggie on Wed, 7th Dec 2016 7:07 am
Professional herb growing (here basilicum) on water:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfT5oZgZe-0
The great advantage is that growth circumstances are almost completely controlled (temperature, fertilizer, water). No need for chemical crop protection in a glass house.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_tvJtUHnmU
Example from Newark. This kind of intense agriculture requires 95% less water. You can stack water table planes in a warehouse and exercise city farming. Additional advantage: low transport necessity.
Cloggie on Wed, 7th Dec 2016 7:36 am
It is very well possible to grow crops on salt water:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sspt-evxL0Q
Hubert on Wed, 7th Dec 2016 9:19 am
California is Dead End. Brain-dead Chinese are buyinh up properties in California. Sell—–> Leave.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-30/80-all-new-home-buyers-irvine-are-chinese
Hubert on Wed, 7th Dec 2016 12:48 pm
China will run out of water in 15 years whether they like it or not. Their one child policy has failed. THe population in China is still growing.
penury on Wed, 7th Dec 2016 1:11 pm
For a nation like the U.S. where water conservation consists of a brick in the toilet or a ten minute shower daily rather than a fifteen minute shower, or the mandated 5 gallon flush which then causes people to flush 2 0r 3 times or in a drought situation making certain to water suburban yards at least twice in 7 days, we are doing all that we can. Do you expect miracles?Geesh
Apneaman on Wed, 7th Dec 2016 1:26 pm
Bolivia declares national emergency amid drought
The lack of water has sparked protests in Bolivia and forced President Evo Morales to declare a national emergency.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/11/bolivia-declares-national-emergency-drought-161121180126149.html
Shrinking glaciers cause state-of-emergency drought in Bolivia
Climate News Network: Three main dams supplying water to La Paz and El Alto are no longer fed by Andean glaciers and have nearly run dry
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/28/shrinking-glaciers-state-of-emergency-drought-bolivia
Bob on Wed, 7th Dec 2016 3:22 pm
Want to save water? Then go wind/solar power. They don’t use any water per watt of power. Electric utilities are the biggest users of water for power production. No air pollution, no water usage, no mountain top mining. Got to love it.
mx on Thu, 8th Dec 2016 5:46 pm
We are the enemy and he is us.
Stop all fracking, and coal burning, to stop the poisoning of our water with mercury, uranium and cancerous fracking lubricant. You might still have water, but you won’t be able to drink it.
Let’s face it, the human race only has an average IQ of 100 and is easily fooled. We cannot survive with 7 Billion People on the planet and stay this stupid.