Water Supply

Water as a scarce resource

-Important for life

-Need water for drinking and for other uses

-Used in industries and in agriculture

-The water consumed by people all over the world is increasing

-Amount of fresh water is limited

-Water shortage referred to as water constraint

-One third of the worlds population live in countries that are facing water constraints

Reasons for Water Constraint

-Limited supply of fresh water

-Rising demand for water

Limited supply of fresh water

-Only one percent of the total amount of water on the Earth is fresh water that is readily available for human consumption. (Surface water and groundwater)

-Some countries experience a more serious problem of water constraint than others.

            =>Why?

                        -Uneven distribution of fresh water

                        -Water pollution

Uneven distribution of fresh water

-While some countries have an abundant supply of fresh water, others suffer from a lack of it

-Because of the of the differences in climate
-affect agriculture

-Lead to shortage of food for the people.

Water pollution

-Not all water is safe for drinking and other uses even if there is an abundant supply of fresh water in a country.

-Fresh water is polluted by human activities

-Many of world’s akes and rivers are polluted

-Water is polluted by waste from factories and households (carelessly dumped into rivers)

Rising demand for water

-further contributed to the problem of water constraint.

-Causing problems for many countries

-Reasons :

            -Population growth

            -Growth of agriculture

            -Growth of industries

            -Changes in lifestyle

Population growth

-Total supply of fresh water on Earth will have to be shared among more people

-Could worsen the problem of water constraint in many countries

Growth in Agriculture

-Need to grow more food to feed the growing population

-fresh water supply is used for the watering of crops and the rearing of livestock

Growth of industries

-Water plays an important part in the daily operation of industries

-cleaning and cooling machines, raw material in making products such as food, chemicals and paper

Change in lifestyle

-Increase the demand for water

-people adopt modern lifestyle and can afford to buy items which will provide tem with more convenience and greater comfort

-Eg. Swimming pool

                        

Responses to Rising Demand for Water

-Water constraint leads to more problems

-3 Responses:

            -Increasing the price of water

            -Increasing the supply of water

            -Conserving water

Increasing the price of water

-To control the rising demand of water

-People do not want to pay more and will be encouraged to use less water

-Not a long term solution

-Helps to reduce the rising costs of producing and distributing water.

-Poor will suffer more when the price of water increases

Increasing the supply of water

-3 ways to increase the supply of water

            -Increasing catchment areas

            -Buying water from other countries through international agreements

            -Use of technology

Increase catchment areas

-Catchment area is an area over which rain falls and is collected

-Result in an increase in the amount of water collected

-E.g. Nature reserves

-Nature reserves are often used as catchment areas because forests can retain a supply of fresh water

-Will not only help to increase the amount of rainwater collected in a country

-Also help to keep the cost of water treatment down

-More forests are conserved in the process

-Less and available for other purposes such as the building of houses, industries and roads

-In times of drought or little rainfall, the land used for these catchment areas will be ineffective

-Reservoir>Pumping station> Raw water mixing chamber> Settling tank > Sand filters> Disinfection> Clear water tank> Pumping station> Service reservoir> Industries & Homes

International agreements

-Is an arrangement between two or more countries regarding the supply and use of water resources over a specific period of time

-Countries discuss and negotiate terms on the buying or the sharing of water resources

-E.g. In the Bangladesh –India water treaty sign in 1966, the two countries agreed to share and manage the water supply from the Ganges River

-Convenient way of obtaining water

-Not the best solution in the long term

-Agreements expire and countries will have to renegotiate the terms for a new agreement

- Countries cannot be certain that they will always have enough water to meet their needs

Use of technology

-Recycling water or water reclamation and desalinated water

Recycling water (water reclamation)

-Used water can be converted into usable water

-Used water is collected from households and factories and channeled to water recycling or water reclamation plants

-End product referred to as recycled water or reclaimed water

-Eg. NEWater in Singapore

-Micro filtration>Reverse osmosis> UV Disinfection> End product

Desalination

-Process of removing salt from sea water

-Convert sea water to drinking water in many dry regions of the world and in areas where the water supply is contaminated

-Water is boiled and the water vapour is collected and condensed into fresh water

-Requires a lot of energy to heat up the water

-Use of reverse osmosis

Effectiveness?

-Very costly

-Large amounts of energy

-People may not get used to the idea of drinking desalinated water

Conserving water

-Careful use of water resources to ensure that wastage is kept to a minimum

-Reduce the risk of future water shortage by encouraging people and industries to use less water

-Help delay the need to develop new facilities or upgrade existing facilities

-Save money through reduced water bills

-Government has less need to invest more money on water related facilities

-Educate the public through campaigns

Water supply in Singapore

History of water constraints in Singapore

-Rivers in Singapore do not provide an adequate supply of fresh water to meet existing needs.

-Although rainfall in Singapore is generally high, dry spells are common as well

-The amount of rainfall collected in catchment areas is not enough to satisfy all our water needs

-More land is cleared thus there is a loss of many water catchment areas

-However, since then, more land has been set aside as water catchment areas

Growing demand for water

-The growth of Singapore’s population and industry has increased the demand for its limited supply of water

-Demand expected to increase further as Singapore works towards becoming a global centre

-Industries require a lot of clean water to carry out their various processes

-We are also using water at an increasing rate

Water as a strategic resource

-We need to manage our water supply well or it may lead to a negative impact on both our personal lives and businesses

-Without water, many human activities cannot continue

-Health of Singaporeans will also be at risk as human beings cannot survive without water

-Increases our vulnerability

Methods to increase water supply

Tap 1: Water from local catchment areas (Reservoirs)

Tap 2: Imported water (International agreements)

Tap 3: NEWater (Technology)

Tap 4: Desalinated water (Technology)

Policies and campaigns to conserve water supply

-Difficult talk to keep looking for new sources of water

-Discourage excessive use of water is to impose water conservation tax on the amount of water used

-E.g. Save water campaigns

-In 2003 PUB launched a new water conservation programme, Water Efficient Homes

Is there enough for the future?

-So far, Singapore has been able to tackle the problem of a limited supply of fresh water

-Technology innovations have enabled us to enlarge our catchment areas

-Policies aimed at water conservation have also produced some positive results

-However, as our population and industries continue to grow, it may not be possible to sustain our water supply indefinitely

Therefore, everyone must play their part to conserve water and keep our water catchment areas clean so we can all enjoy our water resources!