With only 3% of the earth's water bodies being freshwater, 30 billion gallons of groundwater being pumped daily, and 750 billion cubic meters of water being lost every year to runoff worldwide since the world war II - it is estimated that in 50 years there will be a complete collapse of all water systems. Are you scared yet?
Well if those figures are not scary enough, current technology demands certainly should be. The manufacturer of an average automobile uses 350,000 liters of water and one microchip uses approximately 30 liters of water.
After watching the PBS documentary on "Blue Gold: World Water Wars", my perspective on the water crisis changed completely. Protecting our water resources is not just some environmental priority that can be added to a long list of other global challenges. It is a fight to protect the resource from corporation and government misuse, and preserve it for the people, for ourselves.
Did you know that in many parts of Africa like Kenya, the Coca Cola brand Dasani, serves almost as a substitute for municipal water. Oh, and this you must have heard - the price of a 1 liter plastic bottle of Dasani water was 70 ksh and the price of a 1 liter plastic bottle of Coca Cola was priced at 40 ksh, making it cheaper to drink coca cola as compared to water.
The stories only get worse. Who hasn't heard of the famous "Cochabamba Water Wars" in 2000, in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Thanks to Bechtel's operations in Bolivia, water was costlier than food. Well Bechtel was thrown out, and the same happened to Suez S.A. from Uruguay. However, shifting from the privatization of water to placing it under government control, may not be the solution to the problem either. India is a great example of the mismanagement of water systems by the state. The Economist aptly underlines India’s extremes of hydrology, poverty and population as factors that present vast difficulties for water management. Further, it is estimated that without huge improvements, India will run short of water by 2050 when its population will approach 1.7 billion.
In my opinion, it is not all that grim, especially for emerging countries. In addition to strongly committing to and implementing changes in the management of water systems, countries like India, should note the potential risks and even ineffectiveness of some of the more advanced hydro-technologies used by developed countries like the U.S. and France. For example: Groundwater pumping, glorified in many developed countries, alters the earth's structure and causes desertification leading to a rise in earthquakes, rising ocean levels and even tsunamis!
Desalination plants, another technology that the GEs of the world are heavily investing in, convert seawater through reverse osmosis to meet the demands for drinking water. Unfortunately, this technology is just a way of overusing another resource. Desalination plants actually significantly increase the carbon footprint and rely on already waning fossil fuels, creating more problems than they solve.
Some interesting technologies that could be implemented include the Project Blue Alternative, Hydroponics (20-30% more efficient than crops growing outside), decommissioning dams by installing micro-turbines in the stream, limiting population growth based on available water supply (this has actually been implemented in Bolinas, CA!) or even the dual flush toilet, with a button for a short flush (3 liters) and a button for a longer flush (6 liters)are mandatory in Israel.
These are great, sustainable and viable alternatives to the imminent water crisis - and if implemented immediately, can be a positive step forward to preserving water, and protecting our survival.
2 comments:
interesting post Shikha, I watched this documentary too sometime back. It's interesting to see how people were so quick to respond in the form of protests and violence once they were aware of the consequences of the privatization of their water resources, and forced some of these companies out of their territories. There is definitely hope with increased awareness and exposure.
An enlightening post! I think it's amazing that you brought to light an issue that seems so obvious yet ignored. It's really interesting that most people think that privatization versus government control is the biggest problem, especially when it comes to affordability. But, I agree with you in that the real problem is actually the lack of an appropriate "model" for the sustainable and efficient use of water.
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