The Scarcity Of Water Crisis

Water, like food, is a necessity for human life that is used for many purposes such as agricultural, industrial, and domestic systems. While water is a common element around the world not all of it is clean and able to be consumed or used by humans. With only a percentage of the world’s water being clean and the use of water increasing, the availability of water around the world has become a common issue in the developing and even the developed world. This may be a smaller problem in areas close to clean water sources compared to areas far from a clean water source but, the availability of water is not strictly based on location, it also depends on the specific political and social needs and issues of the area as well. These all become issues that must be accounted for when deciphering whether water is a basic human right or a commodity and what action must be taken to aid the developing water systems in community’s that lack them.

Many people know that water is essential for human-being and it is not only valuable for health and life, but water is also important for industry and agriculture. Furthermore, use of water has a spiritual, cultural and recreational dimension. However, water resources are not infinite. Wide and inefficient use of water resources can lead to irreversible consequences, such as water shortage. This essay will firstly discuss the problem of water shortage on examples of developed and developing countries and include the diversification of the same issue in the different parts of the world. It will also identify causes and effects of this environmental problem on society and other spheres of life. Moreover, in this essay I am going to propose

It’s not everyone has money to buy it. “When water rights are allocated through political processes, the poor usually do not get many of the initial rights, forcing them to purchase water if they are to get any” (Behr). The price of water will go up in the future, poor family’s may not be able to afford the clean and purified water, so they will become unhealthy or may die of the lack of water in the body. Like in South Africa, “women collectively walk the equivalent distance of 16 times to the moon and back per day gathering water for families” (Bouwer, 394). Women who lived in poor rural need spend a lot of times to collect water and carry it up on their heads every day, so that these women with some health problems including deformities, arthritic diseases, and injuries. “Women fetching water spend 150 million work days per year, equivalent to a national loss of income of 10 billion rupees” (Bouwer, 395). Women have limited time for their activities, work, and education because of a lack of access water. They must devote their precious time to carry water to their homes for domestic agricultural use. High water cost is unaffordable for them. “Suppliers could charge less for minimum amounts of water needed for necessities and increase the price of water for luxuries” (Behr). Water privatization will give more profit and power to the companies that sell it. “High water costs can lead to greater water poverty for low income families who are

In the case of India, water consumption and extraction is not regulated and horribly mismanaged so much so that Pearce says the country is in a state of “colossal anarchy” (Pearce 35). India is self-reliant with water because farmers are using irrigation and underground reserves. However, this self-reliance is a product of “administrative failure and technical inefficiency” (Pearce 35). India’s water supply will inevitably run out because they are using unsustainable sources and this use is going unregulated (Pearce

Water is the most fundamental necessity for this planet, human life and thus for our civilization. There is no substitute for water, it is irreplaceable. It is a major concern for scientists, politicians, health worker and engineers, as even in this era of technology, potable water for most third world countries still remains a luxury. Yet, as described below, even developed countries may suffer from lack of quality water. Three articles from two quite different countries, published in the reputed news and scientific journals will be reviewed. The Gravity of the problems, causes and repercussions will be examined. The approaches to counter the water problems will also be evaluated.

Although water is all around, very little is drinkable. Six billion people live on earth and 1.1 billion in 31 countries are unable to access safe, clean drinking water. California has only 20 years of water supply left. Ironically, even the wettest place on earth, Cherrapunji, India, has often water shortages. After years of millions of people dying of thirst and disease, a corporate movement to find a solution to the water crisis has now swept the world. Water, a fleeting resource vital to every life, every single day of the year, is now being taken out of the governments control and becoming a commodity bought and sold by big business, a.k.a privatization.

One of the effects of water scarcity is the impact it has on a person’s way of life. Since water is limited, the only way for people to obtain it is to walk miles to neighboring villages to get it. This task is mainly done by women and children in India. The women would carry pots full of water over their heads while the children would carry water in plastic

According to the UN about 2.7 billion people across the globe will face water shortages by 2050 if changes aren’t put into place. That’s nearly ⅓ of the world’s population and on top of that 2.5 billion will find it hard to find enough freshwater to meet their daily needs.

The Global Water Institute stated that “approximately 700 million people in 43 countries are currently suffering from water stress and scarcity in 2013”, by 2025 2.8 billion people will face water stress and scarcity (Hameeteman, 2013, p.3). The global water supply is approximately 2.5% freshwater and 97.5% is saltwater (Hameeteman, 2013, p.4). Hence, it is crucial that the Earth’s population tries to manage the water stress and scarcity. There are many causes of water stress and scarcity, for instance: overuse of water due to economic reasons, pollution of water, drought, governmental access and policies, and many more. In Africa, many children and women are responsible in collecting water, thus, traveling large distances to collect clean or unclean water. In addition, sanitation facilities are inadequate causing “half the population” to suffer from waterborne diseases (Hameeteman, 2013, p.6). As a result, unclean water and poor sanitation are a leading cause of illness and death in this region. There are a few approaches to providing clean water to the African population, for example: piped water, stand posts and wells. Moreover, poor sanitation can be alleviated with pit latrines, urine diversion dry toilets and pour flush toilets (Septien, 2015). However, such methods can be expensive. Hence, it is important to understand the household’s income and the economic situation of the country. Contrary, different strategies are needed to provide clean water in the developed

Rural India has more than 700 million people residing in about 1.42 million habitations spread over 15 diverse ecological regions. Meeting the drinking water needs of such a large population can be a daunting task. The non-uniformity in level of awareness, socio-economic development, education, poverty, practices and rituals and water availability add to the complexity of the task. Despite an estimated total of Rs. 1,105 billion spent on providing safe drinking water since the First Five Year Plan was launched in 1951, lack of safe and clean drinking water continues to be a major obstacle and a national economic burden.

Human rights to clean water have been on the international scene for quite some time. It has been brought to the attention of the United Nations general assembly, as well as been recognized in a UN resolution in 2010. It seems that the problem of getting clean, drinkable water to population centers has been met and dealt with. Unfortunately, there is still a massive problem in one of the world’s most populated countries, India. It is claimed in the Wall Street Journal that seventy-five million people in India are without clean, safe water on a day-to-day bases . The question I propose is, what can the Government of India as well as the United Nations due to help diminish this number to zero and what steps should be taken in order to ensure these seventy-five million people have access to clean drinkable water as quickly as possible. The reason this question is so important is very simple, as per United Nations resolution 64/292, it is a basic human right to have access to clean safe drinking water and sanitation. In this regard a case could be made against India that the government is in violation of basic human rights by not doing enough to get water to the seventy-five million people without it. In this document I will first examine the reasons behind the lack of access due to the curse of the postcolonial state, followed by examining where India is losing a large amounts of water at the hands of privatization. Drawing on these two problems, I will then propose a solution

To address something as complex as the water crisis, one must first examine the current condition of the problem. Currently, the water crisis is being driven by three things. First, many governments in Africa are not interested in investing in nationwide plumbing. That is either because they are not able to afford the cost of laying the info structure or they can afford it but feel no need to invest that much. Even if a country can afford to install plumbing, generally, plumbing is only installed in urban areas and has little to no effect on those living in rural Africa. Second, many large companies buy out water rights and use them to dump toxic chemicals with no oversight. The result is that there is less water considered drinkable. Furthermore, this can ruin long time water sources for people that may be nowhere near the business. Third, some companies who buy out water rights sell the water back to the people. Often times, they charge outrageous prices that the majority of citizens cannot afford. As a result, previously free water is now double the average income per day.

Globally, the problem is getting worse as cities and populations grow. Households, agriculture and industry increased the need of water. As global warming becomes more of a problem for the earth and its inhabitants, water is becoming scarcer universally. What is a more accurate description, however, is that the distribution of water on the planet will begin to change in radical ways, leaving some people and regions with far less water than they are accustomed to. Water scarcity already affects every continent. Water scarcity is among the main problems to face by many societies and the World in the 21st century. Water usage has been growing at more than double the rate of persons increase in the last century. A shortage of water occurs when a number of

Some areas have abundant or sufficient water resources but are lacking the means to access it or distribute it properly due to political, socio-economic, or governmental issues. These areas include most of Central Africa including the Horn of Africa and the Eastern Coast, Central America, Northern India and some surrounding countries such as Nepal and Bhutan, as well as Cambodia and Laos (Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture, 2007).

”One would believe that with such a staggering increase in sewage, from thirty-eight thousand million liters per day in 2009 to sixty-two thousand million liters per day today, that the sewage treatment plants would increase their capacity, but surprisingly, have not (Vashishtha 2015).” Even in 2009, India did not have the treatment capacity to provide adequate services. Now, with sewage doubled, the capacity to treat the polluted water has remained constant. ”According to India 's Central Pollution Control Board, the country has an installed capacity to treat only about 30% of the household waste it generates – the rest is released into open drains or straight into the ground (Balasubramaniam, 2014).” This waste water is then transferred through natural and man-made irrigation and into fresh water systems. Freshwater systems that flow through villages and towns that are incapable of establishing a way to treat the water. These towns and villages, most of the time, do not know that the water is even polluted. The population here then develops disease that significantly impacts the entire village and town. ““Faulty perceptions on water treatment, lack of knowledge about health hazards associated with drinking unsafe water, false sense of protection from locally available water, resistance to change in taste or odor of water and a lack of support from male