Water shortage is a problem for most countries

Essay Title: Water shortage is a problem for most countries. What are the most effective solutions to avoid future crises? Refer to a specific country or region, giving examples to support your answer. 
 
 

Outline: 

Introduction 

      Global Water Shortage

            Benefits: -

Problems: rapid population growth, waterborne diseases, climate

            Solutions: desalination, improvement to water supply system, drop irrigation 

      Thesis: problems and solutions about water shortage in the world 

      Preview of conclusion: water shortage have a big influence to the world 

Main body  

Para 1 Main idea:  water shortage and population growth

      Support:  UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s forecast 

Para 2 Main idea: desalination as a way from water shortage problem

      Specific idea:  desalination has too many disadvantages 

Para 3 Main idea:  waterborne diseases are leading death reason

Specific idea:  low sanitation level in Africa affects waterborne diseases

      Support: statistics about deaths, which caused by diarrhea 

Para 4 Main idea:  water situation around the world

Support:  earth’s water statistic

Specific idea 1:  moving from rural area to cities

Specific idea 2:  bad water supply system in many cities 

Para 5 Main idea:  African conditions and climate

Specific idea 1:  water shortage for agriculture irrigation

Specific idea 2/ support: drop irrigation is effective way to prevent water stress 

Conclusion  

      Summary: problems and solutions to prevent water scarcity

      Opinion: impossible to solute problem without government’s support, soon the problem will turn to the political way  
 
 
 
 
 

     Fresh water is rapidly becoming a scarce natural resource. During XX century, water consumption has increased by seven times, while world population has increased only threefold. As a result, the UN announced 2003 year as the International Year of Freshwater. We can assert the water will become a main problem of the third millennium. Water shortage causes economic, social and political problems capable of undermining world stability and also can lead to global upheavals. The consequences of water scarcity are cropping failures and famine, because water is the main condition for the existence of the agriculture sector. The picture becomes bleaker. Therefore birth rate in developing countries is higher than in developed countries. Water is becoming a strategic resource, the water price can overtake petroleum price in next 20 years. Moreover, when oil shortage is only in the forecasts of experts, one-third of humanity has felt water shortage in some degree yet.

     Water shortage problem will also increase because of population growth. The world population is 6.6 billion people, annually increases by about 80 million. According to the forecast of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, fresh Water shortage would suffer about 1.8 billion people all over the world in 2025. (Water scarcity 2010)

     One of the solutions is desalination. African countries are situated closely to huge water supplies, but they could use it, because sea water is unsuitable for use as drinking water. Therefore, desalination is a way, which could widely use to avoid a global water shortage problem. However, desalination is prohibitively expensive and highly energy intensive. Using the very fossil fuels that are contributing to global warming, but desalination process produces saline brine, which is the main product of marine’s solution under high temperatures.

     Waterborne diseases are leading death reasons in the world. Countries in North Africa have the lowest water quality and poor sanitation worldwide. Low sanitation level causes lack of fresh water, which has a big influence on health concern. Clean water is the most important factor in determining public health. Low sanitation level leads to produce many waterborne diseases, especially in African countries. Over 10,000 people were died by cholera outbreaks in South Africa in 2001.Unsafe water, inadequate sanitation, insufficient hygiene are factors, producing diarrhea disease. Approximately, 650 people perish from diarrhea daily in African countries, basically kids under five year age (How do water, sanitation and hygiene affect health? 2010).

     It seems there are a lot of water resources on the Earth at the first sight. However, 97% of water resources are salt water. Another 2% from 3% is situated on the ice in Greenland and Antarctica; hence only 1% of global water resources are in disposal of humanity (Where is Earth’s water located? 2010). People move to the cities from rural area to avoid water shortage, but they create a shortage of water there too. Many cities have centralized water supply system, which covers only part of the city area. Today about a quarter of the urban population of developing countries have to buy drinking water, whereas the others get almost for free. In fact, in hungry Zambia, beans are grown for export and Kenyan roses are sold in European capitals. When big cities have an imperfect sewage system, water is not filtered well enough, hence government must invest money to improve water treatment system and settle people from urban area to reduce the load on water resources.

     Africa is located in difficult climatic conditions with limited water resources and scanty precipitation. Economic and efficient uses of water are the main requirements of the modern agriculture for this region. The majority of African territories are located in the desert and semi-desert climatic zone. And precipitation falls only in winter, from December until April, and unevenly distributes across the territory - from 700 mm in the north 50mm in the south. Crop Farming without the irrigation is virtually impossible. Water flow for agricultural irrigation is growing rapidly, as far as industrial development and urban expansion, because their water requirements also increase. Even with higher irrigation efficiency, they cannot maintain suitable food production in the irrigated lands in the water level and provide water to the industrial, household and environmental needs. Problem of water shortage forced to look a way for the current situation. On the one hand it is necessary to provide agriculture with water for irrigation, without prejudice to consumer needs of the population in water and industrial needs, and on the other hand it should provide the food safety of the country. One of these ways is drop irrigation. Drop irrigation was first developed and implemented in the industrial scale as an independent type of irrigation in Israel in the early 60's (Koby Zucker 2010). Unlike to all types of irrigation, drop irrigation is the principle that water flows only in the root area of plants, and amount and periodicity of water supply is very accurate and technically simply regulated in accordance with the requirements of plants in each stage of its development. Number and position of water supply points are established according to the local environment, e.g. soil type, crop type, climate, quality of irrigation water. Bearing in mind that drip irrigation is more expensive than usual irrigation methods, we use it to their maximum potential.

     For long time people lived, worked, developed, but they did not suspect that one day it would not be enough water. If we want to improve the situation radically, we will need to focus on the thoughtful plan to avoid global water shortage. Everyone must realize that humanity is on the brink of death, and anybody does not know will we survive or not. Africa is a continent, which has a rapid population growth and density, poverty and economic underdevelopment, political instability and extreme inefficient use of available water resources. There will be competitions for water between countries and corporations, urban and rural areas in Africa, if we cannot avoid a water shortage problem. Soon the problem of the water scarcity problem will turn in the political way. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Reference list 

1. How do water, sanitation and hygiene affect health? 2002. http://www.avantu.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=5 (accessed December 3, 2010).

2. Koby Zucker. 2009. Drip irrigation for better and bigger plants. http://ezinearticles.com/?Drip-Irrigation-For-Better-and-Bigger-Plants&id=3569004 (accessed December 6, 2010).

3. Water scarcity. 2010. http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.html (accessed December 1, 2010).

4. Where is Earth’s water located? 2010. http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthwherewater.html (accessed December 25, 2010).