Sustainable water supply systems are a core necessity for both urban and rural planning and development. The need for potable and domestic water spans across the entire spectrum. Rural needs are additionally about agricultural usage, while urban areas must manage industrial and commercial requirements.
The socio-economic and environmental issues associated with both the supply and demand aspects vary vastly for urban and rural communities. Many such factors categorized under usage or watershed management depend on the climate, availability of natural resources, and the population level and growth rate. The one common fact every community must face is that they cannot grow or even survive without aqua.
The most important consideration on the supply side is watershed management. It's a huge and complicated matter that must consider how to maintain the balance of plant, animal and human usage without degrading the quality or depleting the source. Factors to be considered here include land use, water rights, cross-jurisdictional coordination, drainage, stormwater runoff and compliance with environmental laws.
Surface freshwater is a challenge for communities because its distribution is highly unfair across the world. Canada alone hogs more than 50 percent of the world's lake-based freshwater, while the rest of the world makes do with dams built on rivers to create artificial reservoirs. The main source for most people is therefore groundwater, which accounts for more than 50 percent of global freshwater.
By comparison, rainwater harvesting is a highly sustainable method which does not deplete or pollute natural resources. There is no danger of overexploitation at the moment, and the harvested supplies are clean and suitable for human consumption. The limitations include the setup cost and the need for treatment of stored rainwater to prevent contamination.
Desalination plants are also leave the existing supply of freshwater untouched. Removing salt from seawater is not as environment-friendly as collecting rainwater, although it is far better than blocking rivers with dams and pumping out all the groundwater. The main barriers are the setup cost and the energy usage required for the reverse osmosis process. There's also the fact that desalination plants produce Co2 emissions and other byproducts that can harm marine life.
Other ways to ensure sustainability on the demand side include reduction in wastewater generation. This means innovation to reduce consumption by installing dual flush toilets, astroturfs, artificial lawns, waterless car washes and other such systems. Better and wider implementation of wastewater treatment systems will help, as will improving the efficiency of municipal distribution pipes to reduce leakage.
All of these aforementioned methods and aspects are just the core components of the overall mission of implementing sustainable water supply systems. Ultimately, what it needs is a major technological revolution accompanied by cross-jurisdictional cooperation and regulation updates to ensure sustainability of every community. WHO estimates that around 1.8 million die each year from consumption of contaminated water, and it is increasingly worse because of severe floods and droughts triggered by climate change. It follows that the first order of business should be to ensure a safe and adequate supply of potable water.
The socio-economic and environmental issues associated with both the supply and demand aspects vary vastly for urban and rural communities. Many such factors categorized under usage or watershed management depend on the climate, availability of natural resources, and the population level and growth rate. The one common fact every community must face is that they cannot grow or even survive without aqua.
The most important consideration on the supply side is watershed management. It's a huge and complicated matter that must consider how to maintain the balance of plant, animal and human usage without degrading the quality or depleting the source. Factors to be considered here include land use, water rights, cross-jurisdictional coordination, drainage, stormwater runoff and compliance with environmental laws.
Surface freshwater is a challenge for communities because its distribution is highly unfair across the world. Canada alone hogs more than 50 percent of the world's lake-based freshwater, while the rest of the world makes do with dams built on rivers to create artificial reservoirs. The main source for most people is therefore groundwater, which accounts for more than 50 percent of global freshwater.
By comparison, rainwater harvesting is a highly sustainable method which does not deplete or pollute natural resources. There is no danger of overexploitation at the moment, and the harvested supplies are clean and suitable for human consumption. The limitations include the setup cost and the need for treatment of stored rainwater to prevent contamination.
Desalination plants are also leave the existing supply of freshwater untouched. Removing salt from seawater is not as environment-friendly as collecting rainwater, although it is far better than blocking rivers with dams and pumping out all the groundwater. The main barriers are the setup cost and the energy usage required for the reverse osmosis process. There's also the fact that desalination plants produce Co2 emissions and other byproducts that can harm marine life.
Other ways to ensure sustainability on the demand side include reduction in wastewater generation. This means innovation to reduce consumption by installing dual flush toilets, astroturfs, artificial lawns, waterless car washes and other such systems. Better and wider implementation of wastewater treatment systems will help, as will improving the efficiency of municipal distribution pipes to reduce leakage.
All of these aforementioned methods and aspects are just the core components of the overall mission of implementing sustainable water supply systems. Ultimately, what it needs is a major technological revolution accompanied by cross-jurisdictional cooperation and regulation updates to ensure sustainability of every community. WHO estimates that around 1.8 million die each year from consumption of contaminated water, and it is increasingly worse because of severe floods and droughts triggered by climate change. It follows that the first order of business should be to ensure a safe and adequate supply of potable water.
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