Global Pattern of Water Scarcity & Causes
- Accessible freshwater is a dwindling resource
- Population growth and economic development places an increasing pressure on freshwater resource
Categories of Water Scarcity
Type of Scarcity | Definition | Example |
Physical | >75% of a country's blue water flows are used |
Middle East and North Africa Applies to approx. 25% of global population |
Economic | In areas with economic water scarcity, there usually is sufficient blue water sources to meet human and environmental needs, but access is limited, mismanaged or underdeveloped and many people cannot afford safe, adequate water supplies |
Approximately 1 billion people are restricted from accessing blue water due to high levels of poverty South Asia and Africa have the highest rates of economic water scarcity |
- Causes of water scarcity:
- Lack of annual or seasonal precipitation
- Lack of investment and management of water infrastructure to meet demand
- Scarcity may also be a social construct due to wealth, expectation and usual behaviour
- Although access to safe, potable water is regarded as a human right, it is treated as a commodity to be paid for
- The majority of water supplies are privately controlled and costs vary greatly not only between countries but between regions
- In HDEs, people expect to pay for their water supply, its removal, and subsequent treatment
- In some areas of LDEs however, water is free but not usually clean and people often have to spend many hours a day walking up to 10km to the supplies, carrying heavy containers
- This usually falls to women and girls to do on a daily basis
- If they do have access to safe water, then the cost can be beyond most people
- In the UK the average cost of a litre of tap water is 0.01p or 5p for 50 litres and 99% of households have mains water piped directly to their homes (some people do not have mains water from choice)
- In Ghana, only 41% have access to a safely managed water source, while only 18% have access to very basic sanitation
- Within the capital of Accra, only 45% of households have a supply of water - for those that can afford it - and is an intermittent supply
- The majority rely on water vendors for their water and come in 'packets' and depending on the vendor costs vary
Cost of Water for Ghana
Water | Tariff @ 1/9/22 | Tariff @ 1/2/23 | ||
GHp/m³ | £/m³ | GHp/m³ | £/m³ | |
0-5m³ | 400.16 | 0.03 | 433.38 | 0.035 |
5m³ | 680.94 | 0.051 | 737.47 | 0.055 |
Non Residential | 1121.97 | 0.084 | 1215.11 | 0.091 |
Sachet Water Producers | 1504.45 | 0.11 | 1800.00 | 0.13 |
Public Stand Pipes | 449.07 | 0.034 | 486.35 | 0.036 |
Adapted from the Ghana Water Company Ltd April 2023
- Whilst the cost in UK£ may not appear much, for many Ghanaians, it represents 20-25% of their daily income and for the very poor, unaffordable
- Furthermore, if a resource is scarce, then it becomes more expensive
- Any rise in demand will also rise costs as water companies invest in production, treatment and infrastructure
- Many private companies have share holders to answer to, and profits are a requirement for future investments
- In some countries there is only one water company, which amounts to a monopoly on supplying water, and therefore, can charge what they want - a profit over people approach
- TNC French based Veolia is one of the largest water corporations globally and has been accused of environmental, labour and human rights abuses across the world