Sustainable Water Supply
- The demand for water has increased over the last 100 years due to an increasing population and a greater need for it in agriculture and industry
- Climate change could also result in water shortages all over the world, including the UK which would cause the cost of water to increase
- As a result we need a sustainable water supply
Graph to show the global demand for water
The global demand for water has increased
- Ways people can reduce their water consumption are:
- take showers instead of baths
- use dishwashers instead of washing by hand and ensure they are full
- water plants with leftover bath or sink water
- make sure taps are turned off when not in use
- insulate pipes
- use a water meter to monitor water use
- How we abstract and distribute water also needs to be considered to ensure this is also sustainable
- Abstracting water involves obtaining water from natural sources
- The ways we do this are:
- collecting rainwater
- building dams and reservoirs
- desalination (removing salt from seawater)
- collecting water from rivers and lakes
- pumping water from underground
- Ensuring a sustainable water supply will help reduce the environmental impact of abstracting water
- Damns and reservoirs can flood land and destroy habitats
- The ways we do this are:
- Distributing water involves taking the water from where it has been abstracted to its destination
- Sometimes this can be many miles away
- Water is distributed through pipes to areas that need it for drinking water, growing crops and water for sanitation
- Ensuring we have a sustainable water supply will help reduce the environmental impact of abstracting, distributing and treating water
- Damns and reservoirs can flood and damage habitats
- Pipes to distribute water are unsightly and are very expensive
- Treatment plants containing sewage can smell and are a hazard to human health
Image taken from Wikipedia
The Clywedog reservoir in Wales
