The Water Problem

THE WATER PROBLEM

The water problem is one of the biggest challenges the humanity has to face up in the coming years. It’s something that increasingly holds the attention of scientists,politicians, technicians and in general many of the inhabitants of the planet, since it became a geopolitical conflict.

Actually, the real problem is not lack of fresh water but poor management anddistribution of water resources and its methods.

Despite this, there is some alarm among people because of catastrophic and erratic messages, without any basis. It has now spread the belief that the problemof scarcity will be solved by individual actions. The scientific studies reveal that the truth is quite another. Large amounts of water are wasted by agriculture, poor infrastructure orindiscriminate felling of forests. For example, it takes thousands of tons of water to cool a nuclear reactor, while one person use to use 100 – 120 liters per day. Here are some figures that support thisargument.

It’s not a question of scaremongering, but figures depict a gloomy picture. Here are related some of the most striking figures:
* 1%. Just 1% of the whole water in the planet is fresh water.90 % is seawater.
* 2025. The UN calculates that 2/3 of the world population will live nearly without fresh water, if the present development continues.
* 100. One person needs 100 liters perday to manage. There is people living with less than 20 l. per day.
* 50 %. We currently consume 50 % of the water available in rivers, lakes and ground water all around the world. In 2025 thisfigure will rise to 70 – 90 %.
* 70 %. Most water (70%) is used for agriculture. To produce 1 kilo of rice or wheat 1000 l. are needed. In Spain is 92 % !
* 4 million people die every daybecause of water borne diseases.
* 1 billion people do not have clean water at all.
* 100.000 villages in Africa have no access to clean water. It would cost about 10.000 USD to tackle this...