Sustainable water supply systems are critical components of planning processes for both urban and rural development. Potable water is needed in every place. Rural communities additionally have to provide for agricultural needs, while urban planners have to ensure adequate supplies for industrial as well as commercial requirements.
There are completely different economic, social and environmental issues to be addressed at the supply and demand ends in both rural and urban areas. The array of factors to be considered can be broadly categorized under either watershed management or water usage, and will vary depending on local climatic conditions, population and existing resources. The one thing that is common to every community in the world is that the presence of water is directly linked to survival and growth.
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.
The planet's surface freshwater distribution is highly uneven. For instance, Canada is blessed with more than 50% of the world's available supply of lake freshwater. Everyone else has to construct dams and block rivers to create and fill reservoirs. More than half of all freshwater is available in the form of groundwater that must be accessed by digging wells and pumping it to the surface.
None of this is as sustainable as harvesting rainwater. It carries no risk of depleting available supplies of freshwater or groundwater, and is already clean enough to be used for human consumption. Usage is still limited because of system installation costs, and the need to prevent contamination of stored rainwater.
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.
Limiting the generation of wastewater is probably the best way to ensure sustainability on the usage side. It requires a certain amount of innovation to implement waterless car washes, dual-flush toilets, artificial lawns, astroturfs, etc. It also helps to have bigger and more efficient treatment plants. The municipal distribution system has to be optimized to reduce losses because of leaking pipes.
All of this merely scratches the surface in terms of what it will take to ensure sustainable water supply systems. It's going to take a lot of technological advancements, cross-jurisdictional agreements and changes in regulations to achieve sustainability at the community level. A good place to start is with potable supplies. Contaminated H2O still causes 1.8 million deaths every year, according to the latest WHO statistics. With climate change causing severe flooding and droughts, it becomes even more important to ensure resiliency by implementing plans for long-term sustainability.
There are completely different economic, social and environmental issues to be addressed at the supply and demand ends in both rural and urban areas. The array of factors to be considered can be broadly categorized under either watershed management or water usage, and will vary depending on local climatic conditions, population and existing resources. The one thing that is common to every community in the world is that the presence of water is directly linked to survival and growth.
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.
The planet's surface freshwater distribution is highly uneven. For instance, Canada is blessed with more than 50% of the world's available supply of lake freshwater. Everyone else has to construct dams and block rivers to create and fill reservoirs. More than half of all freshwater is available in the form of groundwater that must be accessed by digging wells and pumping it to the surface.
None of this is as sustainable as harvesting rainwater. It carries no risk of depleting available supplies of freshwater or groundwater, and is already clean enough to be used for human consumption. Usage is still limited because of system installation costs, and the need to prevent contamination of stored rainwater.
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.
Limiting the generation of wastewater is probably the best way to ensure sustainability on the usage side. It requires a certain amount of innovation to implement waterless car washes, dual-flush toilets, artificial lawns, astroturfs, etc. It also helps to have bigger and more efficient treatment plants. The municipal distribution system has to be optimized to reduce losses because of leaking pipes.
All of this merely scratches the surface in terms of what it will take to ensure sustainable water supply systems. It's going to take a lot of technological advancements, cross-jurisdictional agreements and changes in regulations to achieve sustainability at the community level. A good place to start is with potable supplies. Contaminated H2O still causes 1.8 million deaths every year, according to the latest WHO statistics. With climate change causing severe flooding and droughts, it becomes even more important to ensure resiliency by implementing plans for long-term sustainability.
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