Global Water Supplies

Global water supply

 Only 2.5% of the water on Earth is freshwater (water that has low salt concentration, usually less than 1%)
 68.7% of freshwater is stored in glaciers and ice sheets and 30% is groundwater
 The remaining 1.3% of freshwater is in rivers, soil moisture, lakes and the atmosphere
o This is not evenly distributed across the globe - Canada contains more lakes than the rest of the world combined

Sources of Water
(note: due to rounding of figures the % on the pie chart to the right add up to 99.9%)
Water supply

 The supply of water humans use comes from three main sources:
o Lakes and rivers
o Aquifers (through springs, boreholes, wells)
 o Reservoirs

 Other sources of water supply include:

o Desalinisation
o Rainwater harvesting - collecting water that falls as precipitation

Source of water supply Information Issues

Water stored underground

that has filtered through soil Overuse or over abstraction of water
and rocks. It is obtained by in some areas means that aquifers do
drilling boreholes or digging not have time to recharge through
Groundwater/Aquifer wells. When all the rock is precipitation
fully saturated with water it Pollution from industry, agriculture
is an aquifer. Groundwater and domestic waste can leach into
may also come to the surface the groundwater
as a spring
Pollution from industry, agriculture
and domestic waste can enter the
water system through surface run off
Water which is stored in the Dams are used to store water in
Surface water
lakes, reservoirs and rivers. reservoirs, but the construction of
dams has slowed due to lack of
suitable sites and concerns regarding
the environmental impact
Desalinisation The removal of salt from sea Expensive to set up and run - they
water to mean that it can be use a lot of energy
used for domestic,
agricultural and industrial
 purposes
 Global water use by sector is:
-domestic use – use of water in homes eg for bathing, washing, cooking, cleaning, drinking,etc
-industrial use – use of water in factories ( for cooling, cleaning, purification, HEP generation, etc).
- agricultural use - use of water on farms for irrigation/to water crops

o70% agriculture - irrigation of crops and water for livestock

o20% industry - producing goods and generating energy
o10% domestic - toilets, cooking, cleaning, washing
 The use by sector varies across countries depending on whether they are MEDCs or LEDCs
Water demand

 The global demand for water is increasing

 Between 1934 and 2014 demand increased from 1 trillion m to 4 trillion m
3 3
Water use in MEDCs

 11% Domestic
 30% Agriculture
 59% Industry
Water demand in MEDCs

 Water demand is higher in MEDCs than LEDCs as a result of:

 o Improving living standards - people have more appliances/sanitation which use water
o Increased use of water in leisure and tourism - water parks, golf courses
o Increased urbanisation
o Increasing industry - water is needed for the production of goods and energy production
o Increasing use in agriculture - more water is needed for livestock
 The largest use of water in MEDCs tends to be industry

Water use in LEDCs

Water Use in LEDCs

Water demand in LEDCs

 Unlike MEDCs the water use in LEDCs is mostly used for agriculture
 Many people are still dependent on agriculture
 There is far less industry in many LEDCs so the demand for water for industrial processes is low
 Many people in LEDCs do not have access to piped water and as a result are more cautious with water use
Example 1
Describe the differences in the usage of water in developing and developed countries [4]

Worked example
Study Fig 1, which is a map showing information about the percentage of the population in each country with access to clean drinking
water
 Fig 1
Describe the distribution of countries where 75% or less of the population have access to clean drinking water
[3]
 Answer:
o Mainly/most in Africa [1]
o Except Egypt and South Africa/except in North and South [1]
o A few/some in Asia [1]
o Near/on equator/mainly in tropics/between Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn/Central Africa/sub-Saharan Africa [1]
o Uneven/clustered [1]
 Water Shortages and Management
Water shortages (deficit)

 Many areas of the world have water shortages (deficits)

 Water deficit can be due to:
o Low supply - lack of precipitation, high levels of evaporation, poor water management, drought, pollution
o High demand - increasing population, industry and agriculture
o A combination of low supply and high demand
 Areas with the greatest water deficit include:
o Australia
o North, East and South Africa
o Middle East
o South- west USA
o East Brazil, parts of Argentina and Chile
o India
 They tend to be areas around the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn
 Water Surplus and Deficit

 There are different levels of water shortage - these are water stress and water scarcity:
o Water stress occurs when the supply of water is below 1700m a year per person
3

o Water scarcity is when the supply is below 1000m a year per person
3

 There are two types of water scarcity:

o When physical access to water is limited due to the climate conditions of the area. This is physical water scarcity
o When a population does not have the money to utilise the available water resources. This is economic water scarcity
 The UN Millennium Development Goals included goal 7 ' Halve by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access
to safe drinking water and basic sanitation'
o This goal was not met but access to clean water has improved
o In 2020 74% of the world population now have access to clean water supplies

 In some areas there may be water supply, but this is not potable
o
 UNICEF estimates 2.2 billion people do not have access to potable (clean drinking) water
  Around 4.2 billion people do not have access to safely managed sanitation services

 Water scarcity is expected to increase across the world due to:

o Increasing population
o Development increases demand
o Climate change increasing aridity
o Pollution

Causes of water shortage

 Many of these areas have a deficit due to low precipitation throughout the year or drought
 Demand is greater than supply in some countries due to increasing population, industry and agriculture
 In some areas rivers flow through many countries and this leads to issues with water abstraction and other activities. The upstream
country may
o Take large amounts of water from the river for agriculture, industry or domestic use leaving less for the country further
downstream
o Build dams or alter river flow which impacts on discharge downstream
o Reduce water quality by introducing pollution to the river
 Higher temperatures may lead to increased evaporation and transpiration reducing the amount of water available
 The type of land use - agriculture leads to increased water consumption
 In some countries there is disparity in water supply between areas - China has severe water shortages in the north but water is more
available in the south
 Conflict - many of the LEDCs who have struggled to meet the MDG are experiencing conflict

Impacts of water shortage

 There are many impacts of water shortages including:

o Death and illness due to water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery
o Potential for conflicts over water supply particularly where countries share a river basin
o Children in rural areas in LEDCs often miss out on school as they are responsible for collecting water (may have to walk miles to
the nearest water source)
o Lack of food due to:
 Crops cannot be irrigated and so yields are lower

Livestock dies due to a lack of water

o Damaged ecosystems and loss of habitats
o Affects economic development as water is not available for industry

Managing water supply

 There are many ways in which water supply can be managed but this is easier in MEDCs where the money to implement these schemes
is available

Water Use Management to Reduce use

Most water in MEDCs is used for industry. Some of this water

Industry could be recycled and used again within the process to reduce
consumption
Drip irrigation which delivers water to the roots of plants. Irrigation
Agriculture leads to 40% of the water used being lost to evaporation and poor
management. Drip irrigation reduces this loss significantly

Water efficient appliances

Rainwater collection
Domestic Use of grey water for washing cars and watering plants
Low flush toilets and water saving shower heads
Water companies fixing leaks and improving efficiency

 In LEDCs water management is more difficult due to lack of funding

The involvement of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) such as Water Aid helps to fund projects
• Import water
 Pollution controls
 Water Transfer
 Desalination plants
 Humidity traps;
 Appropriate technology is essential to manage water in LEDCs, they include:
o Wells
o Water treatment/purification/ boil water
o Gravity fed systems where water is piped from a spring or river higher up a valley/Pumping water from underground/aquifer;
o Boreholes use a hand pump to bring water to the surface
o Rainwater harvesting, for example, collection from roofs
o Drip irrigation
o Grow drought resistant crops
Water supply in Bulawayo

Bulawayo is the second largest city located in the southern region of Zimbabwe. Water in Bulawayo is supplied by dams such as Upper Ncema
and Lower Ncema along Mzingwane River in Matabeleland South, Inyankuni Dam along Inyankuni River, Mtshabezi Dam in Gwanda. This
water is supplied by the Bulawayo City Council throughout the city through pipes and water taps. Private companies, homesteads also provide
themselves with water through solar powered boreholes, wells and rain water harvesting through water tanks (jojo tanks). During times of
water scarcity/shortage, the Bulawayo City Council also distributes water to the affected areas through water tanks. Water, especially for
watering parks and green belts in Bulawayo is obtained from treatment plants such Luveve Waste Water treatment plant and Bulawayo City
Council Criterion Water treatment plant. Bulawayo also uses bottled water that is sold in shops such as Fazak, Choppies and Spar. Most of this
water is treated borehole water. The Bulawayo City Council also drilled boreholes mostly in high density suburbs such as Nkulumane,
Tshabalala and Nketa to provide water