The Importance Of Fresh Water

Water is a nature’s gift and has been recognized as a basic human requirement for domestic, industrial and agriculture purposes where it plays a key role in the development of an economy and as well as for welfare of a nation. Water is an abundant natural resource that covers three quarters of the earth’s surface. History proves the importance of water in the sustainability of life and the development of civilization as the origin and continuation of mankind is based on water.

Figure 1 Global Fresh Water Availability

Although earth is covered largely with water, almost 98% of the earth water is saltwater from the ocean where it maintains a salt content too high for water to be considered as fresh drinking water; instead it is called brackish water. Less than one percent of fresh water is actually within human reach as presented in the tabulation of water around the globe in figure above.

As the available fresh water is limited on earth, its demand is increasing day by day. The increasing world population and the agricultural, industrial activities and domestic uses all over the world contribute to the depletion and pollution of fresh water resources where most of clean water resources are rapidly being reduced around the world through human consumption. The growing world population leads to the assumption that two thirds of the population will lack sufficient fresh water by the year 2025. Asia for example, is developing the shortage of water which result of few factors including the food’s demand where 80% of the Asia fresh water resources needed by that sector. The second factor stated by Arjun Thapan, ADB's Special Senior Advisor to the President on Infrastructure and Water, in one interview with ABC Australia is rapid in...

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... any fossil energy depletion, hydrocarbon pollution and environmental degradation as stated by Amitava Bhattacharyya in his paper that has been published in International Journal of Environment and Sustainability.

Solar energy has the greatest potential of all the sources of renewable energy as it is the best alternative heating energy source. Despite of being inexhaustible, clean and universally available, the use of solar energy is however more economical than the use of fossil fuels especially in that area where the water for daily use has to be transported partly over very large distances and other sources of energy are impossible. It can be used directly as thermal or it can be converted to electrical energy by photo-voltaic (PV) conversion or via a solar thermal power plant. Thus, it is classified into two categories known as direct and indirect solar energy.