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Water scarcity problems and solutions essay
Water scarcity problems and solutions essay
Water scarcity problems and solutions essay
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Over one billion people do not have access to clean water and less than 10% of the world’s population receive a treated water supply. I find this intriguing; as well as being essential to preserving life, water contributes to our lifestyle in so many ways, from the generation of steam for industrial use and electricity generation to the foods we eat. Today chemical engineers face the challenge of ensuring water is purified as well as finding solutions to the wasting of this precious resource. I am particularly interested in the process of water purification from subsurface aquifers and surface sources, such as lakes and rivers, to produce portable drinking water. The reason that this sector has sparked a significant interest is because I come from Somalia, a country where clean water is so difficult to obtain.
Chemical engineering consolidates maths and chemistry, which is one of the main reasons I was first attracted to studying it. Mathematics has helped me approach problems in an analytical and rigorous way, formulating theories and applying them to solve problems. I particularly...
In the United States, we take for granted the luxury of clean drinking water. There are many counties that yearn for the cleanly vital essential infrastructural nutrient that we in the United States and many other developed counties take for granted. According to water.org, a website and movement founded by actor Matt Damon, there are seven-hundred and eighty-three million people without clean drinking water in the world. Africa is the country with the highest need for clean water harnessing three-hundred and forty-five million by its lonesome. Asia is not far behind accounting for two-hundred million people in need of water. These statistics equate to a statistic that is even more alarming. 3.4 million people per year die from contaminated water. This is more than the amount of people that die due to war each year.
I have always been inspired by the workings of chemistry and mathematics. My studies of these subjects have developed my understanding and have made me pursue my interest in these two topics. I want to take up chemistry as it involves a large amount of mathematics which I value and understand to be challenging, yet very enjoyable, as there is always an alternative route to obtain the answer. Additionally, I am drawn to the course because it is a mixture of all these exacting subjects, forming a degree that is very demanding and stimulating. Chemists are constantly thinking of new ways to produce viable drugs containing different isomers to improve the pharmaceutical sector using mathematical equations. Chemistry is about innovation, applying information to new areas and how to do things better than they were before, the degree appeals to and fascinates me.
California is a large state with an increasing population, which results to increased use of resources, especially water for human consumption, industrial uses and irrigation. However, water has become a scarce resource in California with poor communities suffering the most from the shortage. Therefore, through public policy the state government sought a solution to the issue. As a result, it led to the adoption of the recycled water policy on 3 February 2009 (Martineau, 2013). The policy aims at providing reliable and clean water supply for the state. In addition, the policy conserves the availability of fresh water sources by reducing consumption of potable water. The policy has three goals. The first goal is to increase the use of storm water by at most 500,000 acre-feet by 2020 and one million acre-feet by 2030 (Heineman et al., 2001). Secondly, it is to increase recycled water over by at least one million acre-feet by 2020 two million acre-feet by 2030. Thirdly, by 2020, it aims at increasing water conservation by 20%, especially for industrial and urban uses (Heineman et al., 2001). The methodology utilized for execution and approval of this policy was systematic. Initially, the state consulted experts in diverse areas such as water conservation experts, financial experts and other relevant players. It is important because it assisted in drafting the guidelines and rules in the policy. Furthermore, the analysis of the current problem will occur at this point. The second step was conducting a referendum where the public will pass the policy in order for the state to legalize it. During this stage, there will be an evaluation regarding the costs of the problem. The final phase is to authorize a perti...
Computer programming and engineering problem solving have much in common. Both use a structured approach to ensure the right steps in the right order with correct information. Therefore, programming a computer to solve chemical engineering problems can help a student begin to develop the skills to set-up and efficiently solve problems. Essentially, in programming you are ‘teaching’ the computer to solve the problem. Therefore, you have to understand the problem to translate it successfully into a working program. Normally, you will use whatever software you can easily find to get the job done, usually a spreadsheet or flow-sheeting package. In 1997 and again in 2002, The American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) hosted meetings using different commercial software to work a set of 10 typical chemical engineering problems to demonstrate their utility in teaching. Their results and the programming solutions are available [1]. There are solutions worked with Polymath, MathCAD, Maple, Mathematica, MATLAB and Microsoft Excel. However, these are all commercial products with ...
The growing demand for the production of such goods and the various constraints involved has motivated me to help provide the world with processes and techniques which are not only more efficient and affordable but also sustainable. The auxiliary motivators have been my interest for mathematics and my analytical ability. This is the goal that I set out with, and I believe that one of the toughest challenges in life is to make timely, well thought-out decisions that would aid in constant progression towards a goal. One such timely decision was the selection of Chemical engineering as my undergraduate stream of study which could pre...
It might be easier to live a healthy life for many people, but for others it can be very challenging. I have tried to be healthy so many times, but I always fell off the wagon. For many days I would “feel” healthy, but in reality I was not the healthiest person mentally or physically. I knew that I had to change my behavior, and become healthier (or at least almost healthy) if I wanted to live a longer life. I began my journey by drinking more water, balancing my eating with exerting, all while trying to stay mentally well.
There are many types of pollution. The main types of pollution are water, air, soil, thermal, radioactive, noise, and light. The topic for this experiment is Water Pollution. Water Pollution became a problem in the 1900’s when water started being treated like sewage. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson on April 22, 1970 because of 1900’s pollution. Water Pollution also affects humans and animals. There was a Cholera outbreak in 1854, before water pollution became a problem, and a Typhoid outbreak in New York from 1900 to 1915. There are multiple possible causes to Water Pollution. Humans let out chemicals into the environment, and when some of those chemicals
People from many developing countries are suffering from the scarcity of clean water, while the rest of the country simply take for granted. Habitants of rural poor communities such as Sub-Saharan Africa, are living in a water stressed environment. Residents of these communities have to walk miles at time just to gather water from streams and ponds, even though the water source may contain water-borne disease that can make them very sick. In the rural places that don’t have access to safe clean water, it is very difficult to prevent the spread of viruses. The consumption of contaminated water can be dangerous for health reasons and several people have passed away from these water-borne diseases. Some of these diseases include Cholera, Typhoid, Dysentery, Giardiasis, and Malaria. These unfortunate diseases are currently the cause of numerous deaths, especially in small children. The availability of clean water can prevent many problems in low income communities. The available resources for clean water are very rare, so these water sources need to pass through a process of water sanitation in order to just be sustainable to drink, “The world’s surface is made up of approximately 80% water, which is an indestructible substance. Of this water approximately 97% is salt water, 2% frozen in glaciers, and only 1% is available for drinking water supply using traditional treatment methods” (Thornton). Therefore, properly treated or disinfected
Do humans realize how chemical engineering has changed their life? Nowadays, chemical engineers work very hard to develop the quality of people life through different technologies and methods. The design and the production of everything people have, it comes from the talents in the chemical engineering field. In fact, the development in chemical engineering helps to produce effective materials, explore and use more efficient and long-lasting resources and save the environment by developing alternative technologies and processes to reduce pollutants. Advances in chemical engineering have brought many benefits which contributed in changing the world to be a better place. The three most important benefits of advances in chemical engineering could
I am currently taking Maths, Chemistry and Biology to Advanced Higher, all of which are challenging and stimulating subjects. They have all influenced me in different ways and were integral in my decision to pursue a degree in Chemical Engineering. They have also helped me obtain a foundation of core skills and extended knowledge to hopefully prepare me undertaking my desired degree. There is no doubt that Maths and chemistry have helped fine tune and advance my problem solving skills and think in a more logical manner, all of which I believe to be essential for this degree.
The Causes of Water Pollution Water pollution is very harmful to the environment and living things. Water pollution can come from many different sources. If the pollution comes from only one source, such as an oil spill, it is called point-source pollution. If it comes from many different sources, it is called nonpoint-source pollution. Most water pollution affects the immediate area surrounding the source, but there are some types of pollution, such as hazardous, that can affect areas miles away from the source.
Wastewater is the combination of water-carried or liquid wastes starting in the sanitary conveniences of dwellings, industrial or commercial facilities. In addition to this, surface water, groundwater and storm water may also be present. It is any water that has been badly affected in quality by anthropogenic influence. It contains waste from residential, industrial and commercial processes. Municipal water contains industrial wastewater, sewage and gray water. Gray water is the water from sinks and showers. Large industries also produce wastewater.
Water is one of the most essential non-renewable natural resources on the Earth. Technically, an un-hydrated human being can live no more than three days. In the United States, people consume water mainly from tap water and bottle water. However, the consumption between these two sources is not even but lean to one side heavily. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, people consume from 240 to over 10000 times more per gallon for bottled water than they usually do for tap water. (NRDC) In addition, according to a survey from US National Library of Medicines, only 17% of the participants prefer to drink tap water exclusively.(US National Library) Compared to the bottled water which is shining like a superstar, tap water is like a diligent worker in the shade, unpopular but useful. The extremely unbalance of bottled water consumption implies that a commonly hold conception exists: bottle water is superior to tap water. In fact, scientific evidence proves that tap water is nothing different than bottle water. More importantly, the excessive consumption of bottled water is an irrational use of resources and creates severe environmental issues.
Less than 1% of the water supply on earth can be used as drinking water.
Water plays such an important role in our daily lives. 70% of our body is composed of water. 70% of the earth surface is also made up of water, but out of the 70%, only 1/3 of water is consumable. In fact, this amount has been continuously to decrease as more and more industries began to pollute and damage the water. For example, many toxic chemicals may be released into the water thus making the water impure. Such pollutions and damages lead the water to be contaminated and inconsumable as it may cause severe diseases. Water purification can remove all the unnecessary bacteria and viruses from the water that is hazardous for our health. Water purification may also improve the flavor and appearance of water. It removes the unpleasant odor. Therefore, water purification became one of the most useful and popular process used by people all over the world today. It is by far the most recommended and safest water treatment that is commonly used to purify damaged water into consumable water. Water purification provides us with safe, pure and clean water to consume and use.