Water Infrastructure: A Future Change
The human race needs three things to survive; air to breathe, food to eat, and water to drink. A large majority of the public thinks these resources are infinite and plentiful. What they fail to realize is that they are not infinite, air can become polluted, food can carry pesticides, and water can transmit diseases very easily. In order to keep these necessities safe, many companies are taking the initiative by trying to cut down on pollution and stop using harmful pesticides. Water, however is not getting enough attention, especially in urban areas. Framework exists for these urban areas to be able to have successful water management, but some countries cannot afford these ideas or simply do not want
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In an article called “Developing Sustainability Criteria for Urban Infrastructure” the authors distinguish the two by stating “Indicators are useful for monitoring and measuring the state of the environment by considering a manageable number of variables or characteristics (McLaren and Simonovic 1999). On the other hand, a sustainability criterion is the yardstick against which a sustainability indicator is measured (i.e., the goal or “ideal” condition in the relative comparison of indicators).” (Sahely) The article then states that indicators are not useful when considered in isolation, rather indicators need to be studied in relation to each other. This is true because an indicator could possibly be an outlier and without viewing the indicator in relation to other indicators, it could easily be interpreted incorrectly. Three main problems exist when creating a sustainable plan: cost versus technical factors, short term versus long term planning, and network versus project factors. (Sahely). Cost is always going to be a concern of every innovation because no company or individual wants to lose money. The over-hanging cost of going over budget in in the forefront of the mind of every engineer and project planner. The short-term versus long-term planning also causes problems because more often than not, the sustainable decision …show more content…
Since water is becomes such a sought after resource, steps need to be taken on the sustainable/conservation front. The authors in “A Sustainable Decision Support Framework for Urban Water Management“(Pearson) say that three main ideals need to be the basis for sustainable decision making “1. Knowledge transfer for transformation; 2. Monitoring and evaluation of the decision process; and 3. Stakeholder engagement.” (Pearson). These ideals make sense because within each step the knowledge of sustainability is increasing. A sustainable water infrastructure will be much easier to accomplish if the public opinion supports sustainable practices. With overwhelming public support, bills and regulations can pass with less
Increase in water consumption is a topic usually discussed inasmuch as this problem affects many cities. Phoenix is located in the State of Arizona, with around 540 square miles. Moreover, according to official site of City of Phoenix, the city ranks as one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation with approximately 1.4 million people. The city of Phoenix, although it is being in an arid area, has a per capita consumption lower than expected. The consumption of water is essential for life; however, what have to be analyzed is the withdrawal of water; furthermore, the capacity of regeneration of water resources mainly for future generations, which is the concept of sustainability. There are many aspects that would influence the consumption of water; however, each city has its own particularities. Although, Phoenix when analyzed as totality does not have an excessive consumption; it is a peculiar city and if an analysis is done in small scale, such as neighborhood, it is possible to identify the major consumer of water. “Determinants of residential water demand reflect both indoor and outdoor use and including size of the houses, if the houses have swimming pools, lot size, and the prevalence of gardens and vegetation that require water.” (Elizabeth A. Wentz & Patricia Gober, 2007). In addition, according to Phoenix City, since 1881, when the city was officially incorporated, until today’s date, the city of Phoenix has been improving its own capacity to provide water for the population. Phoenix can reach 2.2 million people by the 2030 (Census Boreau, 2010). A challenge for the future is to find new resources to provide water for the population even in severe drought.
Water is a quintessential element of all life on Earth. Of all the water on Earth, about three percent is fresh and can be used immediately for human consumption. Perth’s climate is drying, yet Western Australia is still consuming relatively high amounts of water. This problem of high consumption of water in a drying climate is far from straightforward There are many elements contributing to water consumption in Western Australia. Broadly, these factors fall under the three pillars of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. Each of these pillars are made up of many components, and all those components are intricately and numerously linked. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Using Systems Analysis to examine the interlinked factors of water consumption in Perth and Western Australia is a good way to uncover hidden root causes of the issue of water consumption in WA and start to apply leverage in the most serviceable places.
The Mexican government has been ineffective in addressing the ecological issues associated with the water shortages in Mexico City because of its institutional fragmentation. Currently, forty-five percent of the water used in the greater Mexico City is supplied by over-exploiting the aquifer because the current water extraction rate from the aquifer is one hundred and eighty-four percent greater than the sustainable level. (Pina, 2011 ) Since Mexico City receives seventy percent of its water from the aquifer, its depletion poses a significant problem to the government of Mexico and its people. (Pina, 2011 ) In Mexico City, the federal, regional and local government levels all play a part in determining water management policies. While the local government of Mexico City sh...
Water is essential to the all life on earth, including plants. But with the growth of population, humans are facing more and more water problems: including water pollution and water shortage. It has become the biggest problem in the world to date. Most of the water pollution is caused by the heavy industries,pollution, and grey water discharged by households on a daily basis.
On the one hand, water pollution poses serious threats to people’s living and health conditions. For example, according to the US Geological Survey, California has one-fifth of the water supply systems exceed the standard amount of perchlorate in the past decade. Some remote schools in Tulare County have denied students access to drinking fountains, and a school district of 260 students spends $ 10,000 or more per year on drinking water. The school will order bottled water, store and distribute it to each classroom, and collect empty bottles（Worldjournal）. A case in point is when the water resources are polluted in California, the state’s development would also be damaged. Firstly, the citizens’ living quality would be declined，because of water is so indispensable in people’s daily
How can we bridge the staggering gap between the declaration of water as a human right and the actual achievement of its fulfillment? This is the overarching question for economic, social, and cultural rights in general at the start of the 21st century, and especially so for the right to water. But while there is little disagreement on the question of whether clean water and sanitation need to be expanded to the world’s poor, a heated debate is ongoing about the most appropriate strategy for executing such a task. One trend in this struggle for a solution is that of privatization and commoditization, as there is certainly a powerful push underway to convert the world’s water resources into a private commodity – to put them under the control
Introduction on Water It covers 70% of our planet, makes up 75% of our body, it is necessary for survival and it is declining at a rapid rate (http://www.sscwd.org). It is water. Unfortunately, clean water is rare, almost 1 billion people in developing countries do not have access to water everyday. “Yet, we take it for granted, we waste it, and we even pay too much to drink it from little plastic bottles” (The Water Project). Use of earth’s natural resources should be seen as prosperity, although it is taken for granted, every aspect of daily life revolves around the environment, forcing water conservation to be necessary for future on this planet.
Human body uses water in all its cells, tissues, and organs to help regulate its temperature and maintain other bodily functions. Because the human body loses water through breathing, sweating, and digestion, it's important to rehydrate by drinking fluids and eating foods that contain more water. Once water is used, it becomes useless and invaluable. Countless gallons of water are wasted everyday by people. A variety of changes in technology and legal structures have been explored and these together with an increased awareness of the need for water conservation and proper economic incentives have resulted in more efficient water use (Klaver). Water gets polluted after usage, but it can be cleaned, one of the great assets of water (Klaver). While water is being used by everyone, it is everyone’s responsibility to save it. Water privatization may be seeing another tool of efficiency (Klaver). Recycling water costs more money, but it can fill the demand of water in the whole world. While most water provision and sanitation systems are publicly owned and operated, the proponents of privatization argue that it will improve the quality of services, reduces costs, and mobilize more financial investment and technical expertises
Worldwide, countries have found more cost-effective to exploit water sources within their jurisdiction than to invest on water management strategies. The only remaining sources of water that can now be developed are mostly transboundary in nature (Biswas, 1999; Black and King, 2009).
Water service is one of the most crucial sector that has direct daily impact to the wellbeing of human life. Therefore many Governments especially those of developing countries have had difficulties in achieving sustainable water services to their people. Nonetheless, the provision of good water services is exceedingly linked to water governance and it is on this context that many Governments at different times have endeavoured to look for the best water governance system in their Countries.
Freshwater is quite scarce, but it is even scarcer than one might think: about seventy percent of all freshwater is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland and is unavailable to humans. Most of the remainder is present as soil moisture or lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater. It is not economically feasible to extract this waster for use as drinking water. This leaves less than one percent of the world’s fresh water that is available to humans. It includes the water found in lakes, reservoirs, groundwater that is shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. These freshwater sources are the only sources that are frequently replenished by rain and snowfall, and therefore are renewable. At the current rates of consumption, however, this supply of fresh water will not last. Pollution and contamination of freshwater sources exacerbate the problem, further reducing the amount of freshwater available for human consumption. Something must be done if humans want to even survive in the near future: the lack of clean drinking water is already the number one cause of disease in the world today. The first step is worldwide awareness of the water crisis: governments and the citizens they govern worldwide need to know about this problem and be actively involved in solving this problem.
Spearritt, R. (2009). THE 200 KM CITY: BRISBANE, THE GOLD COAST, AND SUNSHINE COAST. Australian Economic History Review. 49 (1), p87-106.
The problem of water scarcity has increasingly spread throughout the world as of yet, The UN reports that within the next half- century up to 7 billion people in 60 countries which is more than the whole present population will face water scarcity (Sawin “Water Scarcity could Overwhelm the Next Generation”). As well the demand for freshwater has tripled over the past 50 years, and is continuing to rise as a result of population growth and economic development. 70% of this demand derives from agriculture which shows the influence of water on food supply globally as well not just drinking water (Sawin “Water Scarcity could overwhelm the Next Generation”). But increasing water use is not just a matter of the greater number of people needing it to drink and eat; it also comes from pollution and misuse of water supplies, by either dumping or runoff of bacteria or chemicals into water. This also “causes other pollutions as well such as soil and air pollution, accelerating wetland damage and human caused global warming” (Smith and Thomassey 25). According to UN report, recent estimates suggest that climate change will account for about 20 percent of the increase in global water scarcity in coming decades.
Developed countries struggle with managing water consumption. Our high demand in agriculture, industry, and domestic use further complicates this issue. With increasing urbanization and extravagant changes in lifestyle, our use and wasting of water will only increase. As of this year, nearly 1.1 billion people live without clean drinking water and 2.6 billion live without adequate water sanitation. The McDonald's down the street, however, will sell you a 1/3 pounder burger for only 150 gallons. Changes in lifestyle can easily reduce this number and help not only save water, but money as well. Currently, with our diminishing water supply, one of the main goals of humanitarian organizations is ensuring that everyone has t...
Water is a source that humanity need for both domestic and industrial use and is utilized in a huge amount. Thus, there is a pressure on water. The increase of population and the industrial development of the majority of countries aggravate the problem. The excessive consumption of water coupled with the scarcity of this resource makes the issue even more critical. According to Lefort, water covers around 70 percent of the Earth, freshwater makes up only 3 percent of it, moreover, almost all of that is unattainable to use. (Lefort, R.,1996) Generally, only about 0.01 percent of the world’s total water supply is considered available for human use. What is more frustrating is that only a few sources of fresh water can be relied