1.0 INTRODUCTION There has been a significant water crisis in various regions of the world over the last few years. Only about 3% of the water in the world is fresh; therefore there is relatively little fresh water available in some regions of the world, these regions are called arid and semi arid regions. The FAO (1987, cited in IFAD,n.d) defines arid and semi arid regions as “areas falling within the rainfall zones of 0-300 mm and 300-600 mm, respectively”. In other words, arid and semi arid regions are regions in which there is insufficient rainfall and rainfall patterns are liable to significant fluctuations. Some arid regions are in North Africa, South America, some parts of central Asia and the Middle East as well including countries …show more content…
2.2 PRODUCTION VOLUMES AND WATER QUALITY. Desalination continues to assist various countries such as Saudi Arabia in increasing their supply of freshwater to the public. In his report, Alghariani (2003) suggests that the expense of spare parts, maintenance and training costs, as well as the difficulty of some processes involved, has lead to the low production volume from desalination techniques, however, Lisa Henthorne of the International Desalination Association, claims that as of 2009, there were 14,451 desalination plants with a combined production volume of 59.9 million cubic metres per day, indicating an increase in the supply of freshwater. Although seawater desalination removes most of the contaminants in the water, and not all, it still provides means for utilizing the ocean, which is the world’s main water resource, and this continues to deliver high quality water, which is suitable for human consumption, therefore making significant contributions to the supply of water to arid regions. 3.0 ACQUIRING GROUNDWATER USING BOREHOLES AND WELLS. Groundwater, which is the water located beneath the earth’s surface in soil pore spaces and fractures of rock formations called aquifers, are seen naturally in springs and seeps. It can also be obtained artificially through various methods such as digging of wells and drilling of boreholes. 3.1 TECHNOLOGIES AND COST The drilling of boreholes requires large-scale
Today, desalination is a common process that's used in seaside cities and towns worldwide. There are more than 15,000 desalination plants around the world providing freshwater from salt and brackish water alike (Planet Green 2011). This number continues to grow as researchers work to improve the process, both in terms of cost effectiveness and energy efficiency (DSE 2011). But countries such as Australia, Israel and even the United States are continually adding desalination plants of various sorts into their water-management portfolios. The facilities are common in North Africa and the Mideast, where freshwater is scarce (Chandler 2008).
Groundwater is water that seeps through the ground and gets stored in aquifers. The supply of groundwater is always changing because it is constantly used and replenished. The groundwater supply replenishes and grows due to rain and snow melt and can decrease due to things like droughts and heavy usage. Depending on the type of surface of the ground as much as 20 percent of the rain and snow melt can seep into the ground or as little as 5 percent (Raymond, 1988). Areas where as much as
-Article 1- Ghaffour, N., M. Missimer, T., & L. Amy, G. (2013). Desalination (Technical review and evaluation of the economics of water desalination: Current and future challenges for better water supply sustainability) (Vol. 309, pp. 197-207). Thuwal.
Desalination is the removal of salt and impurities from groundwater or seawater to produce fresh drinking water. Desalination is a secure water source that doesn’t depend on rainfall and has become a significant water source that has been strengthened through its decrease in production costs and related technological improvements. The process of Desalination is another means of securing Western Australia’s future water supply. Western Australia has two main plants, Perth Seawater Desalination Plant and Southern Seawater Desalination Plant, both of these plants deliver water to the Integrated Water Supply Scheme which supplies water to over 2 million people in Perth, parts of the South West, parts of the Agricultural region and the Kalgoorlie-Boulder
The opening shot is Robert DeNiro’s character, Travis Bickle’s eyes in the review mirror intensely gazing at the city. It then transitions to the view outside of the taxi to the colorful, hectic streets of New York City. This exaggerates the importance of the taxi itself and the main character’s point of view from within it. Bickle is a veteran Marine who can’t sleep and decides to take the job of driving the long hours. He narrates the film as well using dialogue from the journal that he keeps. Through the imagery and symbolism of the taxi itself, the musical backdrop, and the artistic editing, Martin Scorcese’s American psychological thriller captures the filth and futility and filth of
Ocean water desalination is the process of making ocean water drinkable. Seventy-one percent of the world is covered in ocean water, and a significant number of people in the world live within thirty miles of an ocean. Despite the abundance of resources, a large portion of the energy and materials found in the ocean remains largely untouched. Desalination of ocean water is the only solution for countries with a limited availability of existing sources of drinking. Areas such as parts of the Middle East and Africa, where water is scarce, may use outside shipments of fresh water and techniques to purify the abundant ocean water in order to survive. Some areas in South America where water may be abundant, could be unsafe to drink due to the biological
We realize that extracting from groundwater has advantages as well as disadvantage, in order to provide advantages and disadvantages we first need to know what the meaning of groundwater. Groundwater which is known as aquifer is water that satiates the crevices and openings of rocks and residues that is positioned below the surface of the ground. A mask amount of the groundwater is protected because it is underground, therefore leaving it purely clean and exempt from the pollution on the earth. Now that the significance of groundwater has been stated, the advantages and disadvantages of extracting from it can be summarized (Kreifels, 2011).
1. There are two main sources of fresh drinking water, ground water and surface water. Ground water originates from precipitations that usually fall in the form of snow or rain. While, the surface water is also originates from precipitate that reaches the land surface and is then recharged into rivers, wetlands and lakes. Although these systems are usually reliable, in desperate time of need, a more reliable source of water is needed. The desalination plant is extremely valuable and flexible because it does not depend on rainfall. Instead, the desalination plant is the only source that relies on seawater. Using seawater in the desalination plant helps meet the community’s water needs and secures the water needs in the future. While other sources of water, such as rainwater or water from dames are not reliable enough to strictly rely
Water scarcity is a problem and will be a larger problem in the future . As the earth warms , regions currently receive an adequate supply of rain . The change
The Earth's surface is 75% water and 25% land. Of the water, 97% is salt water, a surprisingly high percentage, leaving only 3% as fresh water. Most of that - two-thirds of the fresh water on Earth - is frozen in snow and ice in glaciers, ice caps, and the like. That leaves only about 1% of all the Earth's water as liquid and fresh, making it a very scarce natural resource. If that wasn't enough, most of the liquid fresh water is stored underground in aquifers. Groundwater is just what the word sounds like: water stored under the surface of the Earth. But, like rocks or other types of matter, water on the Earth is not static. It is constantly moving around the hydrosphere, the layer of the Earth where water is present. It moves around by changing in three different processes that make up the water cycle.
“Arid and semi-arid environments, which represent a substantial portion of Earth's surface, have remained poorly studied. Yet water scarcity and salt content, changes in rainfall, flash floods, high rates of aquifer exploitation and growth of desert regions are all signs that suggest climate change and human activities are also affecting these arid and semi-arid zones” (Buis).
Water is the main source of life on the Earth. It is vital for normal existence and functioning of organisms. Earth is sometimes called “water planet.” But, in fact, the number of freshwater is limited. “Only about 2 percent of the planet's water is fresh.” (How much water is there on Earth?) This water is not enough even to meet daily needs of mankind. According to World Health Organization, “a lack of water to meet daily needs is a reality today for one in three people around the world.” (2009) In the Middle East the situation is especially hard. This region is thought to be one of the droughtiest places in the world, most of it’s territory is deserted. Freshwater accounts to 1 percent of the world’s supplies, while the population comes
Groundwater is water that seeps through the ground and gets stored underground. The supply of groundwater is always changing because it is constantly used and replenished. The groundwater supply replenishes and grows due to rain and snow melt and can decrease due to things like droughts and heavy usage. Depending on the type of surface of the ground as much as 20 percent of the rain and snow melt can seep into the ground or as little as 5 percent (Raymond, 1988). Areas where as much as 20 percent of the water can
According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (1994), all arid areas distributed into three different subgoups, such as arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. In these zones the average annual precipitation and evapotranspiration. Additionaly, arid areas occupy 41% of the land on Earth and are home for more than 2 billion people. Moreover, zones of the same type exist on all continents in the world except Antarctica. Forty percent of population of Africa, South America and Asia live in arid areas; consequently arid zones dependent on the climatic conditions that are not conducive to the agriculture. A small amount and high variability of precipitation patterns pose serious problems to
There are a variety of causes held responsible for the water crisis in Africa. These causes have been taken from African’s control and desperately need to be solved. Climate change is one of the countless reasons that there is a high demand for water in Africa. An article entitled “Africa’s Water Crisis Deepens” written for the 2006 News Scientist, states that Drought, famine and spreading deserts have plagued Africa for the past 30 years. With the expansion of desertification, the process in which land becomes increasingly dry with little to no water resources, areas of land have dried out and are useless to humans due to the lack of rainfall on the African continent over the past several years.