Some facts about water
- Water covers more than 70% of the world's population, but only 3% of fresh water.
- Most natural fresh water is in ice form; less than 1% is readily available for human consumption. This means that less than 0.007% of the water on earth is ready to drink.
- More than 1.4 billion people do not have access to clean, safe water worldwide.
- The gap between water supply and demand is constantly growing, expected to reach 40% by 2030.
- By 2025, one third of the world's population will depend on water scarcity.
- By 2050, more than 70% of the world's population will live in cities.
- In many developing countries ah, the percentage of water loss is over 30%, reaching even 80% in some extreme cases.
- More than 32 billion cubic meters of drinking water is leaking water from urban water systems around the world, only 10% of the leak is visible, the rest of the leaks quietly and silently disappear underground.
The development of mankind is accompanied by an increase in the population of the Earth, as well as growing demands for resources from the economy. One of these resources is fresh water, the shortage of which is quite acutely felt in a number of regions of the Earth. In particular, more than a third of the world's population, that is, more than 2 billion people, does not have permanent access to a drinking resource. It is expected that in 2020 water shortage will act as one of the obstacles further development humanity. This applies to the greatest extent to developing countries, where:
- Intensive population growth
- High level of industrialization accompanied by pollution environment and water in particular
- Lack of water treatment infrastructure,
- Significant demand for water from the agricultural sector,
- Medium or low level social stability, authoritarian structure of society.
World water resources
The earth is rich in water, because 70% of the Earth's surface is covered with water (approx. 1.4 billion km 3). However most of salty water and only about 2.5% of the world's water resources (about 35 million km 3) is fresh water (see Figure World Water Sources, UNESCO, 2003).
Only fresh water can be used for drinking, but 69% of it falls on snow covers (mainly Antarctica and Greenland), approx. 30% (10.5 million km 3) is groundwater, and lakes, artificial lakes and rivers account for less than 0.5% of all fresh water.
In the water cycle, of the total amount of precipitation falling on the Earth, 79% falls on the ocean, 2% on lakes, and only 19% on land. Only 2200 km 3 penetrates into underground reservoirs per year.
Many experts call the "water issue" one of the most serious challenges for humanity in the future. The period 2005-2015 has been declared by the UN General Assembly as the International Decade for Action. Water for life».
Picture. World sources of fresh water: sources of distribution of about 35 million km 3 of fresh water (UNESCO 2003)
According to UN experts, in the 21st century, water will become a more important strategic resource than oil and gas, since a ton of clean water in an arid climate is already more expensive than oil (the Sahara desert and North Africa, the center of Australia, South Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Central Asia).
AT global scale about 2/3 of all precipitation is returned to the atmosphere. In terms of water resources, the region is the most prosperous Latin America, which accounts for a third of the world's runoff, followed by Asia with its quarter of the world's runoff. Then come the OECD countries (20%), sub-Saharan Africa and the countries of the former Soviet Union, each accounting for 10%. The most limited water resources are in the countries of the Middle East and North America (1% each).
Most lacking in drinking water Sub-Saharan Africa (Tropical/Black Africa).
After several decades of rapid industrialization, large Chinese cities were among the most environmentally unfavorable.
The construction of the world's largest hydropower complex, the Three Gorges, on the Yangtze River in China, has also led to large-scale environmental issues. In addition to erosion and collapse of the banks, the construction of a dam and a giant reservoir led to silting and, according to Chinese and foreign experts, a dangerous change in the entire ecosystem. largest river countries.
SOUTH ASIA
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
India is home to 16% of the world's population, despite the fact that only 4% of the planet's fresh water is available there.
The water reserves of India and Pakistan are in inaccessible places - these are the glaciers of the Pamirs and the Himalayas, which cover the mountains at an altitude of over 4000 m. But the water shortage in Pakistan is already so high that the government is seriously considering forcibly melting these glaciers.
The idea is to spray harmless coal dust over them, which will cause the ice to actively melt in the sun. But, most likely, the melted glacier will look like a muddy mudflow, 60% of the water will not reach the valleys, but will be absorbed into the soil near the foot of the mountains, ecological prospects are unclear
CENTRAL (MIDDLE) ASIA
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
central Asia(as defined by UNESCO): Mongolia, Western China, Punjab, North India, Northern Pakistan, northeastern Iran, Afghanistan, districts Asian Russia south of the taiga zone, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
According to the World Resources Institute, fresh water reserves in countries Central Asia(without Tajikistan) and in Kazakhstan per capita is almost 5 times lower than in Russia.
Russia
Over the past ten years in Russia, as in all middle latitudes, temperatures have been rising faster than the average on Earth and in the tropics. By 2050 temperatures will rise by 2-3ºС. One of the consequences of warming will be a redistribution of precipitation. In the south of the Russian Federation there will not be enough rainfall and there will be problems with drinking water, there may be problems with navigation along certain rivers, the area of permafrost will decrease, soil temperatures will rise, in the northern regions, productivity will increase, although there may be losses due to drought events (Roshydromet).
AMERICA
Mexico
Mexico City is experiencing problems with the supply of drinking water to the population. Demand for bottled water already today exceeds supply, so the country's leadership urges residents to learn how to save water.
The issue of drinking water consumption has been facing the leaders of the capital of Mexico for a long time, since the city, in which almost a quarter of the country lives, is located far from water sources, so today water is extracted from wells at least 150 meters deep. The results of water quality analysis revealed an increased content of permissible concentrations heavy metals and others chemical elements and substances harmful to human health.
Half of the daily water consumed in the United States comes from non-renewable underground sources. On the this moment 36 states are on the verge of a major problem, some of them on the verge of a water crisis. Water shortages in California, Arizona, Nevada, Las Vegas.
Water has become a key security strategy and priority for the US administration foreign policy. Currently, the Pentagon and other structures that care about US security have come to the conclusion that in order to maintain the existing military and economic strength of the United States, they must protect not only energy sources, but also water resources.
Peru
In the Peruvian capital of Lima, there is practically no rain, and water is supplied mainly from the Andes lakes, located quite far away. From time to time the water is turned off for several days. There is always a shortage of water. Once a week, water is brought by truck, but it costs the poor ten times more than residents whose houses are connected to central system water supply.
Drinking water consumption
About 1 billion people on Earth do not have access to improved sources of drinking water. Over half of the world's households have running water in their homes or nearby.
8 out of 10 people who do not have access to improved drinking water sources live in rural areas.
884 million people in the world, i.e. almost half of those living in Asia still use unimproved sources of drinking water. Most of them live in sub-Saharan Africa, South, East and Southeast Asia.
Countries where bottled water is the main source of drinking water: Dominican Republic(67% of the urban population drink exclusively bottled water), Lao People's Democratic Republic and Thailand (for half of the urban population, bottled water is the main source of drinking water). Also a serious situation in Guatemala, Guinea, Turkey, Yemen.
Drinking water treatment practices vary considerably across countries. In Mongolia, Vietnam, water is almost always boiled, a little less often - in the PDR Lao and Cambodia, even less often - in Uganda and Jamaica. In Guinea, it is filtered through a cloth. And in Jamaica, Guinea, Honduras, Haiti, chlorine or other disinfectants are simply added to the water to clean it.
Households in Africa in countryside spend an average of 26% of their time just getting water (mostly women) (UK DFID). Every year it takes approx. 40 billion working hours (Cosgrove and Rijsberman, 1998). The Tibetan highlands are still inhabited by people who have to spend up to three hours a day walking to fetch water.
Main drivers of water consumption growth
1. : sanitation improvement
Access to basic water services (drinking water, food production, sanitation, sanitation) remains limited in most developing countries. It is possible that By 2030, more than 5 billion people (67% of the global population) will still lack modern sanitation(OECD, 2008).
About 340 million Africans do not have safe drinking water, and nearly 500 million lack modern sanitation.
The importance of ensuring the purity of the water consumed: several billion people today do not have access to clean water (The World Conference of The Future of Science, 2008, Venice).
80% of diseases in developing countries are related to water, annually causing about 1.7 million deaths.
According to some estimates, every year in developing countries about 3 million people die prematurely from waterborne diseases.
Diarrhea - main reason sickness and death – mostly due to lack of sanitary and hygienic conditions and unsafe drinking water. 5,000 children die of diarrhea every day, i.e. one child every 17 seconds.
In South Africa, 12% of the health care budget goes to treat diarrhea, with more than half of the patients diagnosed with diarrhea in local hospitals every day.
Annually 1.4 million diarrhea deaths could be prevented. Almost 1/10 of total number diseases could be prevented by improving water supply, sanitation, hygiene, water management.
2. Development of agriculture for food production
Water is an essential component of food, and Agriculture- the largest consumer of water: it falls up to 70% of total water consumption(for comparison: 20% of water use is industry, 10% is domestic use). The area of irrigated land has doubled over the past decades, and water withdrawal has tripled.
Without further improvement in water use in agriculture, the need for water in this sector will increase by 70-90% by 2050, and this despite the fact that some countries have already reached the limit in the use of their water resources.
On average, 70% of the fresh water consumed is used by agriculture, 22% by industry, and the remaining 8% is used for household needs. This ratio varies by country income: in low- and middle-income countries, 82% is used for agriculture, 10% for industry, and 8% for domestic use; in high-income countries these figures are 30%, 59% and 11%.
Due to inefficient irrigation systems, especially in developing countries, 60% of the water used for agriculture evaporates or is returned to water bodies.
3. Change in food consumption
Behind last years there have been changes in the way of life of people and the manner of their nutrition, the consumption of meat and dairy products has increased disproportionately in countries with economies in transition Today, in the world, one person consumes an average of 2 times more water than in 1900, and this trend will continue due to changes in consumption habits in emerging economies.
AT modern world 1.4 billion people are deprived of access to clean water, another 864 million do not have the opportunity to receive the nutrition they need on a daily basis. And the situation continues to worsen.
A person needs only 2-4 liters of water per day to drink, but the production of food for one person requires 2000-5000 liters per day.
The question “how much water people drink” (on average, in developed countries - from two to five liters per day) is not as important as “how much water people eat” (according to some estimates, in developed countries this figure is 3,000 liters per day). ).
For production 1 kg of wheat requires 800 to 4,000 liters of water, 1 kg of beef requires 2,000 to 16,000 liters, 1 kg of rice requires 3450 liters.
Increasing meat consumption in the most developed countries: in 2002, Sweden consumed 76 kg of meat per person, and the US 125 kg per person.
According to some estimates, a Chinese consumer who ate 20 kg of meat in 1985 will eat 50 kg in 2009. This increase in consumption will increase the demand for grain. One kilogram of grain requires 1,000 kg (1,000 liters) of water. This means that an additional 390 km 3 of water per year will be required to meet the demand.
4. Demographic growth
The scarcity of water resources will increase due to population growth. The total number of inhabitants of the planet, which is currently 6.6 billion people, growing by approximately 80 million annually. Hence the growing need for drinking water, which is about 64 billion cubic meters per year.
By 2025, the population of the Earth will exceed 8 billion people. (EPE). 90% of the 3 billion people who will add to the world's population by 2050 will be in developing countries, many of whom are located in areas where current populations do not have adequate access to clean water and sanitation (UN).
More than 60% of the global population growth that will occur between 2008 and 2100 will be in sub-Saharan Africa (32%) and South Asia (30%), which together will account for 50% of the world's population 2100.
5. Urban population growth
Urbanization will continue - migration to cities, whose inhabitants are much more sensitive to water shortages. In the 20th century, there was a very sharp increase in the urban population (from 220 million to 2.8 billion). In the next few decades, we will witness its unprecedented growth in developing countries.
It is expected that the number of urban dwellers will grow by 1.8 billion people (compared to 2005) and will account for 60% of the total world population (UN). About 95% of this growth will come from developing countries.
According to EPE, by 2025, 5.2 billion people will live in cities. This level of urbanization will require extensive water distribution infrastructure and the collection and treatment of used water, which is not possible without massive investment.
6. Migration
Currently, there are about 192 million migrants in the world (in 2000 there were 176 million). The lack of water in desert and semi-desert regions will cause intensive migration of the population. This is expected to affect 24 to 700 million people. Relationship between water resources and migration - bilateral process: Water scarcity leads to migration, and migration in turn contributes to water stress. According to some calculations, in the future, coastal regions, where 15 of the 20 megacities of the world are located, will feel the greatest pressure from the influx of migrants. In the world of the next century everything more residents will live in vulnerable urban and coastal areas.
7. Climate change
In 2007, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, held in Bali, recognized that even minimally predictable climate change in the 21st century, twice the 0.6°C increase since 1900, would be severely devastating. effects.
Scientists agree that global warming will lead to intensification and acceleration of global hydrological cycles. In other words, intensification can be expressed in an increase in the rate of evaporation and the amount of precipitation. It is not yet known what impact this will have on water resources, but it is expected that water scarcity will affect its quality and frequency extreme situations such as droughts and floods.
Presumably, by 2025, warming will be 1.6ºС compared to the pre-industrial period (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - Groupe d'experts Intergouvernemental sur l'Evolution du Climat).
Now 85% of the world's population lives in the arid part of our planet. In 2030 47% of the world's population will live in areas with high water stress.
Only in Africa by 2020 from 75 to 250 million people could face increased pressure on water resources caused by climate change. Along with the growing demand for water; this may affect the livelihoods of the population and exacerbate water supply problems (IPCC 2007).
The impact of climate warming on water resources: a 1ºC increase in temperature will lead to the complete disappearance of small glaciers in the Andes, which may lead to problems in supplying water to 50 million people; a 2ºC increase in temperature will cause a 20-30% reduction in water resources in "unprotected" regions (southern Africa, the Mediterranean).
Global climate change and strong anthropogenic influence cause desertification and deforestation.
According to the World Human Development Report 2006, by 2025 the number of people suffering from lack of water will reach 3 billion, whereas today their number is 700 million. This problem will be especially acute in southern Africa, China and India.
8. Growth in consumption. Raising the standard of living
9. Intensification of economic activity
The development of the economy and the service sector will lead to additional growth in water consumption, with most of the responsibility falling on industry, not agriculture (EPE).
10. Growth in energy consumption
According to the calculations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the global demand for electricity should increase by 55% by 2030. Only the share of China and India will be 45%. Developing countries will account for 74%.
It is assumed that the amount of energy generated by hydroelectric power plants for the period from 2004 to 2030. will grow annually by 1.7%. Its overall growth over this period will be 60%.
Dams criticized for serious environmental impact and forced displacement of large numbers of people, many today, however, are seen as Possible Solution water problem in the face of reduced supplies of fossil energy carriers, the need to move to more clean sources energy, the need to adapt to different hydrological conditions and the instability caused by climate change.
11. Biofuel production
Biofuels are being used to meet growing energy needs. However, the widespread production of biofuels further reduces the area under crops for growing plant foods.
Bioethanol production tripled over the period 2000-2007. and amounted to about 77 billion liters in 2008. The largest producers of this type of biofuel are Brazil and the United States - their share in world production is 77%. Production of biodiesel fuel produced from oilseeds for the period from 2000-2007. increased 11 times. 67% of it is produced in countries European Union(OECD-FAO, 2008)
In 2007, 23% of the maize produced in the US was used to produce ethanol, and 54% of the sugarcane crop was used for this purpose in Brazil. 47% of vegetable oil produced in the European Union was used to produce biodiesel.
However, despite the increased use of biofuels, its share in total energy production remains small. In 2008, the share of ethanol in the transportation fuel market was estimated at 4.5% in the USA, 40% in Brazil, and 2.2% in the EU. While biofuels can reduce dependence on fossil energy sources, they can put disproportionate pressure on biodiversity and the environment. the main problem- the need for in large numbers water and fertilizer to ensure the harvest. To produce 1 liter of ethanol, 1000 to 4000 liters of water are required. It is assumed that in 2017 the global volume of ethanol production will be 127 billion liters.
About 1/5 of the US maize crop was used in 2006/2007. for ethanol production, replacing about 3% of the country's gasoline fuel (World Development Report 2008, World Bank).
It takes about 2500 liters of water to produce one liter of ethanol. According to World Energy Outlook 2006, biofuel production is increasing by 7% per year. Its production, perhaps, does not create real problems in, where heavy rainfall occurs. A different situation is developing in China, and in the near future in India.
12. Tourism
Tourism has become one of the factors in the growth of water consumption. In Israel, the use of water by hotels along the Jordan River is considered to be the cause of the desiccation Dead Sea, where the water level has fallen by 16.4 meters since 1977. Golf tourism, for example, has a huge impact on water withdrawals: an eighteen-hole golf course can consume more than 2.3 million liters of water per day. In the Philippines, the use of water for tourism threatens rice cultivation. Tourists in Grenada (Spain) typically use seven times as much water as locals, and this figure is considered normal for many developing tourist areas.
In Britain, the improvement of sanitation and water purification in the 1880s. contributed to a 15-year increase in life expectancy over the next four decades. (HDR, 2006)
Lack of water and sanitation costs South Africa approximately 5% of the country's GDP annually (UNDP).
Each inhabitant of developed countries uses on average 500-800 liters of water per day (300 m 3 per year); in developing countries, this figure is 60-150 liters per day (20 m 3 per year).
443 million are skipped every year school days due to water related diseases.
Development of the water market
Water Crisis Management
In the UN Millennium Declaration adopted in 2000 international community committed to halving the number of people without access to clean drinking water by 2015 and to end the unsustainable use of water resources.
The relationship between poverty and water is clear: the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day is about the same as the number without access to safe drinking water.
Since 2001, water resources have been the main priority Sectors natural sciences UNESCO.
The problem of water is one of the most acute, although not the only one, for developing countries.
Benefits of investing in water resources
According to some estimates, Every dollar invested in improving water and sanitation yields between $3 and $34.
The total cost incurred in Africa alone due to lack of access to safe water and lack of sanitation facilities is about $US 28.4 billion per year or about 5% of GDP(WHO, 2006)
A survey of countries belonging to the Middle East region and North Africa(MENA) found that groundwater depletion appears to have reduced GDP in some countries (Jordan 2.1%, Yemen 1.5%, Egypt 1.3%, Tunisia by 1.2%).
Water storage
Reservoirs provide reliable sources of water for irrigation, water supply and hydropower generation, and for flood control. For developing countries, it is no exception when 70 to 90% annual runoff accumulates in reservoirs. However, only 4% of renewable runoff is retained in African countries.
virtual water
All countries import and export water in the form of water equivalents, i.e. in the form of agricultural and industrial goods. The calculation of used water is defined by the concept of "virtual water".
The theory of "virtual water" in 1993 marked the beginning of a new era in determining the policy of agriculture and water resources in regions experiencing water scarcity, and campaigns aimed at saving water resources.
About 80% of virtual water flows are associated with trade in agricultural products. Approximately 16% of the world's water depletion and pollution problems are related to production for export. The prices of goods sold rarely reflect the cost of water use in producing countries.
For example, Mexico imports wheat, maize, and sorghum from the US, which require 7.1 Gm 3 of water to produce in the US. If Mexico produced them at home, it would take 15.6 Gm 3 . Total water savings resulting from international trade virtual water in the form of agricultural products, is equivalent to 6% of the total volume of water used in agriculture.
Water recycling
Use of urban Wastewater agriculture remains limited, except in a few countries with very poor water resources (40% of drainage water is reused in the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip, 15% in Israel and 16% in Egypt).
Water desalination is becoming more and more accessible. It is used mainly for the production of drinking water (24%) and to meet the needs of industry (9%) in countries that have exhausted the limits of their renewable water sources (Saudi Arabia, Israel, Cyprus, etc.).
Water management projects
Approaches to solve the problem of water scarcity:
- Breeding crops that are resistant to drought and saline soils,
- water desalination,
- Water storage.
Today, there are political solutions aimed at reducing water losses, improving water management, and reducing the need for them. Many countries have already adopted laws for the conservation and efficient use water, however, these reforms have yet to yield tangible results.
The participants of the Venice Forum (The World Conference of The Future of Science, 2008) suggest the leaders of the largest international organizations and governments of the leading countries of the world to start large-scale investments in research work related to the solution of specific problems of developing countries in the field of combating hunger and malnutrition. In particular, they consider it necessary to start as soon as possible a major project to seawater desalination for desert irrigation, first of all, in tropical countries and create a special fund to support agriculture.
The structure of water consumption with a predominance of its agricultural use determines that the search for ways to solve the water shortage should be carried out through the introduction of agricultural technologies that make it possible to make better use of precipitation, reduce irrigation losses and increase field productivity.
It is in agriculture that unproductive water consumption is the highest and it is estimated that about half of it is wasted. This represents 30% of the world's total fresh water resources, which represents a huge savings reserve. There are many ways to help reduce water consumption. Traditional irrigation is inefficient. In developing countries, mainly surface irrigation is used, for which dams are built. This method, simple and cheap, is used, for example, in rice cultivation, but a significant part of the water used (about half) is lost due to infiltration and evaporation.
It is quite easy to achieve savings if you use the drip method of irrigation: a small amount of water is delivered directly to the plants using tubes laid above the ground (and even better, underground). This method is economical, but its installation is expensive.
Judging by the volume of water losses, the existing water supply and irrigation systems are recognized as extremely inefficient. It is estimated that in the Mediterranean region, water losses in urban water pipes are 25%, and in irrigation canals 20%. By at least, some of these losses can be avoided. Cities such as Tunis (Tunisia) and Rabat (Morocco) have managed to reduce water losses by up to 10%. Water loss management programs are currently being introduced in Bangkok (Thailand) and Manila (Philippines).
With growing shortages, some countries have already begun to include water management strategy into their development plans. In Zambia, this integrated water resources management policy covers all sectors of the economy. The result of this water management, linked to national development plans, was not long in coming, and many donors began to include investments in the water sector in Zambia's overall aid portfolio.
While this experience remains limited, some countries are already using treated wastewater for agriculture: 40% is reused in the Gaza Strip in the Palestinian Territories, 15% in Israel and 16% in Egypt.
Also used in desert regions seawater desalination method. It is used to obtain drinking and technical water in countries that have reached the limit in the use of renewable water resources (Saudi Arabia, Israel, Cyprus, etc.).
Thanks to the use of modern membrane technology the cost of water desalination has decreased to 50 cents per 1000 liters, but it is still very expensive given the amount of water needed to produce food raw materials. Therefore, desalination is more suitable for the production of drinking water or for use in Food Industry where the added value is quite high. If the cost of desalination can be further reduced, then the severity of water problems could be significantly reduced.
The Desertec Foundation has developed designs to combine desalination plants and solar-powered thermal power plants into one system, capable of producing cheap electricity on the coast of North Africa and the Middle East. For these zones, considered the driest in the world, such a solution would be a way out of water problems.
Southeast Anatolia Development Project in Turkey(GAP) is a multi-sector socio-economic development plan focused on increasing the incomes of the population in this least developed region of the country. Its total estimated cost is 32 million dollars, 17 million of them by 2008 have already been invested. With the development of irrigation here, per capita income has tripled. Electrification rural areas and the availability of electricity reached 90%, the literacy of the population increased, child mortality decreased, business activity increased, and the land tenure system became more equal in irrigated lands. The number of cities with running water has quadrupled. This region has ceased to be one of the least developed in the country.
Australia also changed its policy by implementing a number of measures. Restrictions have been placed on watering gardens, washing cars, filling pools with water, and the like. in largest cities countries. In 2008 Sydney introduced dual water supply system - drinking water and purified (technical) for other needs. By 2011, a desalination plant is under construction. Investment in the water sector in Australia has doubled from A$2 billion per year to A$4 billion per year over the past 6 years.
UAE. The Emirates decided to invest more than $20 billion over 8 years in the construction and launch of desalination plants. At the moment, 6 such plants have already been launched, the remaining 5 will be built within the above period of time. Thanks to these plants, it is planned to more than triple the amount of drinking water. The need for investment in the construction of new factories is due to the growing population in the UAE.
Ambitious project planned in UAE Sahara Forest to turn part of the desert into an artificial forest capable of feeding and watering thousands of people by creating vast super greenhouses. The combination of thermal solar power plants and original distillers would allow the Sahara Forest to produce food, fuel, electricity and drinking water literally out of nothing, which would transform the entire region.
The cost of "Forest of the Sahara" is estimated at 80 million euros for a complex of greenhouses with an area of 20 hectares, combined with solar installations with a total capacity of 10 megawatts. "Greening" the world's greatest desert is still a project. But pilot projects built in the image of the Sahara Forest may well appear in the coming years in several places at once: business groups in the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait have already expressed interest in funding these unusual experiments.
The Lesotho Highlands Water Project is a massive program (since 2002) of building dams and galleries to transport water from the highlands of Lesotho, an inland enclave country South Africa and equal in area to Belgium, to the arid regions of the province of Gauteng, located near Johannesburg.
Ethiopia: big money are investing in infrastructure (building dams, providing well water to rural areas. Across the country, an increase in the number of tenders for projects to improve access to drinking water, large infrastructure projects (boreholes).
In Pakistan, the government is seriously considering forcibly melting the glaciers of the Pamirs and the Himalayas.
In Iran, rain cloud management projects are being considered.
In 2006, on the outskirts of Lima (Peru), biologists launched a project to create an irrigation system that collects water from fog. Large-scale construction is needed to create the structure for another fog tower project on the coast of Chile.
Based on materials marketing research about water (excerpts),
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Water reserves in the world. List of countries by water resources
A list of 173 countries of the world is presented, ordered by the volume of total renewable water resources according to [ . The data includes long-term average renewable water resources (in cubic kilometers of rainfall, renewable groundwater, and surface inflows from neighboring countries.
Brazil has the largest renewable water resources - 8,233.00 cubic kilometers. largest reserves in Europe and the second in the world is Russia - 4,508.00. Further USA - 3 069.00, Canada - 2 902.00 and China - 2 840.00. Full table- see below.
Fresh water. Stocks[Source - 2].
Fresh water- the opposite of sea water, covers that part of the available water of the Earth, in which salts are contained in minimum quantities. Water whose salinity does not exceed 0.1%, even in the form of steam or ice, is called fresh water. Ice masses in the polar regions and glaciers contain the largest part of the earth's fresh water. In addition, fresh water exists in rivers, streams, underground waters, fresh lakes, and also in clouds. According to various estimates, the share of fresh water in the total amount of water on Earth is 2.5-3%.
About 85-90% of fresh water is contained in the form of ice. The distribution of fresh water across the globe is extremely uneven. In Europe and Asia, where 70% of the world's population lives, only 39% of river waters are concentrated.
In terms of surface water resources, Russia occupies a leading position in the world. Only in the unique Lake Baikal are concentrated about 20% of the world's fresh lake water reserves and more than 80% of Russia's reserves. At total volume 23.6 thousand km³ in the lake annually reproduces about 60 km³ of rare natural water.
According to the UN at the beginning of the 2000s, more than 1.2 billion people live in conditions of constant shortage of fresh water, about 2 billion suffer from it regularly. By the middle of the 21st century, the number of people living with a constant lack of water will exceed 4 billion people. In such a situation, some experts say that Russia's main advantage in the long term is water resources.
Fresh water reserves: atmospheric vapor - 14,000 or 0.06%, river fresh water - 200 or 0.005%, total Total 28,253,200 or 100%. Sources - Wikipedia:,.
List of countries by water resources[Source - 1]
| № | The country | The total volume of the renewal. water resources (cu km) | date info mation |
| 1 | Brazil | 8 233,00 | 2011 |
| 2 | Russia | 4 508,00 | 2011 |
| 3 | United States | 3 069,00 | 2011 |
| 4 | Canada | 2 902,00 | 2011 |
| 5 | China | 2 840,00 | 2011 |
| 6 | Colombia | 2 132,00 | 2011 |
| 7 | European Union | 2 057.76 | 2011 |
| 8 | Indonesia | 2 019,00 | 2011 |
| 9 | Peru | 1 913,00 | 2011 |
| 10 | Congo, DR | 1 283,00 | 2011 |
| 11 | India | 1 911,00 | 2011 |
| 12 | Venezuela | 1 233,00 | 2011 |
| 13 | Bangladesh | 1 227,00 | 2011 |
| 14 | Burma | 1 168,00 | 2011 |
| 15 | Chile | 922,00 | 2011 |
| 16 | Vietnam | 884,10 | 2011 |
| 17 | Republic of the Congo | 832,00 | 2011 |
| 18 | Argentina | 814,00 | 2011 |
| 19 | Papua New Guinea | 801,00 | 2011 |
| 20 | Bolivia | 622,50 | 2011 |
| 21 | Malaysia | 580,00 | 2011 |
| 22 | Australia | 492,00 | 2011 |
| 23 | Philippines | 479,00 | 2011 |
| 24 | Cambodia | 476,10 | 2011 |
| 25 | Mexico | 457,20 | 2011 |
| 26 | Thailand | 438,60 | 2011 |
| 27 | Japan | 430,00 | 2011 |
| 28 | Ecuador | 424,40 | 2011 |
| 29 | Norway | 382,00 | 2011 |
| 30 | Madagascar | 337,00 | 2011 |
| 31 | Paraguay | 336,00 | 2011 |
| 32 | Laos | 333,50 | 2011 |
| 33 | New Zealand | 327,00 | 2011 |
| 34 | Nigeria | 286,20 | 2011 |
| 35 | Cameroon | 285,50 | 2011 |
| 36 | Pakistan | 246,80 | 2011 |
| 37 | Guyana | 241,00 | 2011 |
| 38 | Liberia | 232,00 | 2011 |
| 39 | Guinea | 226,00 | 2011 |
| 40 | Mozambique | 217,10 | 2011 |
| 41 | Romania | 211,90 | 2011 |
| 42 | Turkey | 211,60 | 2011 |
| 43 | France | 211,00 | 2011 |
| 44 | Nepal | 210,20 | 2011 |
| 45 | Nicaragua | 196,60 | 2011 |
| 46 | Italy | 191,30 | 2011 |
| 47 | Sweden | 174,00 | 2011 |
| 48 | Iceland | 170,00 | 2011 |
| 49 | Gabon | 164,00 | 2011 |
| 50 | Serbia | 162,20 | 2011 |
| 51 | Sierra Leone | 160,00 | 2011 |
| 52 | Germany | 154,00 | 2011 |
| 53 | Angola | 148,00 | 2011 |
| 54 | Panama | 148,00 | 2011 |
| 55 | United Kingdom | 147,00 | 2011 |
| 56 | Centre. African. Rep. | 144,40 | 2011 |
| 57 | Ukraine | 139,60 | 2011 |
| 58 | Uruguay | 139,00 | 2011 |
| 59 | Iran | 137,00 | 2011 |
| 60 | Ethiopia | 122,00 | 2011 |
| 61 | Suriname | 122,00 | 2011 |
| 62 | Costa Rica | 112,40 | 2011 |
| 63 | Spain | 111,50 | 2011 |
| 64 | Guatemala | 111,30 | 2011 |
| 65 | Finland | 110,00 | 2011 |
| 66 | Kazakhstan | 107,50 | 2011 |
| 67 | Croatia | 105,50 | 2011 |
| 68 | Zambia | 105,20 | 2011 |
| 69 | Hungary | 104,00 | 2011 |
| 70 | Mali | 100,00 | 2011 |
| 71 | Tanzania | 96.27 | 2011 |
| 72 | Honduras | 95.93 | 2011 |
| 73 | Netherlands | 91,00 | 2011 |
| 74 | Iraq | 89.86 | 2011 |
| 75 | Ivory Coast | 81.14 | 2011 |
| 76 | Butane | 78,00 | 2011 |
| 77 | Austria | 77,70 | 2011 |
| 78 | North Korea | 77.15 | 2011 |
| 79 | Greece | 74.25 | 2011 |
| 80 | South Korea | 69,70 | 2011 |
| 81 | Portugal | 68,70 | 2011 |
| 82 | Taiwan | 67,00 | 2011 |
| 83 | Uganda | 66,00 | 2011 |
| 84 | Afghanistan | 65.33 | 2011 |
| 85 | Sudan | 64,50 | 2011 |
| 86 | Georgia | 63.33 | 2011 |
| 87 | Poland | 61,60 | 2011 |
| 88 | Belarus | 58,00 | 2011 |
| 89 | Egypt | 57,30 | 2011 |
| 90 | Switzerland | 53,50 | 2011 |
| 91 | Ghana | 53,20 | 2011 |
| 92 | Sri Lanka | 52,80 | 2011 |
| 93 | Ireland | 52,00 | 2011 |
| 94 | South Africa | 51,40 | 2011 |
| 95 | Slovakia | 50,10 | 2011 |
| 96 | Uzbekistan | 48.87 | 2011 |
| 97 | Solomon islands | 44,70 | 2011 |
| 98 | Chad | 43,00 | 2011 |
| 99 | Albania | 41,70 | 2011 |
| 100 | Senegal | 38,80 | 2011 |
| 101 | Cuba | 38.12 | 2011 |
| 102 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 37,50 | 2011 |
| 103 | Latvia | 35.45 | 2011 |
| 104 | Mongolia | 34,80 | 2011 |
| 105 | Azerbaijan | 34.68 | 2011 |
| 106 | Niger | 33.65 | 2011 |
| 107 | Slovenia | 31.87 | 2011 |
| 108 | Guinea-Bissau | 31,00 | 2011 |
| 109 | Kenya | 30,70 | 2011 |
| 110 | Morocco | 29,00 | 2011 |
| 111 | Fiji | 28.55 | 2011 |
| 112 | Benin | 26.39 | 2011 |
| 113 | Equatorial Guinea | 26,00 | 2011 |
| 114 | Salvador | 25.23 | 2011 |
| 115 | Lithuania | 24,90 | 2011 |
| 116 | Turkmenistan | 24.77 | 2011 |
| 117 | Kyrgyzstan | 23.62 | 2011 |
| 118 | Tajikistan | 21.91 | 2011 |
| 119 | Bulgaria | 21,30 | 2011 |
| 120 | Dominican Republic | 21,00 | 2011 |
| 121 | Zimbabwe | 20,00 | 2011 |
| 122 | Belize | 18.55 | 2011 |
| 123 | Belgium | 18,30 | 2011 |
| 124 | Namibia | 17.72 | 2011 |
| 125 | Malawi | 17.28 | 2011 |
| 126 | Syria | 16,80 | 2011 |
| 127 | Somalia | 14,70 | 2011 |
| 128 | Go | 14,70 | 2011 |
| 129 | Haiti | 14,03 | 2011 |
| 130 | Czech Republic | 13,15 | 2011 |
| 131 | Estonia | 12,81 | 2011 |
| 132 | Burundi | 12,54 | 2011 |
| 133 | Burkina Faso | 12,50 | 2011 |
| 134 | Botswana | 12,24 | 2011 |
| 135 | Algeria | 11,67 | 2011 |
| 136 | Moldova | 11,65 | 2011 |
| 137 | Mauritania | 11,40 | 2011 |
| 138 | Rwanda | 9,50 | 2011 |
| 139 | Jamaica | 9,40 | 2011 |
| 140 | Brunei | 8,50 | 2011 |
| 141 | Gambia | 8,00 | 2011 |
| 142 | Armenia | 7,77 | 2011 |
| 143 | Macedonia | 6,40 | 2011 |
| 144 | Eritrea | 6,30 | 2011 |
| 145 | Denmark | 6,00 | 2011 |
| 146 | Tunisia | 4,60 | 2011 |
| 147 | Swaziland | 4,51 | 2011 |
| 148 | Lebanon | 4,50 | 2011 |
| 149 | Trinidad and Tobago | 3,84 | 2011 |
| 150 | Luxembourg | 3,10 | 2011 |
| 151 | Lesotho | 3,02 | 2011 |
| 152 | Mauritius | 2,75 | 2011 |
| 153 | Saudi Arabia | 2,40 | 2011 |
| 154 | Yemen | 2,10 | 2011 |
| 155 | Israel | 1,78 | 2011 |
| 156 | Oman | 1,40 | 2011 |
| 157 | Comoros | 1,20 | 2011 |
| 158 | Jordan | 0.94 | 2011 |
| 159 | Cyprus | 0.78 | 2011 |
| 160 | Libya | 0,70 | 2011 |
| 161 | Singapore | 0,60 | 2011 |
| 162 | Cape Verde | 0,30 | 2011 |
| 163 | Djibouti | 0,30 | 2011 |
| 164 | UAE | 0,15 | 2011 |
| 165 | Bahrain | 0.12 | 2011 |
| 166 | Barbados | 0.08 | 2011 |
| 167 | Qatar | 0.06 | 2011 |
| 168 | Antigua and Barbuda | 0,05 | 2011 |
| 169 | Malta | 0,05 | 2011 |
| 170 | Maldives | 0.03 | 2011 |
| 171 | Bahamas | 0.02 | 2011 |
| 172 | Kuwait | 0.02 | 2011 |
| 173 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 0.02 | 2011 |
WATER RESOURCES, 2014, volume 41, no. 3, p. 235-246
WATER RESOURCES AND REGIME OF WATER BODIES
UDC 556.18:338.439:628.1
WATER RESOURCES AND THE FOOD PROBLEM
A. P. Demin © 2014
Institute water problems RAS 119333 Moscow, st. Gubkina, 3 [email protected] Received 13.06. 2012
The data on the volume of renewable water resources and the specific water supply of the countries with the most and least water resources are presented. Modern data on the volume of withdrawal of water resources, the area of irrigated land, and the population of the largest countries of the world are given. Measures taken are shown foreign countries to increase the availability of water resources for agriculture. It was revealed that a further increase in the area of arable and irrigated land while maintaining existing technologies in agriculture is unacceptable. The role of land reclamation in ensuring the food security of Russia is shown.
Keywords: renewable water resources, water supply, food security, water pollution, irrigated land, sewage, salt water, land reclamation.
DOI: 10.7868/S0321059614030055
According to various estimates, global renewable water resources range from 42,000 to 43,800 km3/year and are extremely unevenly distributed over the land area, depending on the climatic and physiographic conditions of their formation. Most of the water resources (47%) are concentrated in the Americas, followed by Asia (32), Africa (10), Europe (6) and Australia with Oceania (5%). The countries most and least provided with renewable water resources are listed in Table. one.
To assess the state of water resources in countries and regions of the world, in addition to volume, two criteria are usually used: the specific water supply of the region, calculated as the provision of water resources per capita, and the degree of use of water resources, characterized by the ratio of total water consumption to renewable water resources. Provision of water resources per capita - from 90-100 thousand m3 / (person per year) and more in countries such as Canada, Iceland, Gabon, Suriname, to less than 10 m3 / (person year) in Kuwait . Of the large countries of the world, Russia is one of the few where the indicator of specific water supply is at a fairly high level.
According to the UN, the minimum required water consumption for the needs of agriculture, industry, energy and
storage of environmental equilibrium is assumed to be 1700 m3/(person per year). With a specific water supply of 1000-1700 m3, it is customary to speak of a state of water stress, with 500-1000 m3 - a shortage of water resources, and less than 500 m3 - an absolute water shortage. Today, ~700 million people in 43 countries live under water stress. With an annual water supply averaging 1200 m3/person, the Middle East is the region experiencing the most water stress in the world. African region Sub-Saharan Africa is generally well endowed with water, but it has a higher number of water stressed countries than any other region in the world, nearly a quarter of its population now lives under water stress, and a portion of this population is steadily growing.
The temporal variability of water availability is also extremely high. Combined with underdeveloped water storage infrastructure and poor protection river basins this variability puts millions of people at risk from droughts and floods. In countries where water availability is dependent on monsoons or short periods of rainfall, national averages give a distorted picture of real water availability. Huge territories in Asia receive a significant part of
Table 1. Data on the most and least provided countries with renewable water resources
Country Volume of renewable water resources, km3/year Specific water supply, m3/person
Countries most endowed with water resources
Brazil 8233 31 795
Russia 4507 29642
Canada 2902 92662
Indonesia 2838 13381
China 2830 2245
Columbia 2132 50160
USA 2071 7153
Peru 1913 62973
India 1897 1249
Countries least endowed with water resources
Israel 1.67 245
Jordan 0.88 154
Libya 0.60 99
Mauritania 0.40 131
Cape Verde 0.30 578
Djibouti 0.30 366
Qatar 0.05 61
Malta 0.05 123
Gaza Strip 0.06 320
Bahrain 0.12 163
Kuwait 0.02 7
annual precipitation over a period of several weeks. This gives rise to the danger of short-term but intense flooding during these periods and prolonged drought during the rest of the year. The actual availability of water during the year depends not only on the amount of precipitation, but also on the water reserves in reservoirs, the volume of river runoff and replenishment of groundwater reserves.
In the middle of the twentieth century. the ratio of water consumption to renewable water resources was low (<10%) или умеренным (10-20%) в подавляющем большинстве регионов, где проживает более 75% населения Земли. Лишь в одном регионе - Северной Африке степень использования водных ресурсов превышала 40%. К концу ХХ в. ситуация кардинальным образом изменилась: в 1995 г. более 40% населения проживало в регионах с очень высокой (40-60%) и критически высокой (>60%) pressure on water resources.
The amount of water necessary for man for drinking and household purposes, insignificant in relation to the volumes required for food production. For drinking purposes, a person needs 2-4 liters of water per day, for domestic needs - 30-300 liters. A person needs 3,000 liters of water per day to grow the daily necessary food. In 2000, 65% of the world's fresh water consumption was accounted for by agriculture, 20% by industry, 10% by domestic utilities, and 5% by additional water losses due to evaporation from the surface of reservoirs. In the structure of non-returnable water consumption, the share of agriculture exceeded 84%.
IMPACT OF WATER SCARCITY ON AGRICULTURE
Over 50 years (1950-2000), water consumption by agriculture in the world increased by 1525 (64% of the total increase in water consumption), by industry - by 572, and by households - by 297 km3. Irrigated agriculture has the greatest impact on the depletion of the planet's water resources in agriculture. The question arises: how big is the trend of a further increase in the withdrawal of water resources due to the growing population of the planet and the need to provide it with food?
Currently, most of the population lives in developing countries. According to demographers, by 2030 the world population will approach 8 billion, and by 2050 it will exceed 9 billion people. In the coming decades, the population of the least developed and developing countries will grow. The depletion of water resources, the deterioration of water quality and the growth of its scarcity have little effect on population growth, but have an extremely negative impact on economic growth and welfare of countries. As a result, the possibilities of solving the problem of water scarcity are decreasing, while population growth continues.
Currently, the main users of water on the planet are developing countries, especially Asian countries (~ 70% of the annual volume of water withdrawn from water bodies) (Table 2). Current indicators for water consumption, irrigated land, population are given according to FAO, Eurostat, OECD, CIS Statistical Committee (for 80 largest countries in the world in terms of water withdrawal by agriculture) . In some cases, materials from national publications were used
Table 2. Fresh water withdrawal for agriculture and area of irrigated land in the countries of the world in 2003-2007
No. Withdrawn Including agriculture, km3 Share of water intake by rural areas Population, mln. Volume of water withdrawn Area of irrigated land, mln ha Area of irrigated land per person, ha
Freshwater farming in the ob- rural
water, km3
brine water, % per 1 person, m3
1 India 761.0 688.0 90.4 1134.0 607 55.8 0.049
2 China 581.9 360.0 61.9 1329.1 271 54.5 0.041
3 USA 482.2 186.8 38.7 301.3 620 24.7 0.082
4 Pakistan 183.5 172.4 94.0 159.6 1080 18.2 0.114
5 Iran 95.0 86.0 90.5 71.5 1203 7.65 0.107
6 Indonesia 86.0 78.5 91.3 225.6 348 4.50 0.020
7 Philippines 79.0 65.6 83.0 88.7 740 1.88 0.021
8 Mexico 78.9 60.6 76.8 105.8 573 6.32 0.060
9 Egypt 69.3 59.3 85.6 74.0 806 3.42 0.046
10 Japan 83.4 56.2 67.4 127.8 440 2.59 0.020
11 Uzbekistan 60.0 54.0 90.0 27.1 1993 4.28 0.158
12 Iraq 66.0 52.0 78.8 28.5 1825 3.52 0.124
13 Thailand 57.3 51.8 90.4 66.0 785 5.00 0.076
14 Vietnam 75.0 51.1 68.1 85.2 599 3.00 0.035
15 Sudan 37.3 36.1 96.8 37.2 970 1.86 0.050
16 Turkey 45.0 34.0 75.6 70.6 482 4.85 0.069
17 Brazil 58.5 31.9 54.5 19.0 166 2.92 0.015
18 Bangladesh 35.9 31.5 87.7 142.6 221 4.73 0.033
19 Mnyama 33.2 32.6 98.2 49.6 659 1.84 0.037
20 Italy 58.0 28.8 49.7 59.6 483 2.75 0.046
21 Spain 33.8 24.5 72.5 45.3 540 3.78 0.083
22 Turkmenistan 25.0 24.0 96.0 6.7 3582 1.74 0.260
23 Afghanistan 23.2 22.8 98.3 28.4 804 3.20 0.113
24 Argentina 29.2 21.5 73.6 39.5 544 1.55 0.039
25 Russia 74.6 21.5 28.8 142.2 151 4.60 0.032
26 Saudi Arabia 23.7 20.8 87.8 25.2 827 1.62 0.064
statistical, water management and environmental organizations some countries and cross-checked with various sources.
The main consumers of water among developing countries are India, China, Pakistan. In most countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, 75-90 (in some - up to 98)% of the volume of annually used water falls on the agricultural sector and only 10-25% - on industry and utilities. However, in many of these countries, agriculture takes up the vast majority of the water resources used. So, In India, Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Sudan, Myanmar and other countries
NOVITSKAYA NATALIA NIKOLAEVNA - 2007
Introduction
Organization rational use water is one of the most important contemporary problems protection and transformation of nature. The intensification of industry and agriculture, the growth of cities, the development of the economy as a whole are possible only if fresh water reserves are preserved and increased. The cost of maintaining and reproducing water quality ranks first among all human costs for nature protection. The total cost of fresh water is much more expensive than any other type of raw material used.
Successful transformation of nature is possible only with sufficient quantity and quality of water. Usually any project of transforming nature into to a large extent associated with some impact on water resources.
In connection with the development of the world economy, water consumption is growing at a rapid pace. It doubles every 8-10 years. At the same time, the degree of water pollution increases, i.e., their qualitative depletion occurs. The volume of water in the hydrosphere is very large, but mankind directly uses only a small part of fresh water. All this, taken together, determines the acuteness of the tasks of water protection, their paramount importance in the whole complex of problems of the use, protection and transformation of nature.
Land water resources and their distribution on the planet. Water supply of the countries of the world
Water occupies a special position among natural resources Earth. The famous Russian and Soviet geologist Academician A.P. Karpinsky said that there is no more precious fossil than water, without which life is impossible. Water is the main condition for the existence of wildlife on our planet. Man cannot live without water. Water is one of the most important factors determining the distribution of productive forces, and very often the means of production. Water resources are the main life-giving resource of the Earth; waters suitable for their use in the national world economy. The waters are divided into two large groups: land waters, ocean waters. Water resources are distributed unevenly across the territory of our planet, renewal occurs due to the global water cycle in nature, and water is also used in all sectors of the world economy. It should be noted main feature water is the use of it directly on the “site”, which leads to a shortage of water in other areas. Difficulties in transporting water to the arid regions of the planet are associated with the problem of financing projects. Overall volume water on Earth is approximately 13.5 million cubic meters, that is, one person has an average of 250-270 million cubic meters. However, 96.5% are the waters of the World Ocean and another 1% are salty underground and mountain lakes and waters. Fresh water reserves are only 2.5%. The main reserves of fresh water are contained in glaciers (Antarctic, Arctic, Greenland). These strategic objects are used insignificantly, tk. Ice transportation is expensive. About 1/3 of the land area is occupied by arid (dry) belts:
North (deserts of Asia, the Sahara Desert in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula);
Southern (deserts of Australia - Great Sandy Desert, Atacama, Kalahari).
The largest volume of river runoff occurs in Asia and South America, and the smallest in Australia.
When assessing water availability per capita, the situation is different:
· the most endowed river runoff resources are Australia and Oceania (about 80 thousand m 3 per year) and South America (34 thousand m 3);
· Asia is the least provided (4.5 thousand m 3 per year).
The world average is about 8 thousand m 3 . Countries of the world provided with river runoff resources (per capita):
· surplus: 25 thousand m 3 per year - New Zealand, Congo, Canada, Norway, Brazil, Russia.
· medium: 5-25 thousand m 3 - USA, Mexico, Argentina, Mauritania, Tanzania, Finland, Sweden.
Little: less than 5 thousand m 3 - Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China, etc.
Ways to solve the problem of water supply:
Implementation of a water supply policy (reducing water losses, reducing the water intensity of production)
attracting additional fresh water resources (desalination sea waters, construction of reservoirs, transportation of icebergs, etc.)
· construction treatment facilities(mechanical, chemical, biological).
Three groups of countries most endowed with water resources:
· more than 25 thousand m 3 per year - New Zealand, Congo. Canada, Norway, Brazil, Russia.
· 5-25 thousand m 3 per year - USA, Mexico, Argentina, Mauritania, Tanzania, Finland, Sweden.
· less than 5 thousand m 3 per year - Egypt, Poland, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, China, India, Germany.
Water functions:
drinking (for humanity as a vital source of existence);
· technological (in the world economy);
transport (river and sea transportation);
Energy (HPP, PES)
Structure of water consumption:
Reservoirs - about 5%
communal and household services - about 7%
industry - about 20%
· agriculture - 68% (almost the entire water resource is used irrevocably).
Several countries have the greatest hydropower potential: China, Russia, USA, Canada, Zaire, Brazil. The degree of use in the countries of the world is different: for example, in countries Northern Europe(Sweden, Norway, Finland) - 80 -85%; in North America(USA, Canada) - 60%); in Overseas Asia(China) - about 8-9%.
Modern large thermal power plants consume great amount water. Only one station with a capacity of 300 thousand kW consumes up to 120 m 3 /s, or more than 300 million m 3 per year. Gross water consumption for these stations in the future will increase by about 9-10 times.
Agriculture is one of the most significant water users. It is the largest water consumer in the water management system. For the cultivation of 1 ton of wheat, 1500 m 3 of water is required during the growing season, 1 ton of rice - more than 7000 m 3. The high productivity of irrigated land has stimulated a sharp increase in the area worldwide - it is now equal to 200 million hectares. Making up about 1/6 of the total area under crops, irrigated lands provide about half of agricultural production.
A special place in the use of water resources is occupied by water consumption for the needs of the population. Domestic and drinking purposes in our country account for about 10% of water consumption. At the same time, uninterrupted water supply, as well as strict adherence to scientifically based sanitary and hygienic standards, are mandatory.
The use of water for economic purposes is one of the links in the water cycle in nature. But the anthropogenic link of the cycle differs from the natural one in that in the process of evaporation, part of the water used by man returns to the desalinated atmosphere. The other part (constituent, for example, in the water supply of cities and most industrial enterprises 90%) is discharged into water bodies in the form of wastewater contaminated with industrial waste.
The World Ocean is a storehouse of mineral, biological and energy resources. The oceans are the richest part of the planet in terms of natural resources. Significant resources are:
· mineral resources(iron-manganese nodules)
energy resources (oil and natural gas)
biological resources (fish)
· sea water ( salt)
The mineral resources of the bottom of the World Ocean are divided into two groups: shelf resources ( coastal part ocean) and bed resources (deep ocean areas).
Oil and natural gas are the main types of resources (more than half of all world reserves). More than 300 deposits have been developed and their intensive use is underway. The main areas of oil production and natural gas on the shelf are 9 main marine areas:
Persian Gulf (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia)
South China Sea (China)
· Gulf of Mexico(USA, Mexico)
Caribbean Sea
North Sea (Norway)
Bering Sea (Russia)
Sea of Okhotsk (Russia)
The World Ocean is rich in reserves of such an amazing mineral as amber, which is mined on the coast Baltic Sea, there are deposits of precious and semi-precious stones: diamonds and zirconium (Africa - Namibia, South Africa; Australia). Known places for the extraction of chemical raw materials: sulfur (USA, Canada), phosphorites (USA, South Africa, North Korea, Morocco). In deep water areas (ocean bed), iron-manganese nodules are mined ( Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean).
The energy resources of the oceans are expressed in the use sea tides and ebbs. Tidal power plants are built on the coast of those countries, the “ebb and flow” mode is carried out daily. (France, Russia - White, Okhotsk, Barents Sea; USA, UK).
The biological resources of the World Ocean are diverse in species composition. These are various animals (zooplankton, zoobenthos) and plants (phytoplankton and phytobenthos). The most common are: fish resources (more than 85% of the used biomass of the ocean), algae (brown, red). More than 90% of fish is caught in the shelf zone in high (Arctic) and temperate latitudes. The most productive seas are: the Norwegian Sea, the Bering Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan. The reserves of sea water are large. Their volume is 1338 million km3. Sea water is a unique resource of our planet. Sea water is rich in chemical elements. The main ones are: sodium, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, bromine, iodine, copper. There are more than 75 of them in total. The main resource is table salt. The leading countries are: Japan and China. In addition to chemical elements and microelements, silver, gold and uranium are mined in the depths of sea waters and on the shelf. The main thing is the fact that sea water is successfully desalinated and consumed in those countries that lack fresh water. inland waters. It should be noted that not all countries of the world can afford such a luxury. Desalinated sea water is intensively used by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Cyprus, and Japan.
Water resources include all types of water, excluding water physically and chemically associated with rocks and the biosphere. They are divided into two different groups, consisting of stationary water supplies and renewable supplies involved in the water cycle and estimated balance method. For practical needs, mainly fresh water is needed.
As already mentioned, water resources are all the water reserves on the planet. But on the other hand, water is the most common and most specific compound on Earth, because only it can exist in three states (liquid, gaseous and solid).
The water resources of the Earth consist of:
Surface waters (oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, swamps) are the most valuable source of fresh water, but the thing is that these objects are distributed quite unevenly over the Earth's surface. Yes, in equatorial belt, as well as in the northern part of the temperate zone, water is in excess (25 thousand m3 per year per person). And the tropical continents, which consist of 1/3 of the land, are very acutely aware of the shortage of water reserves. Based on this situation, their agriculture develops only under the condition of artificial irrigation;
groundwater;
reservoirs created artificially by man;
Glaciers and snowfields (frozen water of the glaciers of Antarctica, the Arctic and snowy mountain peaks). It contains the largest part of fresh water. However, these reserves are practically inaccessible for use. If all the glaciers are distributed over the Earth, then this ice will cover the earth with a ball 53 cm high, and having melted it, we thereby raise the level of the World Ocean by 64 meters;
moisture contained in plants and animals;
the vapor state of the atmosphere.
Availability of water resources:
The world's water reserves on Earth are huge. However, this is predominantly salty water World Ocean. Fresh water reserves, the need of people for which is especially large, are insignificant (35029.21 thousand km3) and exhaustive. In many places on the planet, there is a shortage of it for irrigation, industrial needs, drinking and other domestic needs.
The main source of fresh water is rivers. Of all the river waters of the planet (47 thousand km3, only half can actually be used.
Fresh water consumption is constantly growing, while river flow resources remain unchanged. This poses a threat of fresh water scarcity.
The main consumer of fresh water is agriculture, in which its irretrievable consumption is high (especially for irrigation).
To solve the problem of water supply, projects of economical water consumption, construction of reservoirs, desalination of sea water, redistribution of river flow are used; iceberg transportation projects are being developed.
Countries are differently provided with water resources. About 1/3 of the land area is occupied by the arid belt, in which 850 million people live.
· Countries with insufficient provision of water resources include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Germany;
· with medium security - Mexico, USA;
· with sufficient and excess security - Canada, Russia, Congo.
One of the ways to provide the population with fresh water is the desalination of salt water. Two millennia ago, people learned how to get fresh water from salt water by distillation. The first seawater desalination plants appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, for which solar desalination plants were used, for example, in the Atacama Desert (Chile). In the second half of the 20th century, nuclear desalination plants began to be used. Most of all they are used by tropical climate countries: Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, etc. Most of the desalinated water per inhabitant is obtained in the Persian Gulf countries. In Kuwait, 100% of the water used is desalinated sea water.
