Water Transfer in Poor Countries - Essay Example

? WATER TRANSFER IN POOR COUNTRIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank United Nations and NATIONAL GEPGRAPHIC who provided me with the data from their websites as well as UN for providing me further budget to complete my project in my desired country. I also thank my faculty and university fallows, my parents who put a blind trust on me, without their shoulders, this assignment was not possible. Regards, TABLE OF CONTENTS HEADING……………………………………………………………………………PAGE # INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………..4 SPECIFICATION…………………………………………………………………………..5 DESCRIPTION OF FINAL DESIGN……………………………………………………..6 DESIGN EVALUATION…………………………………………………………………...7 SUSTAINABILITY………………………………………………………………………….8 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………..9 FIGURE………………………………………………………………………………PAGE # Fig 1………………………………………………………………………………………….6 INTRODUCTION:- There are extensive pressures on the nations to meet the water demands accordingly because of international conflicts, economic crisis, poverty, and water availability etc. PCA states that only 0.3 percent of total water is can be used for drinking purposes (PCA, 2005).Global issues stated from the report that 1.1 billion people in developing countries having inadequate access to water (Global issues, 2010). Not only a management that is expert in the level is required but along with it there is a need to use alternatives water resources for the future water use that is affordable and even if it is not, then external funding for the transfer of the water is required. It tells us that sea water can be used in the developing countries for the different water use requirements. Although the water treatment for the sea water is not an easy task, but still it can be used as an alternative water source. Still the transferring of sea water to different parts of the developing countries could be costly, and extensive water supply engineering is required and a need to manage these water storage and transport facilities is a matter of cost and debate. National geographic society states that if water source is not within one kilometer range then per capita consumption drops to 5 liters/person (National Geographic News, 2003). The sea water hence could be used as a water resource in the developing countries, but along with this intervention, the need to recycle the sea water must also be taken into consideration. Specially for domestic purposes it could be used as a good alternatives source, but for drinking it depends on the area and geography, that either other clean drinking water resources are present in the country or not. The sea water could be used after the treatments such as distillation, electrolysis, and reverse osmosis. The countries such as Pakistan, Africa, India, Srilanka, Nepal, Srilanka, Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa are the countries that are exposed with the sea water and these nations has from little to extensive problems of water scarcity or water quality. There is a need to design the treatment plants for sea water purification, the water transport facility, water supply engineering to closely related areas, and the reservoirs for containment. Houston news states that non-profit organization brings ways to solve the problems of third world countries (Houston News, 2011). Also Life Science states that 15000 desalination plants are there in the world working and more with cheaper costs are estimated (Life science, 2011). SPECIFICATION:- These are the stated initial design specifications that are important for the project to be implemented. Rough design requirements for the sea water treatment and transport in the country are:- 1) Area for treatment. 2) Transport facility (included in the road transport or water supply scheme) 3) Reservoirs. 4) Distribution network for households. DESCRIPTION OF THE FINAL DESIGN:- The final design that is selected for the country or specific areas in a country at first depends upon the budget. Of course we are talking about poor countries so we need donors such as UNO or UNDP, it can be other donors. So the final design carries the four important areas of design mentioned in the specifications. The sea water to be treated also depends mainly on the water demand and per capita demand of the country and it varies from country to country. The transport will include the safe routes and the routes that are shorter in distances to the desired area. These areas are important because not only the consideration should be given to one area, but the poor countries need a complete project from the collection of the water up to the distribution of the sea water for further use. The treatment area treats the water; the reservoir is used for preserving water in tanks or reservoirs. Distribution networks will involve water distribution pipes and distribution systems. However there are specific places from where the sea water can be collected from the coastal regions of different countries because there are number of dead zones from where there is a fools hope to take water, and it is because of the human induced degradation, these zones are shown in the figure below:- Figure 1 DESIGN EVALUATION:- As it is already been discussed that the design of the water network is dependent from available technology and the funds available, along with the water per capita demand of the country so different designs could be used according to the conditions of the developing country and the area to be covered within the country. Another important factor that must be taken into consideration is the flexibility in the design. This is important because of the reason that every country whether it is developed or developing in phase needs sustainable development for the economic survival, and the design of the project should be according to the technology that is not only acceptable in the present but flexible enough to be implemented in the future according to the future technology and interventions. It is also very important that the selected design must involve the expert’s solutions and suggestions, and the government acceptance and also the main thing that must be taken into consideration is the community acceptability about the project. And this acceptability will only be possible if the community mobilization and community involvement is done in the entire area. The implementers should try to give the community the sense of ownership that is very important factor regarding the community acceptance. Implementing such a project is not an easy task and it requires large amount of funding and workforce, as well as there are certain conflicts in the community that needs to be addressed. Implementing this project over the entire country is also a matter of debate and it is not possible because we are dealing over here with the poor and developing countries. And rapid growth in population, urban sprawl and demand for water also increases. So in the evaluation there must be criteria for keeping the project flexible according to the future population. Also the efficiency of the project is also calculated by the process of monitoring and evaluation. SUSTAINABILITY:- Sustainable development is a very successive approach to increase in the economy of the nation. The phenomena to sustain your area regarding resources, effective technology, infrastructure, domestic needs, safe and green environment and education are in pursuit not only by developing nations but also the developed nations. It is very important to ensure the sustainability of a project, because if this issue is not considered than there is no use of investing huge economic and material resources in the project because at later stages one has to bear the loss of both these resources and hence the entire project will be in vain. So ensuring sustainability is very important in all the fields. It is a matter of long debate that the implementation of the theoretical sustainable development is possible in the real sense or not? The reason is mainly because there are certain other factors that goes side by side with the sustainable development, that if sufficient could benefit the society and of not, could be a loss. The sustainability of the project is very important matter, and at each and every stage of the project, as well as every part of the project must be design so as to be sustainable. The criterion for achieving sustainability includes the following key points:- 1) Community participation 2) Keeping in mind future constraints. 3) The design should be flexible according to the environment. 4) The design and project should be socially acceptable. 5) The project must be economical sound. 6) There must be high level of coordination between different departments because an inter-sectoral approach is required for this project to get implemented. 7) The environmental impact assessment of the project should be done. 8) Proper monitoring and evaluation is important as this will ensure the sustainability. 9) Sustainability will be achieved when the project will be flexible according to the future population. REFERENCES:- Global issues (2010) Article. 06 June, 2010. Available at: http://www.globalissues.org/article/601/water-and-development Houston news (2011) News. 11 Janauray, 2011. Available at: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/spring/news/article_a3eaa49c-7944-5232-80d6-8b8c21730bd7.html Life science (2011) Environment. Date not known. Available at: http://www.livescience.com/4510-desalination-work.html NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC (2003) News. 05 June, 2003. Available at: http://www.pca-gmbh.com/appli/desalen.htm PCA (2005) Water Desalination. Date not known. Available at: http://www.pca-gmbh.com/appli/desalen.htm Read More