Water Pollution and Future of Water - Research Paper Example

Future of Water Introduction Even though, 2/3 are of the earth is covered by water, the human generation is now thinking deeply in terms of drinking water shortage in future. Water is one of the lavishly available resources on earth. In fact no other things are more on earth than water. Water is one of the most important components required for sustaining life on earth. The creator has given everything needed for us to survive in this world. He has given us food, water, shelter and enough natural resources to find our livelihood. But we failed to use it in judicious manner because of our greediness to make profits in all possible manners. The creator was aware of the importance of water on human life and he gave us great oceans, rivers, streams etc. Moreover he has kept a large stock of water at the underground also. But, unwise human activities and exploitation has spoiled water resources and the world is currently facing drinking water shortages. According to former UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, “access to safe water is a fundamental human need and therefore, a basic human right. Contaminated water jeopardizes both the physical and social health of all people. It is an affront to human dignity” (Water as a human right). The shortage of drinking water is big problem all over the world. Most of the drinking water resources were contaminated because of heavy industrialization and the usage of powerful chemicals and fertilizers for maximizing agricultural yields. Many people believe that another world war is on card for controlling the fresh water sources. Even the recent Iraq war also suspected as a deliberate attempt by US to exploit the fresh water resources of Iraq rather than the publicly declared objectives. Water pollution affects not only the humans, but also the plants and organisms living in water, land and air. This paper analyses the future of water. Future of Water The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that approximately 45 percent of assessed waters nationwide do not fully meet water quality standards. This means these water bodies do not meet the basic goal of the Clean Water Act – that they be safe for uses like swimming, fishing, or as a drinking water source. The EPA projects that $388 billion will be needed from 2000 to 2019 to address the nation’s clean water infrastructure problems (All Dried Up, How Clean Water is Threatened by Budget Cuts p.2). The above statistics clearly outlines the severity of the drinking water scarcity problem facing by United Sates at present. The problem with respect to drinking water shortage is not with respect to the scarcity of water, but with the scarcity of drinking water. It is a fact that none of the water resources, exhausted over the last few centuries. In fact water levels in sea and oceans are increasing because of global warming and subsequent melting of huge ice blocks from the Polar Regions. The problem is with respect to the availability of drinking water sources. Most of the fresh water resources which once fed us with immense amount of drinking water are currently contaminated because of our injudicious and visionless activities. For example, in Alabama 73% of assessed river miles, 25% of assessed lakes, and 100% of assessed estuaries and bays are designated as having impaired water quality because of agriculture, intensive animal feeding operations, municipal wastewater treatment plants, land development, construction, and industrial discharges (All Dried Up, How Clean Water is Threatened by Budget Cuts p.10). Water at the surface level and even the underwater are equally contaminated because of our own activities. Most of the industrial wastes coming out of the industrial units are going directly to the nearby streams or rivers. These streams and rivers were the fresh water resources which cater our drinking water needs since the evolution of human life on earth. Moreover, modern agricultural methods with the help of chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides are contaminating not only the land, but the water resources as well. The water flowing out of the land is going directly into the fresh water resources and contamination of water results. Along with food and oxygen, water is an essential component for sustaining life on earth. Even without food we can survive for one or two weeks. But it is difficult to manage even a day without consuming water. Water infrastructure problems As the water infrastructure outlives its useful life, it can corrode and deteriorate, and we have witnessed the results: a nationwide epidemic of burst water mains, unreliable pumps and collection equipment, and aging treatment plants that fail to remove important contaminants. Outdated drinking water treatment plants also cause serious water quality problems. For example, not only do old-fashioned treatment plants allow many contaminants to slip through, but they also add contaminants. Traditional chlorine primary disinfection can produce high levels of disinfection by-products when the chlorine reacts with naturally occurring organic matter in the water. These disinfection byproducts have been linked to cancer and, in a series of preliminary studies, to miscarriages and birth defects (Olson, p.5) “Some 54,000 community drinking water systems provide drinking water to more than 250 million Americans” (Water Infrastructure Now, p.1). One of the pathetic aspects of water management in US is the low grade of water infrastructure.Most of the equipments used to provide drinking water to the public such as pipes, water tanks, water taps etc are outdated and it is necessary to replace these equipments. But the expenditure required to replace these equipments are huge and hence the administrative bodies are keeping a blind eye towards such issues. Many of the pipes laid down at different times have already crossed their life expectancies. Federal and State governments need to spend a huge amount in the coming two three decades for the replacements the damaged equipments currently using for the water supply. As per the American water association’s calculations “expenditures of the order of $250 billion over 30 years might be required nationwide for the replacement of worn-out drinking water pipes and associated structures” (valves, fittings, etc) (American water works association, p.5). Even though the average life expectancy of cast iron pipes is around 120 years, some of the pipes used water supply in America is older than 120 years. The chemicals used to purify the water are another problem. These chemicals not only kill the germs, but it also react with the damaged metallic pipes and water tanks and creating products which are harmful to human health. When cooking food using contaminated tap water, these undesired chemicals may enter our body and severe heath problems may arise.“In a national poll, 86 percent said they support the creation of a water infrastructure trust fund. Asked which projects most deserve a trust fund, 71 percent said safe and clean water, while just 20 percent said roads and highways”(Food and Water Watch, p.7) Though trillions of dollars have been spent for the improvement, upgrading or replacement of existing water infrastructure in America, the output seems to be below the expectations. Government collects a huge amount of money from the people as water taxes, but failed to reinvest such money fully in the infrastructure development of water supply in America. Recession and huge expenditure made on war on terror like issues, forced the government to cut down its expenditure on infrastructure development. Bottled water industry Bottled water consumption at the global level reached 154 billion liters (41 billion gallons) in 2004. The United States is the leading country in total bottled water consumption and Italians drink more per person than any other country. However, the fastest growth in bottled water is coming from developing countries with consumption tripling in India and more than doubling in China over the past five years (Bottled Water, p.1) The detailed statistics of bottled water consumption in some of the major countries are given in the appendix. Bottled water industry is one of the most attractive businesses in the world at present because of the suspicions over using the tap water for drinking purpose. The shortage of purified drinking water is a big problem all over the world which forced the public to seek other options like bottled water. Even though carbonated soft drinks are still popular in America, the concerns about the health problems generated by soft drinks, forced the public to think in terms of taking bottled water more frequently. Diabetes is one of the major problems caused by soft drinks. Type 2 diabetes is believed to be one of the major villains which give way for chronic diseases like coronary problems. Americans have a habit of taking soft drinks whenever they became tired or thirsty because of the temporary energy it provides. But in the long run, these soft drinks can adversely affect the health and people started to realize it now. Thus in place of soft drinks, Americans started to use bottled water which is a good sign for the bottled water industry. Even though the authorities are repeatedly assuring the purity of the municipal water, public have still concerns about the reliability of such assurances. Growing health problems prevented the public from swallowing the declarations of the authorities as a whole. City tap water is treated in local treatment plants with the help of sand, gravel and chemicals like Chlorine. Even after the treatment, the tap water may consist of hazardous chemicals like Chlorine, Fluorine, Calcium hydroxide etc. “The current major concerns in regard to water quality are lead and disinfection byproducts. Lead is a key operational and treatment concern for municipal water treatment plants. The rising concern over chlorine byproducts is also another factor of concern”(The Future of Water Filtration). These chemicals can affect the human health drastically which forced the current generation to look for other options like bottled water. Because of the increasing popularity of the bottled water, American government has put some regulations over the production and supply of bottled water in America. Bottled water manufacturers should obtain the certificate from EPA and FDA before selling bottled water in America now. Apart from ensuring the purity of the water, the bottled water producers should mark the source of the water in the labels put on the bottles. The above certifications increased the confidence of the public in using the bottled water. Earlier, such regulations were not in place and hence people had certain concerns about the safety of using bottled water. Bottled water culture is growing everywhere because of the belief that bottled water is comparatively safer than tap water. But some of the statistics show that even bottled water also not safe enough for the drinking purpose. In a study conducted by NRDC, using 1000 bottles of water, including 103 of the most popular brands, established the presence of arsenic, trihalomethanes, bacteria, and a variety of other contaminants in some of the bottles (Olson, p.11). In short, even bottled water is not bottled under the supervision of any reliable agencies. The bottled water industry is a business, not a charity service and hence all the mal practices of business can be witnessed in this industry also. In order to make more profits, the bottled water manufacturers do not bother much about the safety of the human beings. Compared to tap water, bottled water is highly expensive and it is difficult to use bottled water for all the basic purposes like bathing, washing, toileting etc. Bottled water will never be an option for our water requirements. It can be used only for the drinking purposes. But contaminated water usages while washing, bathing and toileting may cause immense health problems. In short, bottled water cannot serve us in all our water needs. Fresh water conservation The discussion so far made in this paper pointed towards the importance of protecting our fresh water sources. We can do many things to protect our fresh water sources. Some of the major things which should be taken care in our efforts to avoid drinking water shortage in future are given below Conserve water by turning off the tap when running water is not necessary. This helps prevent water shortages and reduces the amount of contaminated water that needs treatment. Be careful about what you throw down your sink or toilet. Don’t throw paints, oils or other forms of litter down the drain. Use environmentally household products, such as washing powder, household cleaning agents and toiletries. Take great care not to overuse pesticides and fertilizers. This will prevent runoffs of the material into nearby water sources. By having more plants in your garden you are preventing fertiliser, pesticides and contaminated water from running off into nearby water sources. Don’t throw litter into rivers, lakes or oceans. Help clean up any litter you see on beaches or in rivers and lakes, make sure it is safe to collect the litter and put it in a nearby dustbin (Water Pollution Guide) Many people do not know the economic value of water. Since water is available everywhere, people have the illusion that it is renewable source. Every year the rainfall fills the water sources like river, streams and oceans and hence people have the belief that the water sources will never be exhausted. They are partly right; however, when we consider the availability of drinking water, the above assumption seems to be totally wrong since the fresh water resources are exhausting day by day even though contaminated water availability in increasing every day. In future countries with fresh water resources can generate immense revenue by selling fresh water like the oil producing countries generating revenue through the selling of oil. “Clearly the correlation between water and wealth is higher with respect to water efficiency than to water consumption. Dramatic gains in economic well-being can be had by more efficiently using available water, rather than by increasing available water” (Indias Water Future) Conclusions Unless we make serious efforts to protect our fresh water resources, we are going to face severe drinking water shortage in the future. The access to water is a human right which needs to be preserved. Spoiling of water resources for selfish and temporary advantages would cause immense damage to the scope of sustaining life on earth. Fresh water resources should be protected at any cost. Strong rules and regulations should be implemented in the waste disposals and usages of pesticides and chemicals in the agriculture sector. No alternate options can provide enough fresh water for human use, like the fresh water resources. Works Cited 1. American Water Works Association.2001. “Reinvesting in Drinking Water Infrastructure”. A Study Sponsored by The AWWA Water Industry Technical Action Fund May 2001 Web. 1 December 2010. 2. “All Dried Up. How Clean Water is Threatened by Budget Cuts.” September 22, 2004. Web. 1 December 2010. 3. “Bottled Water”. SBDCNet January 2007. Web. 1 December 2010. 4. Food and Water Watch. “Faulty Pipes: Why Public Funding—Not Privatization—is the Answer for U.S. Water Systems”. Web. 1 December 2010. 5. “Indias Water Future”. 2006. Web. 1 December 2010. 6. Olson, Erik. “WHAT’S ON TAP?”. Natural Resources Defense Council June 2003. Web. 1 December 2010. 7. “The Future of Water Filtration”. 2010. Web. 1 December 2010. 8. “Water as a Human Right.” Web. 1 December 2010. 9. “Water Infrastructure Now. Recommendations For Clean And Safe Water In The 2 1st Century”. Web. 1 December 2010. 10. “Water Pollution Guide.” Web. 1 December 2010. Appendix The countries leading in total bottled water consumption Read More