Why Wastewater Management Is So Important?

By Jonny Blair


Being among the most important resources in the world, fresh water is essential for every living creature including people. The biggest problem is that only 3 percents of the water is fresh and not all of this fresh water is usable, as one part of it is locked in the glaciers and ice caps and the other part is located in remote areas where people cannot use it. Actually, this means that we can use only 0.08 percent of the water to meet our daily needs. Can you imagine the mankind to use just 0.08 percent for drinking, manufacturing, environment, leisure, sanitation, etc?

A recent study conducted in 2007 revealed that over 1.2 billion people around the world suffer from the water scarcity, and they do not have access to water enough to meet their daily needs. Another 1.6 billion of people suffer economically from the water scarcity, i.e. their local authorities cannot satisfy the rising water demand in these areas due to the insufficient investments or lack of human capacity.

Since half part of the world population is concentrated in the cities and urban centers, the natural water sources located around the cities are polluted by industrial and urban wastewater. The cities should develop systems for treating the wastewater; otherwise, there could be a risk for people's health related to the use of wastewater, containing different pollutants, such as heavy metals, pathogens, etc.

People should learn how to properly manage and optimize the fresh water that is why their efforts should be directed at this important initiative. They should collect the harvested rainwater that falls during the wet seasons in large barrels and use it efficiently for agricultural purposes during the periods with no rain. In addition, they should learn how to utilize the groundwater as well, drilling deep wells and using this fresh water for drinking and agriculture. The importance of lakes is also undeniable, as they can provide a lot of collected water to the nearby residents. All these natural water sources should be managed wisely to overcome the water crisis.

The major consumer that uses up to 70 percent of freshwater resources is agriculture. The increasing world population requires more food. As a result the industrial and urban centers expand more and more, so the scarcity of water becomes a major issue in many regions around the world.

There are six major steps that should be done to resolve the water problems globally, but every individual should take part in these simple strategies and contribute to improve the situation.

All the data related to the existing water resources should be improved. Our attitude toward our environment should be changed, so all of us know how to protect it from further pollution. Water governance should be reformed to bring results and we need to learn how to use agricultural water efficiently. The growing demand for water in industrial and urban centers should be managed and an access to fresh water should be given to the regions with poor people.

These steps should be taken globally to avoid water crisis that would be devastating for our world. All industries and urban centers need to learn how to use water efficiently, so that people can increase the water for agricultural purposes to meet the increasing demand for more and more food.




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