Most people take water for granted, especially those of us in the Great Lakes Region. In Ohio, we have easy access to water for industry and energy uses and clean, quality drinking water.
However, only 3 percent of all of the world’s water supply is fresh and potentially drinkable (potable). More than 1 billion people worldwide do not have access to sustainable water supply. Simply put, our freshwater resources are limited and need to be protected in terms of quality and quantity. Worldwide modernization has driven decertification, contamination and poor conservancies, which threaten the water supplies.
Scarcity grows
With the Earth’s population potentially increasing to more than 9 billion by 2050, water scarcity is only getting worse. The World Policy Journal recently excerpted three countries facing serious water problems such as water management and scarcity. The percentage of population with access to drinkable water in various countries presents a significant risk of a worldwide emergency.
- Yemen
Sanitation and drinking water access rank: 157 of 178*
Percentage of population with potable water: 55 percent
- Mauritania
Sanitation and drinking water access rank: 171 of 178*
Percentage of population with potable water: 50 percent
- Niger
Sanitation and drinking water access rank: 142 of 178*
Percentage of population with potable water: 42 percent
Countries such as Yemen have political instability and a notorious water scarcity problem. Yemen also utilizes a significant percentage of available water for farming khat (a narcotic cash crop), leaving only half of the people in Yemen with access to drinking water. Mauritania is in a water dispute with Senegal and Niger and has inaccessible groundwater and a significant population boom.
Water wars
The water dilemma in coming years poses a significant challenge to world growth and modernization. There are already water “wars” going on across the globe.
The state of California offers one example. Northern California’s water reserves are at a record low. The demands of California’s agricultural economy, the significant population of Southern California, coupled with an extended drought throughout the southwestern U.S. has placed the state in a water emergency.
Many countries are fast-tracking advanced water management techniques and technologies. Saudi Arabia and China produce large quantities of desalinated water while Singapore is pioneering converting rainwater for human consumption.
While these solutions are valuable, many countries have weak economic states that make high cost solutions difficult and possibly unattainable.
Water should be a priority, and one of the main objectives of the World Water Council is to increase awareness of the water issue and provide people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
Recycling and decontamination, desalination and advance management techniques require more attention and funding and correcting measures can still be taken to avoid a crisis and restore the inequality between water use and water resources.
*178 nations ranked in the Environmental Performance Index
Matthew P. Figgie is chairman of Clark-Reliance, a global, multi-divisional manufacturing company with sales in more than 80 companies, serving the power generation petroleum, refining and chemical processing industries.
Matthew is also chairman of Figgie Capital and the Figgie Foundation. Rick Solon is president and CEO of Clark-Reliance
Rick has more than 35 years of experience in manufacturing and operating companies. Visit www.clarkreliance.com or www.facebook.com/ClarkReliance
