WATER SUSTAINABILITY FACTS

Water Analytics Indonesia’s most valuable resource is water. So of course the world leaders will do everything possible to keep the water flowing, right? Prepare yourself for some sobering facts: the world’s water supply is finite, what we’ve got is what we’ve got! Furthermore, according to the World Atlas, around 360,000 birth occur every day, and a greater attention towards our water supply is necessary more than ever. Freshwater scarcity is an increasing worry worldwide according to the BBC and according to the Global Water Forum, global water consumption is anticipated to rise by 55% by 2050 due to the rising demand for water supplies for food and energy production as the world’s population grows. Additionally, a NASA led study found that many freshwater sources around the world are depleting faster than they’re replenished.

WHAT IS GROUNDWATER DEPLETION

It’s (probably) what’s in your cup, groundwater! Water for drinking comes from lakes, rivers, and streams as well as groundwater, where water is tucked beneath the earth in soil, sand and porous rocks.

Groundwater depletion is a simple process when people extract water from an aquifer faster than nature can restore it through rain and other natural processes. An aquifer is a huge body of groundwater in one location and is steadily emptying and eventually runs dry. Groundwater depletion is a significant issue in the surrounding area. It will be game over if your city runs out of water! You would have to pack your belongings and relocate to a location with readily available drinking water, or the government would have to pay a hefty sum to ship water from another location.

WATER SCARCITY SOLUTIONS

To safeguard freshwater and keep saltwater at bay, there have been innovations creating a few possibilities. Desalination may be the key. We can’t drink saltwater since it is high in sodium, but what if it wasn’t the case? Large-scale systems that turn saltwater into drinking water are known as desalination plants. As good as it sounds, there are two major hurdles in the way.

Desalination is a very expensive process. The technology is still being developed and refined by scientists.
Desalination plants create significantly more brine than anticipated. The plants produce 1.5 times more brine than desalinated water, according to a 2019 study published in Science of the Total Environment. Around the world, this equates to 52 billion cubic metres of unusable brine each year!