How do you control water scarcity?

Answer 1

Solutions

In order to make any improvements regarding the issue of water scarcity in our world today, more than one solution is necessary. Although water scarcity is not a substantial problem to every country currently, many countries feel the effects of water scarcity and the issue must be addressed. If this issue is not dealt with soon, it will become a problem for many other countries in the near future, some which are already beginning to feel the effects. There are several actions that would be effective in preserving and conserving water.

One possible solution is the use of desalinization technology. This system is described as filtering salty water through membranes and removing the salt through electrodialysis and reverse osmosis. This procedure has worked for about 130 nations in North Africa and the Middle East. With this system, these nations are currently producing six billion gallons of usable water a day (Arrandale, 2002). Also, the United States has a total of about 1,200 desalinating plants, most of which are in modest-sized communities. Recently, however, the desalinization process has become much more practical for metropolitan areas and reverse-osmosis systems have made significant improvements.

Despite these improvements, only 2.3% of wastewater that is generated by municipalities is currently being recycled and reused (Arrandale, 2002). If water were saved by utilizing reclaimed water for irrigation in Tuscon, Arizona alone, 31,000 families could be supported from this amount (Arrandale 2002). These innovations are also cost-effective. If Los Angeles County used reclaimed water instead of piping the water into the county, 26 million dollars would be saved in piping costs alone (Arrandale 2002). Globally implementing simple recycling and filtration systems would be a relatively easy task that would reap outstanding benefits. Making these global advancements would be a monetarily and environmentally friendly step in the right direction towards the reduction of global water scarcity.