Saturday, April 26, 2014

Why Water from Indigenous Sources?

In the very beginning, people lived next to water sources and when the water source could not sustain the number of humans, either the humans moved or something happened to the weak and the old that brought their numbers down.
Migration out of Africa
Human Migration from Africa
Source: phys.org
While no historical record exists of human migration out of Africa, scientists have tracked human migration by studying mtDNA and mutations of mtDNA.
It is thought likely that when water and food shortages occurred, humans learned from animal migrations and may have literally followed heard movements in search of water and food.
As the accompanying map shows, eventually, human migration populated all of the continents, except the inhospitable polar regions.
Migration Today
Growth in City Population
Source - newgeography.com
Each week about a million people move from the country into a city. Today about 50% of human population lives in cities.
By 2050, nearly 70% of the then human population will reside in cities. This will put enormous pressure on the services and supplies infrastructure of every city.
Water Supply to cities
Aqueduct
Source - pbs.org
Water Piping
Source - dreamstim.com
Pipelines, canals, aqueducts are all ways we have perfected to bring water from far distances to a city. But as cities grow, every one of these water transportation choices will need expansion or replacement with cost, time and environmental impact considerations.
This is where the idea of a water refinery comes in
Water Refineries for Cities
Air currents move air (and the water contained in the air) to every place on Earth. Various forms of precipitation (like rain, snow, dew etc) then extract the water from the air and deposit it on land. Nature's invention is known as the Water Cycle.
The man-made facility that extracts moisture from air is a water refinery. With such a refinery available, there will be less dependence on the historical infrastructure that includes pipelines, aqueducts, canals, to name a few. This indigenous water supply, from a virtually limitless source, is the most likely way for cities to meet the water needs of its inhabitants.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

How Much Water is Enough Water?

Water for Cooking
Source - ecowatercalgary.ca
We need water for many reasons:
Water for Drinking
Source - the guardian.com
Bathing and Sanitation
Source - depositphotos.com
How much for drinking? How long must a showers be? How much is needed to cook meals? 
Water for Food
Source - houselogic.com
How much for growing things? 
Minimum Amount
The consensus amount is 20 liters (5 gallons) of safe drinking water per person per day. This amount is the minimum felt necessary but does not meet the criteria of being sufficient.
Over 850 million people around the world, mostly in 27 developing countries, do not get even this much safe water. Their average is about 5 liters per person per day.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

How Much Does Water Cost Around the World?

Water prices differ in cities all over the world:

Legend
Yellow    Water + Wastewater Fixed Cost
Maroon   Water Variable Cost
Orange    Wastewater Variable Cost
Green      Sales Tax
Water Prices Around the World
Source - globalwaterintel.com
Water Prices in selected developed countries:


CountryDollars per M3
Germany$1.91
Denmark$1.64
Belgium$1.54
Netherlands$1.25
France$1.23
UK and Northern Ireland$1.18
Italy$0.76
Finland$0.69
Ireland$0.63
Sweden$0.58
Spain$0.57
USA$0.51
Australia$0.50
South Africa$0.47
Canada$0.40
Source - everylittledrop.com

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Country Water Footprint

Source: http://everylittledrop.com.au/our-global-water-footprint
The water footprint of a nation refers to the total amount of water that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of the nation. The total water footprint of a country includes two components: the part of the footprint that falls inside the country (internal water footprint) and the part of the footprint that presses on other countries in the world (external water footprint).
The following table compares the national water footprints of various countries:
Country
Average water footprint
m3 / capita / year
Part of footprint falling outside 
of the country
USA248319%
Greece238935%
Spain232536%
France187537%
Australia139318%
Brazil13818%
UK124570%
GLOBAL AVERAGE1243-
Japan115364%
India9802%
South Africa93122%
Bangladesh8963%
Haiti8481%
China7027%
Ethiopia6751%