Water Issues

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Water Issues

• Use this PowerPoint in conjunction with your
  exercise book to help you revise.

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You need to be able to

• Describe how you use water
• Describe the causes and impacts of water
  pollution
• Describe the issues associated with bottled water
• Explain the causes of flooding and recommend
  strategies for their management
• Define water vulnerability and describe the
  effects of water vulnerability
• Explain how water can cause conflict

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How do you use water?
The average Brit uses 150 litres of water a day!
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Water pollution

• You need to be able to describe the causes of
  pollution
• And explain the impacts

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Bottled water

• Although many people see bottled water as a
  necessity it is actually having a very damaging
  impact on the environment.
• Back to tap
• Impacts of bottled water

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Flooding

• Flooding is not just caused by heavy rain. Both
  physical and human factors can influence the
  likelihood of flooding.
• Make sure you can explain how these factors
  influence flooding.

Physical Human
Intense rainfall Deforestation
Prolonged rainfall Urban areas
Lack of tree/plant cover  
Impermeable rock  
Snow melt  
Steep sided valleys  
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Flooding

• Flooding can have both positive and negative
  impacts. To reduce the number of negative impacts
  flooding can be managed through a variety of
  techniques.
• Make sure you can explain how the different
  strategies reduce the impact of flooding.
• Hard engineering are strategies imposed on the
  natural environment in an attempt to control it.
• Soft engineering are strategies which work with
  the natural environment to reduce flooding.

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Water vulnerability

• Water vulnerability is when people do not have
  good access to safe, clean water. This can make
  them vulnerable to a range of problems associated
  with poor water access.
• Make sure you can explain how dirty water can
  affect peoples lives and how clean water can
  improve them.

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Where there is nowhere safe and clean to go to
the toilet, people are exposed to disease, lack
of privacy and indignity. When communities
defecate in the open, disease spreads fast and
water sources are polluted. Women and girls often
have to wait until dark to go to the bush or a
discreet part of town to defecate, where they are
at risk of attack and abuse. Improved
sanitation has proven impacts on health, quality
of life and poverty reduction. However, progress
in increasing sanitation coverage has been slow
for a number of reasons Lack of political will
and institutional responsibility. Improving
sanitation is difficult and requires people to
change their behaviour. The health benefits are
not immediately seen or always understood. The
poorest and most marginalised people lack a voice
and are often unable to invest in improving
sanitation.
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Water conflict

• As demand for water hits the limits of finite
  supply, potential conflicts are brewing between
  nations that share trans-boundary freshwater
  reserves. More than 50 countries on five
  continents might soon be caught up in water
  disputes unless they move quickly to establish
  agreements on how to share reservoirs, rivers,
  and underground water aquifers.

Water conflict website
Risks of water wars rise with scarcity