By 2030, it is estimated that there will be a global unfulfilled water demand, of roughly 3,000 cubic km.
What does ”Potable Water” mean?
“Potable water” means that the water is safe to drink, unfortunately is drinkable water becoming a scarce resource. Increasing use is stressing freshwater resources worldwide, and a seemingly endless list of contaminants can turn once potable water into a health hazard or simply make it aesthetically unacceptable to people.
Of the more than 2 billion people who according to WHO, lack potable water at home, 844 million don’t have even basic drinking water service, including 263 million who must travel 30 minutes to collect water. About 159 million drink untreated surface water.
Unsafe drinking water is a major cause of diarrhea, which kills about 800,000 children under the age of 5 yearly, usually in developing countries.
By 2030 it is estimated that 90 countries are expected to fail to reach the goal of universal coverage, that is almost 50% of all the countries in the world!
What Makes Water Unsuitable for Drinking?
The World Health Organization (WHO) organises potable water contamination as organic, inorganic, radiological, microbiological, and includes measures of acceptability of taste, smell, and appearance.
Organic contaminants are carbon-based chemicals, including solvents and pesticides, which are introduced through agricultural runoff or industrial discharge. They can be responsible for a range of severe health problems from cancer to endocrine function disruption.
Inorganic pollutants, such as mineral acids, inorganic salts, metals, cyanides, and sulfates, persist in the environment.
Radiological threats include radon, cesium, plutonium and uranium.
Microbiological including bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and parasites are usually introduced to water via feces and can cause a range of illnessess from mild gastroenteritis to potentially fatal diarrhea , dysentery, hepatitis, typhoid fever and cholera.
Also threatening the drinking water, are so-called “emerging contaminants” or “contaminants of emerging environmental concern,” which include pharmaceuticals introduced through sewage and runoff from livestock operations.
Treating Water for Potability
Rising scarcity of freshwater continues to push municipal and industrial sectors to treat their wastewater for reuse. Removal of suspended solids, separation of oil and water, biological treatment, removal of dissolved solids, oxidation and disinfection are the most recent and commonly used technologies in wastewater treatment. Increasing global spending on these technologies has greatly benefited the water market.
Many time-tested water treatment methods are still in use today in pre-treatment stages like sedimentation and flocculation with clarifiers is common in water treatment plants. Allowing particles in turbid water to settle.
In the past disinfectants like chlorine in the Americas and ozone in Europe played the largest role in ending epidemics of waterborne diseases such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera. Today, municipal water supplies routinely pre-chlorinate to prevent algae and biological growth, or chlorinate in the final stages of water treatment.
The Future of Potable Water
Clean water changes everything! Currently 1 in 10 people lack access to clean drinking water. Diseases from contaminated water kill more people than all forms of violence combined.
Water demand globally is projected to increase by 55% between 2000 and 2050. Much of the demand is driven by agriculture, which accounts for 70% of global freshwater use, and food production will need to grow by 69% by 2035 to feed the growing population.
Potable water is fundamental to human life, and we can expect it to be a growing issue for the foreseeable future.
References:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170412-is-the-world-running-out-of-fresh-water
