Over the course of this year much drought has spread across the globe minimising yields in food production and inflating prices for an already stretched global economy. With the world population estimated to increase by 2 Billion to 9 Billion over the next 40 years demand for water is expected to rise by more than 50% to accommodate for agricultural requirements. According to a recent UN and OECD study an estimated two in five people will be living in areas under ‘water stress’ by 2050. With 97% of the world’s water found in the oceans being undrinkable, companies are looking towards new and innovative methods such as desalination to counteract the depleting water stocks.
Sea water compounds are made up of approximately 55.3% chlorine, 30.8% of sodium (chlorine and sodium combined make common salt), 3.7% magnesium, 2.6% sulphur, 1.2% calcium, 1.1% of potassium and a variety of other minerals. On average the salinity of seawater is 35 parts salt to a thousandth water – equivalent to a tablespoon in a glass of water. Sodium rich water is healthy in small amounts as it helps to maintain fluid balances, transmit nerve impulses and control your muscles. However excessive salt, like that found in sea water, absorbs the bodies water content which leads to dehydration (one of many detrimental side effects). This is the reason the ocean water is undrinkable. There is however a technique called desalination which removes the salt and other negative minerals from seawater to produce freshwater.
There are a few desalination techniques but the most popular, accounting for 85% of all desalinated water in the world, is a method known as Multi-Stage flash distillation. The desalination plant has a set of containers known as ‘stages’ which each contain a heat exchanger and a condensation collector. The stages are filled up with steam before allowing the seawater to pass through the containers. The sea water then passes through an array of different stages which each boil around 15% of the water flowing through their respective container. The potable water is then removed followed by the waste and steam. Unsurprisingly this is very labour intensive and cost heavy process to carry out. As a result of the costly nature many governments and companies are looking to cheaper alternatives.
With Lake Baikal containing 20% of the world’s fresh surface water Russia is adequately positioned to exploit its position as the holder of one of the world’s largest fresh water reserves. This was addressed by the Russian government in December 2010 when they approved the 7 year Pure Water Target Programme. Through the increase in quality and supply of water experts believe, that if executed correctly, local life expectancy will increase by five to seven years. This barely scratches the surface as to how important water is towards survival. It is not only fresh water reserves that are being tapped into. Countries such as Canada are resorting to iceberg towage to cater for the increase in future water demand (watch French company Dassault Systemes documentary on Iceberg towing - https://www.3ds.com/icedream/documentary/). Whereas the Chinese government are working on weather modification techniques (read: andrewharrisonchinn.webnode.com/news/weather-to-manipulate-the-outcome-/ for more details).
Global demand for fresh water is growing steadily. Not only is the global population increasing but so is the way in which we use water. The WWF published a report in 2008 which formulates the concept of a ‘water footprint’. According to the report, in the UK, each individual uses an average of 150 litres of water on a daily basis through washing, cooking, drinking etc. However 30 times this amount is used daily in what the WWF term ‘virtual water’. This is water used in the production of imported food, drink and textiles that we consume. That means that the average UK resident uses 4645 litres of water every day in comparison to developing countries who use a quarter of this. Taking the real and virtual resources into account, only 38% of water is sourced from the UK whereas the remaining 62% is acquired from the countries that supply food and consumer products. The irony is that many of these poorer countries suffer from water shortages themselves.
Many critics believe that the energy sector is the largest consumer of water among the industrial sectors. As a result there is a lot of focus on what is known as the water-energy nexus - the relationship between how much water is evaporated to generate and transmit energy, and how much energy it takes to collect, clean, move, store, and dispose of water. An example of the water-energy nexus in action would be through the oil/gas extraction method known as hydrofracking. A pipe is drilled into the ground and a solution of pressurised water and other fluids are shot down the pipe in an attempt to fracture the rock surface releasing the oil or gas. Opponents believe that this method has health implications due to potential contamination of ground water. Criticism aside it is important to understand the synergy between both energy and water, especially when addressing any potential problems – they are linked.
In current relative terms water is much cheaper than oil or gas. As a result barriers to trade would be too high as large scale transportation of water would be cost ineffective. There is a wider demand for water than oil though but water is on tap and easily accessible in the west. According to the UN's World Water Assessment Program forecast, half of the world’s population will face a fresh water deficit by 2030. Oil may be engrained within our day to day lives from cleaning products to heating to driving however when fresh water reserves are close to extinction the importance of water to survive will render any demand for oil insignificant.
There are however many solutions to tackling the dooms day predictions of water depletion. Firstly increase storage capacity by building reservoirs. Link these reservoirs through pipelines from water rich areas to those more drought prone (from Southern to Northern China for example or Scotland to England). Secondly invest in Desalination. In 2010 Thames water opened their first large-scale desalination plant in London. Constructed as a safeguard against water shortages, this £270m facility can supply 400,000 homes or 1m people with water. Lastly companies in Australia and Chile have shown that it is possible to treat and recycle 90 to 100% of its urban waste water.
Due to the vast abundance and easy access to water it may be hard to consider at this current time water out valuing oil. That aside it is clear that there is scope for positive growth in water infrastructure investments over the coming years - used to safeguard against future water depletion. Analysts from Pictet-Water fund expect the water sector to build on its current 6% growth and remain strong for many years to come. Oil may have a profound influence on our daily lives however the survival essentials of water far outweigh the luxuries of oil. It will be interesting to see how the doomsday statistics play out and whether the world reacts in time. Maybe not tomorrow, but 30 years from now the significance of water might far outweigh that of oil.
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