understand patterns in water scarcity

Factors affecting access to safe water Poor or rich – HIC or LIC Rural or urban dweller Increasing population The absence of management of water such as pollution from industry, overuse of wells or lack of sanitation Problems with pipes - lead pollution Common water bourne diseases eg. Bilharzia is found where water contains numerous freshwater snails which may carry the parasite.

Some stats……. Choose one or two to include Poor people often pay more for clean water. Eg. Haiti where connected households pay 1 dollar per m 3 while unconnected customers forced to buy water from mobile vendors at more than 5 dollars per m3 WHO - about 4 millions deaths per year due to water related disease – cholera, hepatitis, malaria Least access to sanitation occurs in Asia (48%) due to population growth In developing countries, 70 % of industrial wastes are dumped untreated into water Every day, 2 million tons of human waste are disposed of in water courses. Increases in food production mean an increase of fertilizers (excessive nutrients pollution) and pesticides (toxin) Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of poor sanitation. That's 1.5 million preventable deaths each year.

How are the islands different? Can you order the islands in terms of water wealth?

Watch video from website (2a) and Complete Bahamas case study student sheet….

Bahamas summary Physical water scarcity Environmental factors Northern islands receive more rainfall so have more freshwater per person. (50 inches in North only 30 inches in South) Thickness of limestone Human factors Population – NP has a large population so there is less water per head (only 45 gallons per person compared to GB 1984) Tourists consume an estimated 400 to 1,000 liters of water per person per day. Residential consumption (except for Zoe) uses 150 to 200 liters per person. Economic water scarcity Physical factors Outlying rural communities have poor access to piped water – Long island most houses have rainwater collection! 80% of people use bottled water in NP – very expensive Reverse osmosis very expensive 25% of cost is in energy for process! RO 6 times more expensive than freshwater. RO plants produce brine wastes - 35,000 mg/L dissolved solids This brine is diluted with treated effluent and disposed of by spraying on golf courses and/or other open space areas. Factors affecting water quality In the urban areas, 98% of the population had access to improved water source - In rural areas only 86% Issues are salinity, pollution of freshwater lenses due to over abstraction , pollution from private septic tanks, pollution from illegal dumping, sewage dumping from cruise ships

Referring to examples, analyse the causes and consequences of water scarcity (including water access) (15) What does ‘analyze’ mean? Look in book for terms Define water scarcity – economic and physical Showcase causes for both Showcase of consequences (politicized water, etc.) Be specific – use figures, facts and pictures.