2007-9-10

Water resource issues include water resource shortage and water pollution. Water resource shortage means the trend that water is becoming less supply than demand due to great increase of human water consumption. Water pollution means that a large volume of waste or polluted water is discharged to surface drainage system without any treatment causing bad water quality.

Status in quo: The total volume of land fresh water resource accounts for 2.53% of the earth¡¯s total water, while the total fresh water available to human being only accounts for 0.3% of the total fresh water reserve; moreover, its distribution is extremely uneven. (Picture 1: World Water Resource Distribution)

Picture 1

Reasons: Natural causes: Water resource distribution is uneven; uneven precipitation results in extreme shortage of water in some places. (Picture 3-Drying-up in the Yellow River)

Human reasons: Pollution to water resource causes 'water shortage due to poor water quality'; over deforestation and development as well as domestic water waste are the reasons causing shortage of water resource.(Picture 4-Water Pollution by Paper Factory)

Picture 3

Picture 4

Related terms

Water resource-According to water reserve in the earth and its distribution, fresh water resource available to human being is about 1017m3, representing a minor part of the earth's total water; in addition, such very limited water is hard to be re-distributed. Since human being has an increasing demand of water while the supply from the nature is limited, water resource supply far less than the demand is gradually becoming one of outstanding environmental problems globally.

Water body -A collective term referring to rivers, lakes, marshes, reservoirs, underground water and ocean; in environmentology, water body refers to the complete water eco-system or complete integrated natural object containing water suspended matters, dissolved matters, bed mud and aquatic organisms.

Water shortage due to poor water quality-With economic, technological and urbanization development, waste water discharged to the environment is increasing, and more and more waste or polluted water is discharged to the surface drainage system without any treatment, such that it causes the water quality worsening; water shortage caused by pollution to water origin is called water shortage due to water poor quality.

Major pollutants in water body-Oxygendemangding pollutants, plant nutrients, heavy metals, pesticides, phenolic compounds, cyanides, radioactive substances, pathogenic microbes and carcinogens.

Impacts:Water resource shortage is becoming serious in many places worldwide causing great adverse impacts to human life:

Many places world wide have no clean drinking fresh-water, and unsafe water source influence human health;

Fresh water is in shortage and drought gives no chance for agriculture crops such that famine frequently happens;

Economic development is confined seriously and eco-system is damaged;

Wars for water sources are likely taken place in areas where water resources are extremely in shortage in the Middle East and Africa.

Other pictures (see Picture 5-10)

Picture -'Water'

Picture 6-An obvious decrease of water resource in North China

Picture 7-Shortage of drinking water

Picture 8-Water resource shortage becomes common crisis of human being

Picture 9-River pollution cause death of fish

Picture 10-Sea bird suffered from oil stain is lying on the beach

Picture 5.Picture 6

Picture 7.Picture 8

Picture 9.Picture 10

Countermeasures:

Educate the people to cherish water, save water, minimize wasting water and maximize water utilization;

Carry out rational development of water resource to avoid any damages to water resource;

Improve sewer system construction, carry out preventive measures against water resource pollution, and increase or expand urban waste water treatment plants;

Adjust water source flow and increase reliable water supply.