1. The Big Gulp
and Water Poverty
Where does it come from, why it’s important, water scarcity
and sustainability
Javed Mohammed
A K2Vista Project
k2film@live.com

2. Imagine it is hot,
you are thirsty,
you’re lips are
parched, but you
can’t turn the tap
on.

3. Imagine having to
carry water for
hours each day for
you and your family
twice a day

4. Imagine closing your eyes
or pinching your nose as
you drink muddy water
and to avoid it’s awful
smell.

5. Imagine that as much as
you want to quench your
thirst, this water is going
to make
you sick

6. Today 1 Billion, i.e. 1 in 6 people on earth don’t have
access to clean water

7. That’s like all the population of
+ +
US South America Western
Europe
> 1 Billion

8. Oceans contain 97.5% of all
water

9. But only 2.5% of water is
drinkable

10. Clean water: It’s not much but it’s
all we have
Glaciers, Ground Lakes,
Snow & water swamps &
permafrost 0.075% rivers
1.725% 0.025%

11. Global Water Usage
80
70%
70
60
50
40
30 22%
20
10 8%
0
%
w
d
u
o
s
e
a
r
t
f
l
Agriculture
Agriculture Domestic
Domestic Industry
Industry
Water uses

12. Per capita water availability is
on decline
16
14 Africa
Thousand m3
12
10
8 World
6 Asia
4
2
MEast & NAfrica
0
1960 1990 2025

6

13. Agua, Maa, Djour, Voda, Shouei,
Paani, Woda, Mizu, Eau all mean
water

14. Water = Life
• ~2/3s of human body
is made of water and
we need 1.5
liters/day to drink
and sustain it. We in
the West use 70
liters just to flush
our toilets, the
1.1Billion are lucky to
get 5 liters per day.
(source the Big Thirst)

15. Water = Survival
• It carries our food and waste in and out
of our cells. It keeps our temperature
at the right level

16. Water = Sickness
• 90% of wastewater in developing
countries is discharged directly into
rivers and streams, where they pollute
water supply, resulting in 80% of
illnesses.

17. Water = Death
• 1.8 Million children
die from lack of
water or disease
every year. That’s
one every 15
seconds. 5,000
children a day. 5
Elementary schools
of 500 kids each a
day.(source the Big Thirst)

18. Water scarcity is a major
problem

19. Water scarcity= poverty

20. Water scarcity= climate change

21. Water scarcity= population
growth, 300% increase in 20 century but 700%
th
increase in water use

22. Water scarcity= waste Approximately 2M
tons of human waste is released annually into rivers and streams around the
globe

23. The world’s water resources are
under rapidly growing pressure
http://www.iucn.org

24. Stress on World’s River Basins
Europe
North
America
Asia
Africa
South
America Australia
Stress
High None

25. Major rivers including the
Indus, Nile, Colorado, Rio
Grande, and Yangtze struggle
to reach the sea

26. Inland Seas and Lakes are drying up
Aral Sea (Central Asia) has 60% less water than 1975
Lake Chad (West Africa) is 1/20th its 1970s size

27. By 2030, half of the world’s
people will be living in areas of
acute water shortage (UN)

28. 27% of the urban population in
the developing world does not
have piped water in its house.
Source: UNESCO

29. 1.8 Billion don’t have access to water in
their homes so they are forced to leave
home in search of water

30. Women and children in developing
countries spend many hours each day
walking miles to get water

31. Carrying heavy water containers is bad
for children’s backs, leads to
exhaustion, poor attention or
absenteeism from school

32. Without major water investments,
many poor economies cannot grow

33. Present Solutions to Water
Scarcity
• Bottled Water
• Water pumps, Tube wells
• Dams
• Lined Irrigation Canals
• Desalination Plants
• Rainwater harvesting
• Others

34. Bottled Water although
convenient and portable has many
downsides
• Bottled water is
from 500 -10,000
times more
expensive than tap
water, so large
corporations are
profiting from it.
• Quality or Safety is
not always better
especially in
developed countries

35. Bottled Water although
convenient and portable has many
downsides
• As much as 25% of
bottled water comes
from municipal (tap)
water
• It causes environmental
pollution. Although
water bottles are
recyclable, only 5% are
recycled, the rest fill
waterways, landfills etc.
• In developing countries
there are many scams
relating to bottled
water

36. Water pumps allow access to ground water

37. Tube wells
allow access to ground water. However as the water table lowers,
the pumps have to go instead of 10 feet deep, 200 or a 1000 feet
down. These are constructed by larger farmers, encouraged by
cheap electricity but drain ground water faster than it can be
recharged.

38. Dams
can provide control, year round water, flood control and
electricity. However, they are expensive, displace
communities, lead to deforestation, reduce soil quality,
also lose a lot of water to evaporation, silt up, and cause
conflicts between nations

39. Lined irrigation canals
prevent water loss through seepage, but have
negative effect the eco-system

40. Desalination plants
take sea water, distill it and provide
drinking water to dry regions, however
they cost >$ 1Billion and their water can
be more expensive that gasoline

41. Rainwater harvesting
makes use of run-off water as most
water reaches the ground through rain

42. Water Privatization
Some governments addressing issues through Water
Privatization, eg Cochabamba, Bolivia which was strongly
rejected by the people. Private companies are motivated
by profit and have no interest to conserve water nor
meet the needs of the poor

43. Water may replace Oil as next
source of conflict and war
amongst nations
• River Nile: Egypt depends on Nile for
irrigation. Ethiopia controls flow
upstream.
• River Jordan: Israel annexed lands of
Golan heights, West bank and controls
the Jordan River
• River Indus: Lifeblood of Pakistan and
breadbasket for the Punjab, but it is
sourced, dammed and controlled by India
in Kashmir
• Tigris and Euphrates rivers: Pass through
Jordan, Syria but being dammed
upstream by Turkey

44. Solutions
• There are no easy answers, no silver
bullets. For many of us in the West, we
have taken water for granted. In the
West or the East, with demand
outstripping the freshwater supply, we
have to take a new look at the Eco-
system of water and decide what is best
and moral for the future of our children
and the human race.

45. Sustainable Water Use Ideas
• Use Rainwater Harvesting
• Leveling fields with lasers
• Irrigating at night to reduce evaporation
• Using soil and satellite sensors and
computer systems to monitor soil moisture
and add water only when necessary
• Growing water-efficient crops using
drought-resistant and salt tolerant crops
varieties
• Outside party mediation of water disputes
between nations

46. Sustainable Water Use Ideas
• Prevent groundwater contamination
• Reuse treated wastewater for irrigation
• Work with nature to treat sewage
• Practice four R's of resource use (refuse,
reduce, recycle, reuse)
• Use drip irrigation
• Consumption of clean water must balance
natural recharge
• Need major water investments, so poor
economies can grow

47. References
• Blue Planet Run by Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt
www.blueplanetnetwork.org
• When the Rivers Run Dry by Fred Pearce
• The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman
All images are from public domain and
copyright of respective owners
A K2 Vista Project
k2film@live.com
Copyright 2012