What could happen if one day the world population finds out that there is no enough water to sustain life? On the other hand, how pleased would the world population be if the water is clean and enough to support numerous generations to come? These are some of the scenarios that one should visualize when talking about the importance of the resource concerning survival; implying that every person should aim at ensuring that every drop is utilized in the best manner possible.
From a strategic point of view, there is the need to think about water sources and usage since it is one of the essential resources that pose challenges in the modern world and the future. As a result of climate change, there could be cloudbursts that lead to heavy downpours, resulting in overflowing sewers. At the same time in other world regions, persons could be struggling to live due to health problems and drought that are caused by water scarcity. By 2050, it is anticipated that the world’s population will be staggering at about 9 billion people, an increase of 2 billion persons from the current 7 billion people. The significant population upsurge would imply that water requirements will have increased by more than 50% if the current water consumption trends are kept constant (Trenberth and Asrar 2014). Concerning the current 4.5 tetraliters of water that are consumed by the world’s population on an annual basis, about ten percent is consumed domestically, seventy percent goes to food production, and twenty percent goes to support industrial operations. Although the annual figure is less than five percent of the water that is obtained through precipitation, it is worrying since more than forty-one percent of the world’s population lives in regions face frequent water shortages (Bogard et al. 2012).
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In the 21st century, the current generation should focus on setting up systems that will positively impact the availability and use of water that would sustain lives of the generations. Arguably, water affects almost all aspects of human life since it influences food production and generation of energy for domestic and industrial uses. In addition to climate change, urbanization trends are impacting the water for human consumption and industrial uses. It is a worrying trend since groundwater is diminishing as well as water quality is becoming worse as a result of chemical alterations that are caused by human activities (Bogard et al. 2012).
To make every drop count, the water management at Bahamas Water and Sewerage Corporation needs to focus on the water cycle that is not manmade; the special focus should be on soil and water on the ground. The focus would help to supply clean water for human consumption in cities and rural areas. However, regarding urban areas, water management should aim at separating water supplies that are meant for drinking water and industrial uses. Notably, to make every drop of water contribute substantially to human existence, alternative methods could be applied to generate energy since many regions rely on the hydro techniques. Some of the options could depend on the utilization of solar and wind forms of energy that are renewable and sustainable now and in the future. Technology could also significantly contribute to efficient water usage. For example, water supply networks could be automated so that when there are bursts or blockages, signals are sent to technicians on duty, implying that the problems would be rectified almost immediately and reduce the amount of water that could be wasted (Grey, Garrick, Blackmore, Kelman, Muller and Sadoff 2013).
In conclusion, organizations, including Bahamas Water and Sewerage Corporation, and local communities should work together to achieve better water systems to sustain life. The approach to supplying and using water will ensure that every drop is important for human consumption and industrial uses. The current world population should prepare better systems for the next generations.
- Bogardi, J.J., Dudgeon, D., Lawford, R., Flinkerbusch, E., Meyn, A., Pahl-Wostl, C., Vielhauer, K. and Vörösmarty, C., 2012. Water security for a planet under pressure: interconnected challenges of a changing world call for sustainable solutions. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 4(1), pp.35-43.
- Grey, D., Garrick, D., Blackmore, D., Kelman, J., Muller, M. and Sadoff, C., 2013. Water security in one blue planet: twenty-first century policy challenges for science. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 371(2002), pp.2012-2026.
- Trenberth, K.E. and Asrar, G.R., 2014. Challenges and opportunities in water cycle research: WCRP contributions. Surveys in Geophysics, 35(3), pp.515-532.
