Aristotle University School of English / Stockton University School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
WORLD WITHOUT WATER
MARIA TAXIARCHI, MAX EDWARDS, ILIANNA PAVLOU & JOHN DELANEY
INTRODUCTION
The early decades of the 21st century has resulted
a world transformed by a period of technological
advances, globalization and exploration of outer
space. However, mankind has been unable, or
unwilling, to solve some of its more urgent
problems, such as guaranteeing a safe and
plentiful supply of water to all its people. As we
shall see, a growing population and an increasingly
threatened resource, endanger the very nature of
life on Earth.
THREATS
•Climate changes like high temperatures,
reduce rainfalls, increase evaporation leaving
people without water when it is most needed.
Ice caps melt, sea levels rise and the
saltwater is pushed into freshwater aquifers,
making the water undrinkable and unsuitable
for irrigation.
•Water pollution referring to hazardous
chemicals being found in groundwater
sources polluting the public drinking water
systems.
RESEARCH
• The province of Thessaloniki has a total
population of around 1.1 million while the
population of the Pinelands National Reserve
is 870,000.
• EYATH is the private company in charge of
managing Thessaloniki’s water supply and
works with multiple aquifers and rivers in
order to meet the needs of the province.
• The Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer covers the
entire coastal plain of Southern New Jersey
and therefore is the major water supply for
the Pine Barrens.
• The Thessaloniki province receives 101.3
•Mismanagement caused by overusing
million gallons per day (383,500m3/day)
freshwater in agriculture or wasting it in
from its various water sources while the
households (showers, yard work etc.) is the
Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer produces 129.6
main reason why gallons of water are being
million gallons per day (490,693m3/day).
lost every day.
•Population Growth means higher
consumption of water even in countries
experiencing water-stressed conditions while
overpopulation brings industrialization and
urbanization which surely affects the quality
of the water and generally the environment.
GREECE
•Agriculture practices like grazing intensify
erosion processes which in turn raise
sediment input to sources of water and make
the process of water treatment more difficult.
REMEDIES
• Desalination is one method of helping the
amount of fresh water to be increased. This
means that the dissolved salt from the saline
waters and the groundwater is removed and
thus it enables human consumption.
• Conservation as a second method requires
using water more efficiently and not in large
amounts. As regards to domestic activities, it
involves machines of high efficiency when it
comes to washing, low-flow toilets and showers,
not using water while brushing the teeth and so
on.
• Water reuse and effective treatment
technologies. It involves recycling and reusing
the water as well as the use of zero-liquid
discharge systems, where the water is treated
constantly, used and reused without being
released or discharged in external water
systems.
• Infrastructure Maintenance could be effective
through the repairing of the leakages and the
maintenance of water channels.
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISION
Greece:
• Government imports millions of gallons of
drinking water to islands in the Aegean
• Increased tourism and agriculture have put
major stresses on the mainland aquifer
system
• Demand in Athens is expected to soon
exceed supply as it increases at 6% each
year
• The Greek financial crisis has made
solutions more difficult to achieve
USA:
• Over 40 states have at least one region that
will experience a supply problem in the next
10 years
• Rising sea levels will threaten coastal aquifer
systems that millions of Americans rely on
• The expansion of fracking increases the
demand (and quality) of state water supplies
• Most Americans take a stable water
supply for granted. It is not a political issue.
CONCLUSIONS
• A global water crisis appears inevitable
• This limited resource faces challenges from
many directions
• Efforts to improve the situation will encounter
financial realities in Greece and political resistance
in the USA
• It will require a coalition of political, business and
community leaders to bring inspired leadership
across the world to enact the necessary
remedies that we addressed
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. https://www.climatechangepost.com/greece/fresh-water-
resources/
2. http://www.businessinsider.com/americas-about-to-hit-a-water-
crisis-2015-4
3. https://www.fluencecorp.com/what-is-water-scarcity/
4. https://www.eartheclipse.com/environment/causes-effects-and-
solutions-to-water-scarcity.html
5. https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/envirobiology/chapter/7-2-
water-supply-problems-and-solutions/
6. https://www.triplepundit.com/2017/01/climate-change-impacts-
water-supply/
7. https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/where-occurs-ground-
water-and-drinking-water
8. http://www.eschooltoday.com/waste-recycling/effects-of-poor-
waste-management.html
9. https://www.livescience.com/41341-ways-we-waste-water.html
10. https://www.livestrong.com/article/119276-different-people-
waste-water/
11. http://environmental-issues.yoexpert.com/environmental-issues-
general/how-does-the-increase-in-the-human-population-grow-
1633.html
12. https://extension.usu.edu/waterquality/learnaboutsurfacewater/us
esofwater/agriculture
13. http://www.nj.gov/pinelands/infor/fact/Pinelands%20Facts.pdf
14. http://gghs2016.com/conference/about-thessaloniki/
15. http://www.state.nj.us/dep/njgs/enviroed/infocirc/kirkwood-
cohansey.pdf
16. http://www.eyath.gr/misc/EYATH_2016_ENG.pdf