English Individual Project 2nd Semester 1

THE PROBLEMS OF WATER FROM AN

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC

PERSPECTIVE
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The problems of water from an environmental, social and economic perspective

Iro Karanika

Table of Contents

Abstract..........................................................................................................................3

Introduction....................................................................................................................4

An Environmental Perspective...................................................................................4

A Social Perspective...................................................................................................... 5

An Economic Perspective..............................................................................................6

Conclusion......................................................................................................................7

Bibliography...................................................................................................................8
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Abstract

Water scarcity and quality have prevailed over the years since the consumption of

these resources keeps augmenting. Numerous measures have been implemented for this

purpose. However, observing it from an environmental aspect showcases that people’s

objective to act is genuine and voluntary. That is to mention that an economic perspective has

the exact opposite effect. As long as costs and sources are not altered economists will not

take part in maintaining water sustainability. The social side of this is somewhere in between

those two views. To elaborate, although there is an intended aim to reduce people’s carbon

footprint, severe misfortunes have subconsciously led to this ‘’volunteering’’. Despite these

alterations, researchers have proved that taken from any perspective there are impacts and

invariably efficient measures for their approach. Hence, when willingness and necessity

occur there are always strategies for managing consequences.

Introduction
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A resource such as water is a vital product that has multiple uses. It is a manufactured

good that people are unable of living without it. Yet, its protection and sustainability are by

far deteriorating. On account of exploiting every habitation that is consisted of water; that is

soil, seas and wind, water has become finite. This has had an immense impact on lakes,

biodiversity and climate. From a social point of view, death, poverty and landscape

destruction have prevailed significantly. The economy, however, deals with price alterations

and models assessing what the urgent need is.

Strategies to decrease water inadequacy and water quality have been applied. They

consist of long and short-term actions. Long-term implementations are the ones that will be

reviewed in the future. Such measures are public awareness and school education. As far as

short-term strategies are concerned, they are methods that have an immediate effect; that is

the pricing of water and the saving of wastewater.

Maintaining water abundance is of paramount importance because nature has

provided people with a supply that is necessary for their survival. Additionally, humans are

the ones to blame for the deterioration of the ecosystem. Therefore, it is radical that they

recover and secure their balance at any cost, whatsoever.

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An Environmental Perspective

The environment is an integral part of the planet’s stability. However, for more than a

decade the world is losing its balance due to the overconsumption of natural resources. This

exploitation is the result of water scarcity and deterioration of water quality that have severe

impacts on the bionetwork.

Losing biodiversity is an immense impact that alters wildlife dramatically. More

specifically, water scarcity has caused animals to become extinct since there is no available

water. Research showcased that when drought took place in Africa in 2007 more than 60

elephants died. The death of many endangered species such as the white rhinoceros was in

great danger since they are on the verge of extinction.

Furthermore, water problems cause severe habitat destruction. To expand, many

lakes, rivers and seas have reduced their size. For example, the Aral Sea in central Asia was

rated as the world’s fourth prevalent freshwater lake. Be that as it may, three decades later its

size has reduced radically and it is as salted as an ocean. Consequently, this is an indication

of indemnities of the natural habitat owing to excessive mistreatment of water use.

This aftermath, however, does not only provide problems but solutions as well.

Numerous implementations have occurred to minimise these impacts. To elaborate, recycling

wastewater has been proven to be efficient with energy consumption. An organisation named

‘’Veolia’’ has made an immense impact on the environment’s welfare. It has applied the

reuse of sewerage. The wastewater that is gathered from factories, homes and rainfall is

utilized to produce clean water. Their findings indicated that they have increased watering

green spaces by 68% and have recovered over 50% of processed wastewater. Subquesently,

this methodology diminishes water waste and develops water eminence significantly.

Urban reforestation is another efficient way of dealing with water insufficiency. More

specifically, it is a technique of trees being planted in rural cities. It has been proven to halt

precipitation, augment the possibility of dematerialization and regain rainfall in their

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biomass. This results in enhancing the maintenance of water internally. Additionally,

increasing the number of trees sustain soil and tree panels via their root structures. These

intercept with surface deterioration. Their use of shade curtails the water temperatures of

groundwater. Consequently, planting trees has a massive effect on enhancing water quality

and inadequacy.

A Social Perspective

The relationship between society and the environment is intimate. They are

comparable sums, meaning that when an alteration occurs in the ecosystem society is equally

affected. That is to say that the social perspective of water impediments is of vital

importance. Numerous devastating catastrophes have occurred due to water scarcity and

quality. According to UNICEF and WHO (2010), approximately 900 million individuals

have unavailable sources of clean water. Undoubtedly, this is an indication of the severe

effects of water inadequacy. Water is an essential element that is now finite and scarce. On

this account, alarming diseases and deaths are extremely frequent.

In addition to this, floods are the outcome of prevailing water scarcity. These natural

adversities have cost numerous lives. More specifically, this phenomenon is quite recurrent in

Mexico where there is an overflow almost every five years. Nevertheless, the deluge

occurring in January 2002 was even more tremendous than the previous ones. It lasted for

days with houses being immersed, thirty deceased people and others that had no facility. All

the same, there was a more immense tidal wave that took place in February 2007. Eighty

people died from either drowning or execution by electricity. Additionally, 430.000 dwellers

were compelled to be homeless. This brought about many residents migrating to other areas

since their homes were destroyed. Along with this turnout, health problems occurred. To

expand, the water of the flood triggered acute respiratory infections, dengue fever and other

diseases. This brought about a setback to recovery owing to their worsening physical and

mental health.
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Likewise, a lot of developing countries have similar, if not worse, problems. Having

mentioned that, countries such as Africa, Mexico and Nigeria deal with immense poverty.

That is to say, that lack of essential imports prevails. What is meant by this is that water,

sanitation and even facility is scarce. These deprivations occur on account of water

inadequacy and quality, as well as severe temperatures and natural catastrophes. Hence,

social impacts have severe consequences on people’s lives.

Owing to those reverberations of water insufficiency immediate measures are

implemented to prevent devastating outcomes and preserve the ecosystem suitably.

Proper environmental actions require proper training. Henceforward, public

consciousness and education must take on that role. Concerning this, research was conducted

to assess the effectiveness of primary environmental education. They first had an educational

seminar with students of mostly primary school. Then they were instructed to explain what

they learned to their parents. They found that there was mutual communication between them

as they explored a different realm of knowledge that. The child was able to raise several

questions about this topic and become more aware of what is happening in the world. As a

result, this showcases the effectiveness of early education about the environment and the

possibility of reducing every individual’s carbon footprint in the future.

Likewise, many institutes are aiming to decrease poverty and water scarcity impacts.

For example, World Wild Life is an organisation (WWF) that supports water maintenance

and generates methods to reduce the outcomes of water shortages. They take part in actions

regarding water management and cooperate with other major companies whose work is

tremendous. WWF themselves have accomplished an augment in the sites of many wetlands

that are threatened from drainage, development and pollution. Project WET is an

establishment that enhances water education universally and provides practical ways of

reducing its effects. Project Wet states that it works with eighty countries annually. Their

objective is to promote knowledge regarding the value of water and how it can be sustainable.

Their contribution to the planet is enormous.

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An Economic Perspective

The economy participates in water management only when its cost is affected. In the

case of water unsustainability, it is indeed mostly altered. Water from an economic

perspective is an essential good that is extracted from any possible source. Its overuse,

however, brought about the urge to reduce its economic and financial impacts.

It is a very communal but effective policy to price water so as to reduce the impacts of

water inadequacy. To expand, Dina and Mody et al (2004) state that pricing water has two

main objectives. The former is that by augmenting the cost of this product the economists

retrieve their financing and sustain the price of water structure. The latter is to assess exactly

what the need for water is and how much it should be priced. CGE models have been utilized

to examine how water strategies have affected the reduction of poverty and equity. Letsoalo

et. Al (2005) inspected a three-portion hypothesis. They resulted in the enhancement of

economic development and minimisation of penury and water shortage. Similar research was

conducted to investigate the reverberation of tax policies. Their findings were that although

the effects were not as significant as expected, a systematic allotment was accomplished.

Consequently, the process of pricing water is a method that can be used to preserve both

economy and the environment effectively.

Furthermore, aquifers are considered by far one of the more efficient strategies

concerning the drought. More thoroughly, the groundwater is placed into an aquifer that

provides wells and springs with water. It is mainly used in dry periods since it maintains the

aquatic ecosystem. Hence, this methodology is efficient in dealing with water quality and

deficiency, as well as space and time. Hence, although the economy has applied efficient

measures, it is involved intimately only when there is a need to do so.

Conclusion

In conclusion, although problems of water still prevail, there are operative measures

to ensure their enhancement. The environmental, social and economic aspects have different
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roles in their preserving the ecosystem. Yet, they all have one trait in common; their objective

is to improve water’s sustainability. This unity of collective aim enables structures for

prevention and management to excel since cooperation significantly augments the total

impact.
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Bibliography

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Century*

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Hoffman, and R. Pettit, Environmental Consulting & Technology Inc. Report, 45 pp,

May 2016.

 David U. (2000) The psycho-spatial dimension of global environmental problems

 Carmen N., Sergey S., Marcel P. and Susana P. (2008) Composite membranes with

cross-linked matrimid selective layer for gas separation.

 L. Ortiz Rosano, Vivianne Solis-Weiss, Miguel Angel Garcia Salgado and Alejandro

Granados-Barba (2005). Environmental evaluation and development problems of the

Mexican Coastal Zone.

 Edda K., Olaf K., Elizabeth K. and Thomas K. (2012). Integrated Water

Resources Management under different hydrological, climatic and socio-

economic conditions.

 Frank A. Warda, Ari Michelsen (2002) The economic value of water in agriculture:

concepts and policy applications.

 Maria Berrittellaa, Arjen Y. Hoekstrab , Katrin Rehdanzc , Roberto Rosonde, Richard

S.J. Tol (2007). The economic impact of restricted water supply: A computable

general equilibrium analysis.

 Water Directors of European Union (2006). Water Scarcity Management in the

Context of WFD.
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 Yasir Mohieldeen (1999) RESPONSES TO WATER SCARCITY: SOCIAL

ADAPTIVE CAPACITY AND THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL

INFORMATION.

 Anita K., Devideen Yadav, Kala S. and Ittyamkandath R. (2020) Soil and Water

Conservation Measures for Agricultural Sustainability.

 Water Science School (2019). Aquifers and Groundwater

 Petruzzello, Melissa. "water scarcity". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Feb. 2021.

 https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/water-scarcity

 https://www.awf.org/blog/water-scarcity-threatens-africas-people-

wildlife-and-wild-lands

 https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/adapting-to-climate-change

 https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-

water-scarcity.php

 https://www.waterlogicaustralia.com.au/resources/blog/how-people-are-

resolving-to-reduce-water-scarcity/

 https://www.veolia.com/en/solution/wastewater-reuse-recycling-water-

stress

 https://www.seametrics.com/blog/water-organization-issues/
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