Welcome again to our series of articles about water. In this

we consider the future of fresh water on our planet.

There will be three email parts to this larger subject,

arriving in your mail box every 3rd day for just over a week.

The news is rather grim but with a real will a huge amount can

be done to conserve and heal the water that we, as humanity,

are using.

What we do know is that this substance, water, is unique in its

life supporting capacities and is absolutely central to all

living things and human culture on our planet.

We hear a lot about air pollution and global warming but water

over-use and degradation is equally concerning. It is now a

matter of being concerned about Global Thirst as well as Global

Warming.

The key headings for the future of freshwater as I understand

them are listed below. We can see  this is a huge topic so we

can only really get an overview in these introductory emails:

1.     The Increasing Human Use of Fresh Water.

2.     Uses and Abuses of Fresh Water.

3.        Climate Change and Water Distribution.

4.        Ownership of Water.

5.        Water as a New Scientific Frontier.

Let us just take a glimpse at each area, bearing in mind that

by 'fresh water' we mean non-salty water, water not in seas

and oceans. 

1/ The Increasing Human Use of Fresh Water.

Clearly, with surface fresh water only 0.1% of all water on

the planet and underground water 0.7%, we must view it as a

limited global resource, even for those fortunate enough to

have it.

We tend to think that most fresh water comes from falling rain,

rivers and lakes. But freshwater reservoirs deep underground

total seven times the earth's surface drinkable water.

Water must be viewed as an element that can run out, because

humanity is using up the underground water far faster than it

is being replaced. When it is gone our huge populations will

not be possible.

Where will this underground water go? Most will eventually run

off into the salt seas. Normal rainfall is not refilling all

these underground reservoirs at the same speed we are using

them up.

Let's do the numbers.

On, in and around our Earth there are about ten thousand

trillion liters (correct!) of FRESH water. (ie not salty)

This is about 10 billion cubic kilometres, of which only 1/8th

is visible above ground.

To put it into perspective, if all the world's water

were in a 4-liter jug, (about a gallon), accessible fresh water

would be half a teaspoon of it. And surface fresh water would

be 1/16th of that whole teaspoon!

Nevertheless, these billions of liters of water are such

a vast amount we could easily relax (if we presently do have

fresh water on tap) and ask, with so much water how can it

ever run out?

Of course fresh water from rain will never run out, but

groundwater can.  And ice can melt away into the sea and be

lost to nature as fresh potable water, except later on when it

evaporates again into the clouds and the fresh water cycle.

Today over one billion people have no easy daily access to

fresh clean water. And more than 2.4 billion people have no

proper sanitation. Hence, over 1/3rd of humanity already is

totally convinced that fresh water is very precious and scarce.

As well as these natural and organisational scarcities, fresh

water is under more demand from everyone because of population

growth, increasing standards of living amongst the developing

countries that want more products, and wasteful needs and use

in richer countries where water has been abundant.

Humanity worldwide is presently tapping into 58% of all

the accessible freshwater contained in rivers, lakes and

underground aquifers.

If per capita use of water rises at its current rate, humanity

will be accessing 90% of all available freshwater sources by

as early as 2030, leaving only 10% for wild creatures! That is

a phenomenal increase, worldwide.

However only 8% of this fresh water is drawn for people's

personal use. A global average of 70% is taken by agriculture

while industry uses 22%.

Global fresh water use is increasing very rapidly, mostly drawn

from underground aquifers.

While we are aware of the 'peak oil' concept, we also need to

consider a similar 'peak water' concept.

We need to make the phrase 'Global Thirst' as commonly used as

'Global Warming'! It is actually a more urgent problem. Remember

weather changes over time, but if you dont have water, people

die in 4 to 5 days.

To better understand this, remember the fact that most fresh

water is actually underground. To get at it we drill, as we do

for oil. And many of the deep aquifers were filled deep

underground eons ago and are not being regenerated anymore.

For instance, 95% of the USA's fresh water is actually

underground in vast aquifers, and this is presently being used

for irrigation and industry so fast it will be sucked dry

in the next 60 years unless changes are made. No water supply

spells the end for any country.

Much of the water used in Australian cities is from aquifers,

and these are quite simply not going to last for ever. And as

the climate dries up, they are not being replenished.

It is vital that fresh water use is controlled far more

intelligently and conservatively, especially by factories and

farmers who take over 90% of the water diverted for human

requirements.

Logically we should only be using what can be replaced by

nature, and what we do use, should not just be physically

cleaned but also rejuvenated.

But with 2/3rds of our vast population believing in the

illusion of limitless water supplies, we have many hard facts

to face and solve.

There must be a way through.

The next email concerning 'methods of water use' and 'effects

of climate change on water' will arrive in your mailbox in 3

days.

Thank you for your interest. Learning about water is the first

step in helping it.

best wishes

Iain Trousdell

Co-Founder and Keynote Speaker

The Healing Water Institute

www.healingwaterinstitute.org

Copyright: All information is copyright to

the Healing Water Institute.

This information cannot be used for any purpose

commercial or non commercial without prior

permission of its author.

This email however can be passed on to others

but must contain the whole message in its entirety.