Water

The world has enough water to go around

In some countries, bottled water is often more expensive than milk or petrol.

Water scarcity is more a matter of poor water management than a shortage of water, say experts.

The outlook for the world’s water supply is not good: many places already face shortages, and a recent McKinsey report has concluded that by 2030, only 60 per cent of water needs will be met.

But, according to Michael Jacobsen, a Senior Water Specialist at the World Bank, there is enough water for everyone.

“Water shortages are often geographically defined, but they can also be the result of poor water management,” Jacobsen says.

“In many places around the world, poor management and political meddling are the direct causes of water shortages. But there’s lots of water. The question is whether it's drinkable or whether it's accessible.”

Poor water resources management, according to Jacobsen, is not a phenomenon that is limited to one type of country or region.

“You find it everywhere – in developed and developing countries,” he says, pointing out that even within countries, there may be some areas that have enough water, while others go thirsty.

Water resources management entails everything from keeping track of water supplies and ecosystems to billing, sewage and wastewater treatment.

Population growth is a water threatMiriam Feilberg is a coordinator for Danish Water Forum, a network organisation that seeks to promote Danish know-how and water competences internationally.

She agrees that poor management is at fault in much of the world’s current supply problems, most of which are concentrated in Africa, parts of SouthEast Asia, Indochina, the Middle East and northern China.

But access to clean water is threatened by more than just poor management, according to Feilberg. Population growth, urbanisation and different eating patterns all add to the challenge.

"Food production will become increasingly strained as we grow from six billion people to nine billion by 2050,” she says.

“The problems will be exacerbated by the changing eating habits of countries like China, where people are eating more meat and water-intensive grain types such as wheat.”

Feilberg believes that many of the world’s water resource problems can be alleviated by knowledge and technology transfer to countries which have problems managing their water resources.

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Af Kathrine Schmeichel
Published: 19.05.2010

Water world

Agricultural production accounts for 70 per cent of the world’s water consumption. Another 20 per cent is used by industrial producers and energy companies. Household consumption makes up 10 per cent.
Since 1990 an additional 1.8 billion people have been given access to clean water as part of the UN’s goal to reduce extreme poverty, hunger and infant mortality by 2015. Even with the gains, 1.2 billion people still have no access to clean water.
Denmark has one of the world’s highest prices of water as a utility. The price consumers pay includes not only the cost of providing clean water but also the cost of treating sewage. The OECD recommends that more countries begin charging the real cost of providing water, which it says will promote conservation.

Sources: UN, COWI, OECD, Danish Water Forum