A Contrarian View of World Water Day

Today is World Water Day.  Are you excited yet?

I’ve arranged a little party tocelebrate this world wide event (click on the link that follows).  After you’ve had your fun, please come back to finish my little diatribe.  Let’s celebrate together.

Welcome back.  Did you have fun?   Well that’s great.

Personally, I think World Water Day is a big steaming pile of bureaucratic bullshit!!  If you think I’m losing it that’s fine, simply stop reading right now. I don’t want you think that I am telling you to not participate in the annual, feeble, “celebration of water.” Just understand the reality of the UN’s promoted themes with regard to water use and conservation.

The history of World Water Day dates back to 1992 when it was recommended at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) that a day be designated to celebrate freshwater.  So the following year, the UN General Assembly designated March 22, 1993 as the first World Water Day.  That’s great.  Everybody has a feel good moment, pat’s themselves on the back and officials proclaim all the all the good work that is being done and that we are now drawing much needed attention to the world’s freshwater resources.

Here is a very bright and cheery info graphic on this year’s World Water Day providing a mixed bag of interesting water facts and demographics blended together with a few pieces of misleading language designed to scare the hell out of you.  Let me state that there are legitimate facts here but the way some of information is presented is misleading and not based in real science.

Some of these facts are scary and we all need to do more to use water wisely.  But I have a problem with the traditional UN approach to solving the problem.   Are fresh solutions brought forth that save water and are economically viable in regions with limited infrastructure and economic base?   Absolutely not!  They make matters worse.  The UN espouses misleading and sometimes false information about water scarcity and promotes contradictory and monopolistic solutions that disincentivize sustainable water conservation programs.

As a scientific fact, the world cannot run out of water. Water is a renewable resource. With good management practices, water can be used, treated and reused, and this cycle can continue many times.

While it is true that there are many who face hardship in getting water, the notion of water stress has no scientific basis. Some international institutions have decided arbitrarily that a region becomes water stressed when per capita water availability falls below 1,700 cubic meters per year. Others use 1,000 cubic meters per year. The two figures differ by 70%. Yet there are countries that have half this amount, and feel no water stress because of good management practices.

Water is not priced as it should be!  Water is the the world’s most valuable resource yet we price it like its worthless.  The paradox of value (also known as the diamond–water paradox or simply water paradox) is the apparent contradiction that, although water is vital to our survival than diamonds, diamonds command a higher price. The philosopher Adam Smith is often considered to be the classic presenter of this paradox.  We need to break away from this paradox and price water based upon its value and to control its use and abuse.

The centralized approach to water and wastewater treatment is, in many cases, not the best technically and certainly not the most economically viable solution.  It has been demonstrated numerous times that decentralized treatment approaches are many, many time the best, but are often overlooked or not even considered.  A pattern of behavior has been established where the only accepted solutions come from the largest engineering firms, equipment and service providers.  There are numerous emerging treatment technologies, novel management practices, and smaller firms that have economically superior solutions to today’s water challenges but they are never given a chance because it doesn’t fit into the established models.  Bigger is not always better.

We absolutely need a fresh approach to water treatment and management that separates itself completely from conventional thinking, voodoo science, universal panaceas and false paradigms.

A vast majority of the world’s urban water problems could be solved within a decade, with good governance, appropriate application of technology and the  investment resources already in place. The fact that we will likely fail do so is a damning indictment of the way utilities are run, the lack of political will to consider water as an important public policy issue and the apathy of the public who have become accustomed to and acceptance of poor service.

OK, I’m done ranting now and throwing stones.  Enjoy your day and have a drink with me as I toast all those who work hard everyday to supply us with clean water.

3 in 4 Asia-Pacific Nations Facing Water Security Threat – Study

Source: Asian Development Bank

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — More than 75% of the countries in Asia and the Pacific are experiencing a serious lack of water security, with many of them facing an imminent water crisis unless immediate steps are taken to improve management of water resources, says a new study prepared jointly by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF).

“While the Asia-Pacific region has become an economic powerhouse, it is alarming that no developing country in the region can be considered ‘water-secure’,” said Bindu Lohani, ADB’s Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development. “Countries must urgently improve water governance through inspired leadership and creative policymaking.”

Asian Water Development Outlook 2013 provides the first quantitative and comprehensive analysis of water security on a country by country basis in the region. It examines all dimensions of water security from the household level to water-related disasters, and uses indicators and a scaling system to rank the progress of each of the 49 countries under assessment.

Video: Asian Water Development Outlook 2013

The study found that 37 developing countries in the region are either suffering from low levels of water security or have barely begun to engage in the essential task of improving water security. Twelve countries are shown to have established the infrastructure and management systems for water security, while no country in the region was found to have reached the highest model level of water security.

South Asia and parts of Central and West Asia are faring the worst, with rivers under immense strain, while many Pacific Islands suffer from a lack of access to safe piped water and decent sanitation and are highly vulnerable to increasingly severe natural disasters. By contrast East Asia, which has the highest frequency of hazards in the region, is relatively better off due to higher levels of investment in disaster defenses, but urban water security remains poor in many cities and towns.

The study highlights two stark realities ― sharply rising inequality in access to water and sanitation, and the increasingly precarious state of rivers. It presents options for measures that can be adopted to improve water security to mitigate the growing pressure from booming populations, urbanization, pollution, over-extraction of groundwater, climate change and other factors.

“Water supports health and livelihoods, grows our food, powers our industry, and cools our generating plants, and these different uses can no longer be seen in isolation from each other,” said Ravi Narayanan, Vice-Chair of the APWF Governing Council. “Unless these competing needs are balanced, water security  will remain elusive, undermining development gains and the quality of life for billions of people in the region, especially the poor.”

Current levels of investment, coupled with outdated policies and institutions, have failed to deliver water security. The study highlights the importance of a more productive use of water, including greater recycling of ‘used water’. Corporatizing water utilities to improve their efficiency; increasing sanitation investment; encouraging more productive water use by food and energy producers; imposing more regulations on groundwater use; upgrading irrigation services; strengthening management of river basins; mobilizing more private sector investment to clean up rivers; and improving disaster risk management; are all essential for a more secure water future.

Significant Desalination Market Points

As a follow-up to my last post about the desalination market, I thought those who were actually taking the time to read my blog (the 4 of you), would like to read some bullet points on the regions and factors driving growth in the desalination market.

• Over the next 5 years, the desalination market is poised to double in capitalization to over $16 billion and increase in capacity by over 50 million m3/d.

• The largest market will continue to be the Gulf area.  A lack of water resources, growing population and an aging desalination base built during the oil boom period of the 70s and 80s will demand an increase in capacity that will nearly double the current production.

• Greatest growth market will occur in the Mediterranean Rim  in the countries of Algeria, Israel, Spain and Lybia.

• China, India and the US markets are set to make the break-throughs into large scale seawater desalination projects.

• The membrane process, particularly reverse osmosis, will continue to take market share from thermal desalination, with 59% of the total new build capacity being membrane based.

• Emerging technologies focussing on novel membrane processes, energy savings and minimization of potential environmental impacts from brine discharge, will assist in driving the growth in market share by membrane processes.

• Energy consumption is the number one cost factor associated with desalination process and technological advancing will be required for the market to continue double digit growth rate.

•  As a whole, the desalination industry is unconsolidated, with a large number of small and medium sized players serving different niches. The strongest players can expect strong market growth as well as increases in market share.