Recommendation Report for Water Provision Methods in an Arid or Semi-Arid Region
Recommendation report for water provision methods in an arid or semi-arid region
1 Introduction
Water shortage is a very serious problem in arid and semi-arid regions such as Australia. These regions are very vulnerable to drought, and the impacts drought tends to be more serious for the environment and the communities which rely on the land for food. This problem of water shortage is happening due to the huge rise in population and also the increase in the use of water for agricultural, industrial and domestic purposes. There are different ways of water provision but two of the most in Australia is desalination and waste water recycling. The purpose of this report is to compare these two water provision methods for Australia and give a final recommendation according to the comparison of cost, environmental impact and public acceptance on which methods is the most suitable for a country like Australia.
2 Background
“Australia is the driest inhabited continent on the Earth with one of the most variable climates, and among the world’s highest consumers of water.” (Apostolidis et al, 2011) The annual water use in Australia is always ranked in the first three positions in the world. In Australia, a large portion of the outback, surrounding the central desert regions, lies within the semi-arid climate regime. According to Gill (2011), in the last 20 years, Australia Government had significant advancement in the technology in water provision appliances, desalination technology and water recycling which all leads to have more capacity to refine the additional water. In addition, she also stated that no single technology will be enough, but a combination will be need and it is available. In addition, Gill also stated that there are at least eight water recycling treatment plants in Australia’s capital cities and the technology of recycling water is much more efficient now. However the rainfall of all area in Australia is always in a fluctuating condition, this
1 Introduction
Water shortage is a very serious problem in arid and semi-arid regions such as Australia. These regions are very vulnerable to drought, and the impacts drought tends to be more serious for the environment and the communities which rely on the land for food. This problem of water shortage is happening due to the huge rise in population and also the increase in the use of water for agricultural, industrial and domestic purposes. There are different ways of water provision but two of the most in Australia is desalination and waste water recycling. The purpose of this report is to compare these two water provision methods for Australia and give a final recommendation according to the comparison of cost, environmental impact and public acceptance on which methods is the most suitable for a country like Australia.
2 Background
“Australia is the driest inhabited continent on the Earth with one of the most variable climates, and among the world’s highest consumers of water.” (Apostolidis et al, 2011) The annual water use in Australia is always ranked in the first three positions in the world. In Australia, a large portion of the outback, surrounding the central desert regions, lies within the semi-arid climate regime. According to Gill (2011), in the last 20 years, Australia Government had significant advancement in the technology in water provision appliances, desalination technology and water recycling which all leads to have more capacity to refine the additional water. In addition, she also stated that no single technology will be enough, but a combination will be need and it is available. In addition, Gill also stated that there are at least eight water recycling treatment plants in Australia’s capital cities and the technology of recycling water is much more efficient now. However the rainfall of all area in Australia is always in a fluctuating condition, this