Watery World Flashcards
(32 cards)
What are the three main areas water is used for in a
country?
- Domestic Use
- Agricultural Use
- Industrial Use
Describe the main differences in water consumption
between HICs and LICs.
HICs have a much greater water consumption
than LICs
- In LICs – most of the water is used in
agriculture – whereas in HICs, most of the
water is use in industry
- HICs use a much greater % of water for
domestic use than LICs
Why do HICs use such a high % water for domestic
purposes?
Labour Saving Devices – increase use of
washing machines and dishwashers
- Luxury Uses – e.g. washing cars / swimming
pools / watering golf courses
- Personal Hygiene - increasingly a showering
society
Gardening – hose pipes etc
Describe and explain the differences in the use of
water in agriculture between HICs and LICs.
LICs – use a great % of their water for
agricultural (due to reliance on primary
industry) and the growing population and demand for food – the irrigation techniques used are traditional and often inefficient – large amounts of water wasted.
HICs – less % of water used for agricultural (greater importing of food) – the irrigation machines used use more water but are automated and make much more efficient use of water in its distribution.
Why is there much greater use of water for industry in
HICs than LICs?
There is much greater consumption of
water for industry in HICs due to the large scale type of
industry and the use of water for cooling purposes etc.
In LICs, industries are much smaller scale, often based in houses or small shacks and use little water. Although as multinational’s such as Cocoa Cola invest in LICs such
as India, the use of water for industry in these areas has significantly increased.
Domestic
– relation to use in the home
Irrigation –
the watering of crops by artificial means
Reservoir
– an artificial lake created as part of water
supply system
Aquifer
an underground layer of water-bearing,
permeable rock.
Water surplus
where there is more useable water than is
required (supply exceeds demand)
Water deficit –
where the available usable water supply is
not enough to satisfy demand
Point source pollution –
contamination resulting from
emissions from a particular location
Non-point source pollution
contamination resulting from
emissions from a range of locations.
Appropriate technology –
– equipment used by the local
community that is low cost and relatively easy to us
How does greater wealth lead to increasing water
consumption?
Wealthy countries – have ability to meet high
demand from agriculture (for irrigation)
reservoirs and distribution systems built
water on tap – easier for people to take for granted as easily
available
higher income – greater domestic water use
use of labour saving devices (e.g. washing machines – use
large amounts of water)
more luxuries like swimming pools / golf courses
‘showering’ societies – 2/3 showers a day
What problems might be caused when a reservoir
is built?
Often require resettlement of large numbers
of people
- Construction can be very expensive
- Buildings and farmland maybe lost due to
flooding the area to create the reservoir
- Environmental impact (natural migration
routes cut off / loss of habitats).
Name 5 water supply problems in HICs.
Leakage 2. Rainfall and Population Imbalance (uneven distribution) 3. Variability in Rainfall 4. Seasonality – rainfall imbalance 5. Pollution
Explain the following water supply problems:
1. Leakage
Leakage – loss of water through broken pipes is
an increasing problem – in areas such as London – over
50% of pipes are over 100 – ageing pipes leak and traffic
and freezing weather damage pipes further. Daily cost to
economy of water leakage in UK - £1,500,000 - £3.6 mill.
Name 3 water supply problems in LICs
Lack of available clean water
2. Water related diseases (e.g. cholera)
3. Pollution of water through resource
exploitation
f water-bourne diseases.
Typhoid
Bilharzia
Cholera
Describe 2 examples of management of domestic water use in HICs
for what use)
####Water conservation – dual flush on toilets and ‘Hippo’ – save a
flush blag – saving 1 litre of water per flush
####Recycling Water – use of grey water on garden or collecting
water in water butt.
####Stop Water Waste – fixing broken pipes / dripping taps and use
of hosepipe bans.
Describe ways in which agricultural water use can be managed in HICs.
Overhead irrigation sprinklers and drip irrigation –minimise losses due to evaporation or runoff
Conservation of water – furrows created to prevent runoff; use of soil moisture / rainfall sensors to ensure crops only watered when needed; loosen compacted soil to encourage infiltration.
Name four examples of water management
techniques in LICs.
- Hand-dug wells
- Rainwater Harvesting
- Gravity-fed schemes
- Tubewells and Boreholes
- Recycling
What is a gravity-fed water management scheme?
water from water sources higher up are
piped down to communities by gravity fed schemes.
These are where high up springs / small unpolluted streams which flow throughout the year are dammed and piped down to storage tanks in villages
