A water report
1 Read the water report. Why is there a
water crisis?
2 Read the report again. Circle T (true),
F (false) or NI (no information).
1 99% of water on the Earth isn’t drinking
water. T F NI
2 Because of climate change, hot, dry
countries will get hotter and drier. T F NI
3 Average rainfall in the Middle East is
significantly lower than in many other
countries. T F NI
4 Desalination is a popular method of
producing fresh water in the Middle East. T F NI
5 Grey water is a mixture of sewage and
kitchen water. T F NI
3 Answer the questions about the text.
1 Why can’t we use all of the water on the Earth?
2 Why do we need more fresh water than before?
3 What problems is the Middle East facing?
4 What are the bad things about desalination?
5 How does recycling water help the water crisis?
4 Answer the questions with your own ideas.
1 Has the weather changed in your country over the
last few years? If yes, how has it changed?
2 Do you know what methods your country uses to
get fresh water?
3 What different ways can you think of to help save
water in your home?
Water in crisis
F
rom space, the Earth looks blue because 70% of its surface is
covered with water. But only 1% of this is fresh water that we
can drink. The rest is seawater or ice.
The amount of water on the Earth has stayed the same for
millions of years, but the human population hasn’t. There are
over 7 billion people and the number is rising every year – so
the demand for fresh water is rising. The other thing that has
changed is the weather. Too much carbon dioxide gas in the
Earth’s atmosphere is making the planet hotter – and scientists
are predicting that wet countries will get wetter and dry places
will get drier.
The Middle East is one of the driest places on the Earth. Average
rainfall is between 20–40 cm per year compared to 72 cm in the
rest of the world. This situation may get worse with climate
change. The population in the Middle East has increased
dramatically in the past 40 years. A bigger population needs more
water not just for individual households, but also in all sectors of
the economy, both agricultural and industrial.
So how can this region generate more fresh water? There are
different ways to do this. Desalination is an industrial process
that separates seawater into fresh water and salt. Many of the
Gulf States use desalination to produce fresh water. However,
because it costs so much, poorer countries cannot afford to use
this method. It also has an environmental impact because the
industrial process produces carbon dioxide. Today, scientists
are working to develop technologies to make them more
environmentally friendly – and to reduce costs.
Recycling and reusing water is another method. Rainwater
harvesting simply means collecting rain as it falls and storing
it in containers or a reservoir so that we can use the water in the
garden or for animals. As cities and towns get bigger, and people
use more water, there is also a lot more waste water. Grey water
is kitchen, bath and shower waste water. This water, along with
sewage from toilets, usually ends up in the sea. But we could treat
this water separately and reuse it for things like washing clothes,
flushing the toilet or watering plants.
How to make fresh water
Fill a large bowl with salt water and stand an empty glass in the
middle. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put a small stone
in the middle. Put the bowl in the sun, and leave it for a few hours.
You should see water droplets form on the inside of the plastic wrap,
which then drip down into the glass. Then drink the water!