Water Resource and

Sustainable Water Use

 Water
• Inorganic compound H2O
• A transparent, tasteless, odorless, and
nearly colorless chemical substance
• Main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere
and the fluids of all known living
organisms
• Covers about 71% of the Earth's surface
• differs from most liquids in that it becomes
less dense as it freezes
• At 1 atm pressure, it reaches its maximum
density of 999.972 kg/m3 at 3.98 °C
• At 1 atm pressure, ice melts or water
freezes (solidifies) at 0 °C (32 °F)) and
water boils or vapor condenses at 100 °C
 Global Water Resource-
The New Oil
United Nations World Water
Development Report no. 1
(2003): Water for People Water
for Life
•“Water is essential for life”
•“…..we all too often take the
availability of water for granted.”
•“In recent years the availability of
and access to freshwater have
been highlighted as among the
most critical natural resource
issues facing the world.”
•”The New Oil”
 Global Water Resource-
The New Oil
• Saline water in the
oceans = 97.2 %

• Ice caps and glaciers =

2.14%

• Groundwater = 0.61%

• Surface water = 0.009%

• Soil moisture = 0.005%

• 98% of the world’s available freshwater is groundwater.

• 84% of North America’s fresh surface water is in the Great Lakes.
 Lake Baikal
• Largest freshwater lake by volume, 636 km x 79 km x 1642 m
(depth)
• Containing ~20% of the world’s unfrozen surface fresh water
• More than the Great Lakes combined
• World’s deepest lake
• World’s clearest lake
• World’s oldest lake-25 million years
• More than 1000 species of plants and 2500 species of
animals
 Hydrologic Cycle
• The Hydrologic cycle or water cycle, or global water cycle, water
transported from the oceans to the atmosphere to the land and back to the
ocean.
Atmosphere

Ocean Land
(Hydrosphere) (Lithosphere)

• Driven forces? Local vs. Ultimate

 Hydrologic Cycle
• Key processes include
• Precipitation (P)
• Evaporation (E)
• Transpiration (T)
• Evapotranspiration (ET)
• Surface runoff (R)
• Groundwater flow (G)
• Infiltration (I)
• Streamflow (Q)
These processes are inter-
related and in constant
change.
 Hydrologic Cycle
• Effects on climate
• Evaporative cooling, 67°C otherwise on
the earth surface

• Effects on biogeochemical
cycling
• Transport of sediment and elements
(C, N, P, Fe etc.)
• Ocean’s salinity
Global Water Consumption
 Water Use by Sector
• Agriculture 67%
• Households 9%
• Water Supply 8%
• Power 7%
• Manufacturing 4%
• Mining 2%
• Other 3%
 Water Use by Sector-US vs. China

• Thermoelectric Power 49%

• Irrigation 31%
• Public Supply 11%
• Industrial 4%
• Aquaculture 2%
• Domestic 1%
• Mining 1%
• Livestock 1%
 Water Use
• Much of the waters resources are used to produce food.

1,857 gallons = 1 pound of beef

469 gallons = 1 pound of chicken
84 gallons = 1 pound of apples

• During its lifetime, 1 cow requires 816,000 gallons of

water for food, drinking, and hygiene.

[National Geographic, April 2010]

Water Availability (m3/per/yr)
• Water scarcity:
<1000 m3 /per/yr
chronic and
widespread
freshwater
problems

• Water stress:
<1700 m3 /per/yr
intermittent,
localized shortages
of freshwater

• Relative
sufficiency: >2500
m3 /per/yr
 Global Water Scarcity/Crisis

UN World Water Development Report 4, Mar 2012

Global Water Scarcity-2025
 Water Crisis
• 785 million people worldwide
lack access to water
• A total of 2.7 billion find water
scarce for at least one month
of the year.
• Inadequate sanitation is also a
problem for 2.4 billion people
—they are exposed to
diseases, such as cholera and
typhoid fever, and other water-
borne illnesses.
• 2 million people, mostly
children, die each year from
diarrheal diseases alone.
• By 2025, two-thirds of the
world’s population may face 16

water shortages. WWF (World Wildlife Fund) report (2018)

Water Footprint in Hong Kong

40%
50%
10%

Water Footprint: measuring of direct and

indirect water use

Water footprint
Solutions to water crisis/stress (sustainable
development)

• a) UNWDR 3, 2009: 3 categories of response:

conserving, developing resources and allocation.
• b) Cannot greatly expand supply
• c) Demand management
• d) Control population growth
• e) Others
Supply Side

Los Angeles aqueduct, California

19
Supply Side

Three Gorges

Hoover dam

Pok Fu Lam Reservoir

ASWAN LOW & HIGH DAMS

Long Distance Water Transfer

21
Desalination of
Ocean Water: Cost?
Rainwater Harvesting

Pond for rainwater harvesting

23
24
Demand Management: Water
recycling/re-use

WWDR no2, 2006 25

Water Reclamation

# Reclaimed water is highly treated

wastewater.

# “Water reclamation is to use lower quality

water to replace high quality water
currently used for non-potable purposes
such as toilet flushing and landscape
irrigation.”

# Pilot schemes involving the use of

reclaimed water began in Hong Kong in 2006
(at Ngong Ping).

(HK Water Supplies Department, 2018)

26
 Wastewater Treatment and Re-use
Pereira et al (2009)

Different levels

E.g., China

• In 2012, the total national wastewater

discharge in China was 68.5 billion tons.
• By 2013, 3508 WWTPS had been built
27
nationwide. Zhang et al. (2016)
Water Re-use and Agriculture
To control/minimize health risk from
using
reclaimed water for irrigated agriculture
there are 2 options:

1) Treat wastewater to appropriate

standard

2) Impose crop restrictions on use of

reclaimed water

Pereira et al (2009) 28
Controlling Demand: The price of
water

In theory if price
goes up
water use, or
demand,
goes down.

Is it that simple?
2nd WWDR, 2006 29
Population and Water
Too many people:
not enough water?

(UNDP Human Development Report 2014)

Asian and African

countries will have to
adopt new practices of
more efficient water use.
US Census Bureau (2011)
30
Population & water

Pakistan

31
Spatial variation in consumption:
population

Water withdrawal

Water consumption

Asia will be problematic!

32
 Domestic Demand /Consumption

Int. Water Assoc. 2012

400

300
200

100
50

Birm’m
Tianjin Singapore Perth
Barcelona Beijing
Burkina New York Tokyo Taipei
Brisbane
Faso & Amsterdam
Guangzhou & HK
Water Related Hazards

(Alfieri et al., 2012)

(UN World Water Development

Report, 2020)

Drought
 Floods

Geographic centers of floods during

the period 1985-2010

Where were most of the floods 35

observed and why?

Drought

Source:
http://tyglobalist.org/uncategorized/the-
other-climate-crisis-global-drought-and-
food-security/

36
Water Related Hazards

Salinization
of soils

Evaporation leaves salts

behind, if the content of Subsidence
salts in soil is too high,
plants cannot grow.

37
Water Quality and Water
Contamination
 Chemistry of Water:
Ions in Natural Waters and Drinking
Waters
• Bicarbonate, HCO3-
most abundant ions in unpolluted
• Calcium, Ca2+ waters

• Magnesium ion, Mg2+ Found in 2:1 ratio

• Sulfate, SO42-
• Chloride, Cl-
• Sodium, Na+
• Fluoride, F-
• Potassium, K+

39
 Ions in Natural Waters (mg L-1)

Na +
Ca 2+ 0 - 100 Cl- SO42- HCO3-

K+ Mg2+ 0 - 25 NO3-

Fe2+ Mn2+ Zn2+ 0-1 PO43-

Mn+ 0 – 0.1 NO2-

40
Ions in Natural Waters and Drinking
Waters

41
 Groundwater

• Groundwater: water located beneath the earth's surface in soil pore spaces
and in the fractures of rock formation
• 97% of all liquid freshwater on the earth
• 50% of drinking water in the US
• 30% of all streamflow charged by groundwater
 Subsurface Water Profile

 Groundwater is the water occurring in the zone of saturation in an

aquifer or soil.
 Aquifer: Water-bearing porous soil or rock stara that yield significant
amount water to wells
Aquifer
• Aquifer: Water-bearing porous soil or rock stara that yield significant
amount water to wells
Unconfined Aquifers
• Unconfined aquifer: Aquifer
that contains water in direct
contact with the atmosphere
through porous material

• Receives water from the

surface

• Water table surface is free to

fluctuate up and down,
depending on the
recharge/discharge rate.
Confined Aquifers

• Confined aquifer: Aquifer

separated from the atmosphere by
an impermeable layer

• Groundwater is under high

pressure

• A well will rise to a level higher

than the water level at the top of
the aquifer.
 Groundwater Quality in Different
Aquifers
Igneous/
Sandstone Limestone Shale with Alluvium
Parameter Volcanic
Aquifer Aquifer Salts (Farmland)
Aquifer

pH 7.5 7.8 6.5 7.1 7.4

Na 19 29 184 1220 114
Cl 13 53 6 1980 30
SO4 7 60 7 1000 74
Ca 88 144 34 353 64
Mg 7.3 55 242 159 19
HCO3 320 622 1,300 355 402
NO3 0.4 0.3 0.2 2.4 60
 Sodium and Irrigation
• Sodium reacts with soil to reduce permeability

• Alkali soils - High sodium with carbonate

• Saline soils – High sodium with chloride or sulphate

• Neither support plant growth

• Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR), factor in determining the

suitability of water for irrigation

where sodium, calcium, and magnesium are in milliequivalents/liter

SAR<3, turf and landscape plants
SAR>9, severe permeability problems
 Alkalinity
Alkalinity refers to the capability of water to neutralize acid.
• Buffering capacity –
resistance to pH
changes.

• Common natural buffer:

CO3 (carbonates – like
limestone).

• Protects aquatic life.

• Commonly linked to
water hardness.

• In natural systems: 50 –
Limestone outcrop
150 mg/L as CaCO3.
 Hard Water and Hardness Index
Hard water contains high concentrations of dissolved calcium and
magnesium ions. Soft water contains few of these dissolved ions.

Hardness = [Ca2+] + [Mg2+]

• Counter ions of alkalinity

ions
• Alkalinity is a good indicator
of hardness and vice-versa

A pipe with hard-water scale build up

Hardness is usually expressed in parts per million of calcium carbonate
(CaCO3) by mass
 Types of Hardness
• Solid deposit = carbonate hardness or temporary hardness
CaCO3(s) + H2O+CO2 ⇌ Ca2+ + HCO3- (removed via boiling,
dissolved CO2 will decrease with the increase of temperature)

– Causes deposit in pipes and scales in boilers

– Temporary hard water has to be softened before it enters the
boiler, hot-water tank, or a cooling system

• No solid = non-carbonate or permanent hardness

– Amount of metal ions that can not be removed by boiling

Total hardness = temporary hardness + permanent hardness

 Hard/soft Classification
hardness in hardness in hardness in
Classification
mg/L mmol/L ppm
Soft 0–60 0–0.60 less than 60
Moderately
61–120 0.61–1.20 60-120
hard
Hard 121–180 1.21–1.80 120-180
Very hard ≥ 181 ≥ 1.81 > 180
• US Geological Survey Standard
• Hard water not necessary causing adverse health effects, supplying Ca
and Mg
• Seawater’s hardness is in the range of 6630 ppm.
• Freshwater has hardness in the range of 15 - 375 ppm
 Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
• DO is the measurement of oxygen dissolved in water and available
for fish and other aquatic life.

• Indicates health of an aquatic system.

• Can range from 0-18 ppm.

• Most natural water systems require 5-6 ppm to support a diverse

population.
DO affected by:
• Temperature
• Pressure
• Salts
• Organic matter
 Hypoxia
• An aquatic system lacking
dissolved oxygen (0% saturation)
is termed anaerobic, reducing, or
anoxic

• A system with low concentration

—in the range between 1 and
30% saturation—is called
hypoxic or dysoxic

Mississippi River drainage basin – 41% of US landmass.

 Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico
• Phytoplankton blooms as a result of pollution and eutrophication

• Phytoplankton raises DO through photosynthesis during daylight

hours, reduces DO saturation during the night by respiration

• When phytoplankton cells die, they sink towards the bottom and are
decomposed by bacteria, a process that further reduces DO in the
water column.

Mississippi River drainage basin – 41% of US landmass.

Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico

56
 Organics/Biological Species
in Water
• Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
• Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
• Total Organic Carbon (TOC)
• Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC)
• (TOC)-(DOC) = Suspended carbon in water
 BOD and BOD5
• BOD: the capacity of the organic and biological matter in a sample of
natural water to consume oxygen
• Procedure: measure O2 in the stream or lake. Take a sample and
store at 25oC for five days and re-measure O2 content. The difference
is the BOD
• BOD5 corresponds to about 80% of the actual value. It is not
practical to measure the BOD for an infinite period of time
• Surface waters have a BOD of about 0.7 mg L -1 – significantly
lower than the solubility of O2 in water (8.7 mg L-1)
• Sewage has BOD of ~100 mg L-1
 COD
• COD: measure the amount of organic compounds in water
• Similar to BOD
• Measures everything that can be chemically oxidized
• Measurement: strong oxidizing agent to react with water sample, and
measure amount of oxygen consumed per mass of solution
 Turbidity
Measures how
“murky” the water is

Estimates:

Mineral fraction
Organics
Inorganics
Soluble organic compounds
Plankton
Microscopic organisms

MODIS Image from NASA

http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Measure Turbidity
• Measuring amount of light passing through the sample water column
• Nephelometer with the detector set up to the side of the light beam
• The units of turbidity from a calibrated nephelometer are called
Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU)
 Conductivity
• Ability of a substance to conduct an electrical current, siemens per meter

• In water, conductivity determined by types and quantities of dissolved

solids. (Commonly called Total Dissolved Solids = TDS)

• Current carried by ions (negatively or positively charged particles).

Eg: NaCl(aq) = Na + + Cl –

Cl- Cl- Cl- Cl-

Na+ Na+ Na+ Na+

Cl- Cl- Cl- Cl-

Na+
Cl- Cl- Na+ Na+ Na+ Na+

Cl- Cl- Cl- Cl-

Cl- Na+ Na+ Na+ Na+ Na+

Na+ Cl- Cl- Cl- Cl-

Na+ Cl- Na+ Na+ Na+ Na+
Na+
Cl -
 Conductivity
• Conductivity of natural waters depends upon:
• Ion characteristics (mobility, valence, concentration)
• Water temperature
• Geology
• Size of watershed
• Evaporation

• Some artificial factors that can affect conductivity:

• Wastewater
• Urban runoff (especially road salt)
• Agricultural runoff
 Total Dissolved Substance
(TDS)
• Combined content of all inorganic and organic substances in the water

• The two principal methods of measuring total dissolved solids are gravimetry
and conductivity.
 Salinity
• Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water
 Salinity
• Influencing the types of organisms that live in a body of water
• Salt is expensive to remove from water, and salt content is an important
factor in water use
• The degree of salinity in oceans is a driver of the world's ocean circulation
• contribute to global changes in CO2 as more saline waters are less soluble to
carbon dioxide
Dissolved Constituents in Groundwater

• Major Constituents
(> 5 mg/L)
– Ca
– Mg
– Na
– Cl
– Si
– SO42- - sulfate
– H2CO3 - carbonic acid
– HCO3- - bicarbonate
Dissolved Constituents in Groundwater

• Minor Constituents
(0.01-10 mg/L)
– B-borium
– K-potassium
– F-fluorine
– Sr-strontium
– Fe-iron
– CO32- - carbonate
– NO3- - nitrate
 Groundwater Pollution
• Very cold, Low dissolved oxygen, no bacterial
breakdown

• Very slow water movement: recharge can take 100’s or

1000’s of years

• Pollutants can stick to rocks in aquifer and pollute new

water
 Sources of Groundwater Pollution
• landfills
• leaky underground
storage tanks
• mines
• septic tanks
Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, July 6, 2013
• hazardous waste - deep
well injection
• any pollutant in runoff
that percolates
 Kinds of Contaminants
• Inorganic
– Salts
– Nitrate &
Ammonia
– Heavy Metals
• Organic 2023 Ohio train derailment
– Volatiles
– Semi-volatiles
– Dissolved
– Non-Aqueous
Groundwater Contaminant Plumes
 Protect Groundwater: Laws
• Prevention is the key
• Clean Water Act – surface water
– 1972 – make water swimmable and fishable by
regulating point sources
– 1977 and 1987 – storm water runoff
– Section 404 – requires permit for draining,
dredging, filling wetlands
• Safe Drinking Water Act (1974) – monitors levels of
contaminants in groundwater
 Water Pollution in
China Great improvements!

(Zhang et al., 2010)

• A high number of lakes and major

rivers are classified as severely
polluted, with only 50% of its 200 major
rivers suitable for use as drinking water
after treatment.
• Nationwide, >300 million people rely on
hazardous drinking water sources.
• Costing China 2% of its rural GDP from
74
diseases associated with microbial and
industrial pollutants.
 Oil Pollution/Spill
• Ocean and land
• Crude and refined petroleum
• Tanker accidents – Exxon
Valdez
• Urban and industrial runoff
Burst pipe-line leaves farmer's fields
six inches deep in crude, S. Dakota
 Largest Oil Spills
Tonnes of crude oil Barrels
Spill / Tanker Location Date
(thousands) (thousands)
January 16, 1991 –
Kuwaiti Oil Fires Kuwait 136,000 1,000,000
November 6, 1991
January 1991 –
Kuwaiti Oil Lakes Kuwait 3,409–6,818 25,000–50,000
November 1991
United States, March 14, 1910 –
Lakeview Gusher 1,200 9,000
Kern County, California September 1911
Kuwait, Iraq, and the January 19, 1991 –
Gulf War oil spill 818–1,091 6,000–8,000
Persian Gulf January 28, 1991
United States, April 20, 2010 – July
Deepwater Horizon 560–585 4,100–4,900
Gulf of Mexico 15, 2010
June 3, 1979 – March
Ixtoc I Mexico, Gulf of Mexico 454–480 3,329–3,520
23, 1980

Atlantic Empress Trinidad and Tobago July 19, 1979 287 2,105

Fergana Valley Uzbekistan March 2, 1992 285 2,090

Nowruz Field Platfor Iran, Persian Gulf February 4, 1983 260 1,907
m
ABT Summer Angola May 28, 1991 260 1,907

South Africa,
Castillo de Bellver August 6, 1983 252 1,848
Saldanha Bay
Amoco Cadiz France, Brittany March 16, 1978 223 1,635
 Effects of Oil Pollution on Ocean
Ecosystems
• Volatile organic hydrocarbons
– Kill larvae
– Destroys natural insulation and buoyancy
• Heavy oil
– Sinks and kills bottom organisms
– Coral reefs die
 Oil Cleanup Methods
• Current methods recover no more than 15%
• Surface Dispersants (organic chemicals break down the oil into
smaller droplets that more readily mix with the water, environmental
• concerns themselves)
• Underwater Dispersants
• Controlled Burns
• Booms and Skimmers (collect and
remove oil from the surface of the water
• Sorbent Materials (e.g. sawdust)
In Conclusion:
• World Water Day, on 22 March every
year, is about focusing attention on the
importance of water. This year’s theme,
‘valuing water’, explores what water
means to us.

• Water is our most precious resource.

• How is water important to your home

and family life, your livelihood, your
cultural practices, your wellbeing, your
local environment?

79