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Atlantis Brief
Fresh water supply is another huge problem facing the world. Similar to clean energy, there is an abundance of water on the planet.
We must implement the proper desalination systems to increase our fresh water supply, using only truly clean processes
to ensure people around the world do not suffer due to a lack of fresh water.
- 2 Billion people currently live in countries experiencing high water stress
- By 2030 700million people could be displaced by intense water scarcity
- 29% of the global population is using an unsafe drinking-water service
- In Saudi Arabia at least 50% of all drinking water comes from desalination
- According to UN-endorsed projections, global demand for fresh water will exceed supply by 40% in 2030
- If want to ensure fresh water are maintained we must make desalination a viable option for the future, using only clean energy
- Concentrated Solar Power can generate clean electricity and desalinated water without producing any harmful emissions
We have the technology and resources to create endless cleanly produced fresh water, concetrated solar thermal power and other clean energy sources
can be used for this right now and at cost effective prices
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Indepth Study
Fresh Water Supplies
Water is absolutely essential for life. Fresh water in particular is necessary not only for drinking, but also for food production, sanitation, and recreational use.
With water covering over 70% of our planet, one would think that access to fresh water shouldn’t ever be a problem. However, according to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), only 3% of the world’s water is fresh water, and two-thirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers or otherwise unavailable for our use [1]
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Water Scarcity
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The UN estimates that over 2 billion people currently live in countries experiencing high water stress. By 2050, they predict that some 4.8–5.7 billion people will be living in areas that experience severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year.
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| Sustainable Development Goals - Water Supply: United Nations Global Issues [2] |
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| IGBP (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme) : Our World in Data [3] |
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Data from the IGBP (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme) show that due to rapid population growth over the last century, global freshwater usage has increased more than fivefold (The actual amount is 5.37 times higher to be exact)
According to UN-endorsed projections, global demand for fresh water will exceed supply by 40% in 2030, thanks to a combination of climate change,
human action and population growth. These are the top 10 cities most likely to run out of water.
- São Paulo
- Bangalore
- Beijing
- Cairo
- Jakarta
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- Moscow
- Istanbul
- Mexico City
- London
- Tokyo
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Cities most likely to run out of drinking water - like Cape Town (2018)
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According to the WHO, 29% of the global population is using an unsafe drinking-water service [5]
The UN estimates that over 80% of global wastewater is released to the environment without adequate treatment. In fact, since the 1990s, water pollution has worsened in almost all rivers in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
It’s predicted that, the greatest increases in exposure to pollutants are expected to occur in low- and lower-middle income countries, primarily because of higher populations and the lack of wastewater management systems [6]
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| Kathmandu River © Michel Royon: Wikimedia Commons [4] |
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| Water - Source of health and dignity: Doctors without Borders [7] |
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Diarrhoea is the most widely known disease linked to contaminated food and water. Some 842,000 people die each year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by contaminated water, according to WHO, most of them children under the age of five.
Each year, 361,000 of these infant deaths could be prevented by installing proper water and sanitation systems. [8]
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Increasing the Fresh Water Supply
Did you know that there is actually more than enough water on Earth to satisfy all human needs and that water shortages are not inevitable?
Well, it’s true; it’s just that most of Earth’s water is currently not available for consumption due to high levels of salt.
In fact, about 97% of Earth’s water is salt water.
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Lucky for us, a wide variety of desalination technologies already exist and are currently being used to convert sea water into freshwater.
According to the IEA, in 2016, desalination accounted for about 3% of the Middle East’s water supply
[10]. In a more recent study, the UN notes that in Saudi Arabia, at least 50% of all drinking water comes from desalination [11]
In theory, these same desalination techniques could be used around the world.
However, desalination can get very expensive. Energy is the largest expense for desalination plants, accounting for as much as half of the costs.
In total, desalination plants around the world consume more than 200 million kilowatt-hours each day, mostly from fossil fuel sources
[12]. If we want to make desalination a viable option for the future,
we need to focus on reducing costs and using only clean energy to power the process.
See how we can solve the problem by combining
Concentrated Solar Power with Desalination
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Data Sources
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