What percentage of the world is fresh water. World water reserves and their use. Water reserve in the bowels of the planet

Water reserves in the world. List of countries by water resources

A list of 173 countries of the world is presented, sorted by the volume of total renewable water resources according to [. Data include long-term average renewable water resources (in cubic kilometers of precipitation, renewable groundwater, and surface inflows from neighboring countries.

Brazil has the largest renewable water resources - 8,233.00 cubic kilometers. Russia has the largest reserves in Europe and the second in the world - 4,508.00. Further, the USA - 3,069.00, Canada - 2,902.00 and China - 2,840.00. Full table - see below.

Fresh water. Stocks[Source - 2].

Fresh water- the opposite of seawater, encompasses that part of the Earth's available water in which salts are contained in minimal quantities. Water, the salinity of which does not exceed 0.1%, even in the form of steam or ice, is called fresh. Ice massifs in polar regions and glaciers contain the largest part of fresh water land. In addition, fresh water exists in rivers, streams, groundwater, freshwater lakes, as well as in the clouds. According to various estimates, the share of fresh water in the total amount of water on Earth is 2.5-3%.

About 85-90% of fresh water reserves are contained in the form of ice. The distribution of fresh water across the globe is extremely uneven. In Europe and Asia, where 70% of the world's population lives, only 39% of river waters are concentrated.

Russia takes the leading place in the world in terms of surface water resources. About 20% of the world's fresh lake water reserves and more than 80% of Russia's reserves are concentrated in the unique Lake Baikal alone. With a total volume of 23.6 thousand km³, about 60 km³ of rare natural water is reproduced in the lake every year.

According to the UN, at the beginning of the 2000s, more than 1.2 billion people live in conditions of constant shortage of fresh water, about 2 billion suffer from it on a regular basis. By the middle of the XXI century, the number of people living with constant water shortages will exceed 4 billion people. In such a situation, some experts say that the main advantage of Russia in the long term is water resources.

Fresh water reserves: atmospheric vapor - 14,000 or 0.06%, fresh river water - 200 or 0.005%, total Total 28,253,200 or 100%. Sources - Wikipedia:,.

List of countries by water resources[Source - 1]

№	Country	The total volume is renewed. water resources (cubic km)	Date inform mation
1	Brazil	8 233,00	2011
2	Russia	4 508,00	2011
3	United States	3 069,00	2011
4	Canada	2 902,00	2011
5	China	2 840,00	2011
6	Colombia	2 132,00	2011
7	European Union	2 057.76	2011
8	Indonesia	2 019,00	2011
9	Peru	1 913,00	2011
10	Congo, DR	1 283,00	2011
11	India	1 911,00	2011
12	Venezuela	1 233,00	2011
13	Bangladesh	1 227,00	2011
14	Burma	1 168,00	2011
15	Chile	922,00	2011
16	Vietnam	884,10	2011
17	Congo, Republic	832,00	2011
18	Argentina	814,00	2011
19	Papua New Guinea	801,00	2011
20	Bolivia	622,50	2011
21	Malaysia	580,00	2011
22	Australia	492,00	2011
23	Philippines	479,00	2011
24	Cambodia	476,10	2011
25	Mexico	457,20	2011
26	Thailand	438,60	2011
27	Japan	430,00	2011
28	Ecuador	424,40	2011
29	Norway	382,00	2011
30	Madagascar	337,00	2011
31	Paraguay	336,00	2011
32	Laos	333,50	2011
33	New Zealand	327,00	2011
34	Nigeria	286,20	2011
35	Cameroon	285,50	2011
36	Pakistan	246,80	2011
37	Guyana	241,00	2011
38	Liberia	232,00	2011
39	Guinea	226,00	2011
40	Mozambique	217,10	2011
41	Romania	211,90	2011
42	Turkey	211,60	2011
43	France	211,00	2011
44	Nepal	210,20	2011
45	Nicaragua	196,60	2011
46	Italy	191,30	2011
47	Sweden	174,00	2011
48	Iceland	170,00	2011
49	Gabon	164,00	2011
50	Serbia	162,20	2011
51	Sierra leone	160,00	2011
52	Germany	154,00	2011
53	Angola	148,00	2011
54	Panama	148,00	2011
55	United Kingdom	147,00	2011
56	Centre. African. Rep.	144,40	2011
57	Ukraine	139,60	2011
58	Uruguay	139,00	2011
59	Iran	137,00	2011
60	Ethiopia	122,00	2011
61	Suriname	122,00	2011
62	Costa Rica	112,40	2011
63	Spain	111,50	2011
64	Guatemala	111,30	2011
65	Finland	110,00	2011
66	Kazakhstan	107,50	2011
67	Croatia	105,50	2011
68	Zambia	105,20	2011
69	Hungary	104,00	2011
70	Mali	100,00	2011
71	Tanzania	96.27	2011
72	Honduras	95.93	2011
73	Netherlands	91,00	2011
74	Iraq	89.86	2011
75	Ivory Coast	81.14	2011
76	Butane	78,00	2011
77	Austria	77,70	2011
78	North Korea	77.15	2011
79	Greece	74.25	2011
80	South Korea	69,70	2011
81	Portugal	68,70	2011
82	Taiwan	67,00	2011
83	Uganda	66,00	2011
84	Afghanistan	65.33	2011
85	Sudan	64,50	2011
86	Georgia	63.33	2011
87	Poland	61,60	2011
88	Belarus	58,00	2011
89	Egypt	57,30	2011
90	Switzerland	53,50	2011
91	Ghana	53,20	2011
92	Sri Lanka	52,80	2011
93	Ireland	52,00	2011
94	South Africa	51,40	2011
95	Slovakia	50,10	2011
96	Uzbekistan	48.87	2011
97	Solomon islands	44,70	2011
98	Chad	43,00	2011
99	Albania	41,70	2011
100	Senegal	38,80	2011
101	Cuba	38.12	2011
102	Bosnia and Herzegovina	37,50	2011
103	Latvia	35.45	2011
104	Mongolia	34,80	2011
105	Azerbaijan	34.68	2011
106	Niger	33.65	2011
107	Slovenia	31.87	2011
108	Guinea-Bissau	31,00	2011
109	Kenya	30,70	2011
110	Morocco	29,00	2011
111	Fiji	28.55	2011
112	Benin	26.39	2011
113	Equatorial Guinea	26,00	2011
114	Salvador	25.23	2011
115	Lithuania	24,90	2011
116	Turkmenistan	24.77	2011
117	Kyrgyzstan	23.62	2011
118	Tajikistan	21.91	2011
119	Bulgaria	21,30	2011
120	Dominican Republic	21,00	2011
121	Zimbabwe	20,00	2011
122	Belize	18.55	2011
123	Belgium	18,30	2011
124	Namibia	17.72	2011
125	Malawi	17.28	2011
126	Syria	16,80	2011
127	Somalia	14,70	2011
128	Go	14,70	2011
129	Haiti	14,03	2011
130	Czech Republic	13,15	2011
131	Estonia	12,81	2011
132	Burundi	12,54	2011
133	Burkina Faso	12,50	2011
134	Botswana	12,24	2011
135	Algeria	11,67	2011
136	Moldova	11,65	2011
137	Mauritania	11,40	2011
138	Rwanda	9,50	2011
139	Jamaica	9,40	2011
140	Brunei	8,50	2011
141	Gambia	8,00	2011
142	Armenia	7,77	2011
143	Macedonia	6,40	2011
144	Eritrea	6,30	2011
145	Denmark	6,00	2011
146	Tunisia	4,60	2011
147	Swaziland	4,51	2011
148	Lebanon	4,50	2011
149	Trinidad and Tobago	3,84	2011
150	Luxembourg	3,10	2011
151	Lesotho	3,02	2011
152	Mauritius	2,75	2011
153	Saudi Arabia	2,40	2011
154	Yemen	2,10	2011
155	Israel	1,78	2011
156	Oman	1,40	2011
157	Comoros	1,20	2011
158	Jordan	0.94	2011
159	Cyprus	0.78	2011
160	Libya	0,70	2011
161	Singapore	0,60	2011
162	Cape Verde	0,30	2011
163	Djibouti	0,30	2011
164	UAE	0,15	2011
165	Bahrain	0.12	2011
166	Barbados	0.08	2011
167	Qatar	0.06	2011
168	Antigua and Barbuda	0,05	2011
169	Malta	0,05	2011
170	Maldives	0.03	2011
171	Bahamas	0.02	2011
172	Kuwait	0.02	2011
173	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0.02	2011

Few facts about water

• Water covers over 70% of the world's population, but only 3% of fresh water.
• Most natural fresh water is in ice form; less than 1% are readily available for human consumption. This means that less than 0.007% of the water on earth is ready to drink.
• More than 1.4 billion people lack access to clean, safe water worldwide.
• The gap between water supply and demand is constantly growing, and is expected to reach 40% by 2030.
• By 2025, a third of the world's population will be dependent on water scarcity.
• By 2050, more than 70% of the world's population will live in cities.
• In many developing countries, the percentage of water losses is over 30%, reaching even 80% in some extreme cases.
• More than 32 billion cubic meters of drinking water - water leaks from urban water supply systems around the world, only 10% of the leak is visible, the rest of the leaks quietly and silently disappear underground.

The development of humanity is accompanied by an increase in the world's population, as well as growing demands for resources from the economy. One of these resources is fresh water, the shortage of which is quite acute in a number of regions of the Earth. In particular, more than a third of the world's population, that is, more than 2 billion people, does not have permanent access to a drinking resource. It is expected that in 2020 water scarcity will act as one of the obstacles to the further development of humankind. This is especially true for developing countries, where:

• Intensive population growth,
• High level of industrialization accompanied by pollution the environment and water in particular
• Lack of water treatment infrastructure,
• Substantial water demand from the agricultural sector,
• Average or low level of social stability, authoritarian structure of society.

World water resources

The earth is rich in water, because 70% of the Earth's surface is covered with water (approx. 1.4 billion km 3). However, most of the water is saline and only about 2.5% of the world's water reserves (approx. 35 million km 3) is fresh water (see Figure World Water Sources, UNESCO, 2003).

Only fresh water can be used for drinking, but 69% of it falls on snow cover (mainly Antarctica and Greenland), about 30% (10.5 million km 3) is groundwater, and lakes, artificial lakes and rivers account for less than 0.5% of all fresh water.

In the water cycle, 79% of the total amount of precipitation falling on the Earth falls on the ocean, 2% on lakes and only 19% on the land surface. Only 2,200 km 3 penetrates underground reservoirs per year.

Many experts call the "water issue" one of the most serious challenges to humanity in the future. The period 2005-2015 has been declared by the UN General Assembly as an international decade for action " Water for life».

Drawing. World freshwater sources: sources of distribution of about 35 million km3 of fresh water (UNESCO 2003)

According to UN experts, in the 21st century, water will become a more important strategic resource than oil and gas, since a ton of clean water in an arid climate is already more expensive than oil (the Sahara Desert and North Africa, the center of Australia, South Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Central Asia).

Globally, about 2/3 of all precipitation returns to the atmosphere. In terms of water resources, the region of Latin America is the most abundant, accounting for a third of the world's drainage, followed by Asia with its quarter of the world's drainage. Then there are the OECD countries (20%), sub-Saharan Africa and the countries of the former Soviet Union, each with 10%. The most limited are the water resources of the countries of the Middle East and North America (1% each).

Sub-Saharan Africa (Tropical / Black Africa) has the greatest drinking water scarcity.

After several decades of rapid industrialization, large Chinese cities are among the most environmentally unfavorable.

The construction of the world's largest hydropower complex, the Three Gorges, on the Yangtze River in China has also posed major environmental problems. In addition to erosion and collapse of the banks, the construction of the dam and the giant reservoir led to siltation and, according to Chinese and foreign experts, a dangerous change in the entire ecosystem of the country's largest river.

SOUTH ASIA

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

India is home to 16% of the world's population, while only 4% of the planet's fresh water is available there.

The water reserves of India and Pakistan are in inaccessible places - these are the glaciers of the Pamirs and the Himalayas, which cover the mountains at an altitude of over 4000 m.But the water shortage in Pakistan is already so high that the government is seriously considering the issue of melting these glaciers forcibly.

The idea is to spray harmless coal dust over them, which will cause the ice to actively melt in the sun. But, most likely, the melted glacier will look like a muddy mudflow, 60% of the water will not reach the valleys, but will be absorbed into the soil near the foot of the mountains, environmental prospects are unclear

CENTRAL (CENTRAL) ASIA

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

central Asia(as defined by UNESCO): Mongolia, Western China, Punjab, Northern India, Northern Pakistan, northeastern Iran, Afghanistan, regions of Asian Russia south of the taiga zone, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

According to the World Resources Institute, fresh water reserves in the countries of Central Asia (excluding Tajikistan) and in Kazakhstan per capita are almost 5 times lower than the same indicator for Russia.

Russia

Over the past ten years, in Russia, as in all mid-latitudes, temperatures have been rising faster than the average on Earth and in the tropics. By 2050, temperatures will rise by 2-3 ° C. Redistribution of precipitation will be one of the consequences of warming. In the south of the Russian Federation there will not be enough precipitation and there will be problems with drinking water, some rivers may have problems with navigation, the permafrost area will decrease, the soil temperature will rise, in the northern regions the yield will increase, although due to dry conditions there may be losses (Roshydromet) ...

AMERICA

Mexico

Mexico City is experiencing problems with the supply of drinking water to the population. The demand for bottled water today exceeds the supply, so the country's leadership calls on residents to learn how to save water.

The issue of drinking water consumption has been facing the leaders of the capital of Mexico for a long time, since the city, where almost a quarter of the country lives, is located far from water sources, so today water is extracted from wells with a depth of at least 150 meters. The results of the analysis of water quality revealed an increased content of permissible concentrations of heavy metals and other chemical elements and substances harmful to human health.

Half of the water consumed daily in the United States comes from non-renewable underground sources... At the moment, 36 states are on the brink of a serious problem, some of them on the brink of a water crisis. Water scarcity in California, Arizona, Nevada, Las Vegas.

Water has become a key security strategy and priority for the US administration foreign policy... Currently, the Pentagon and other structures concerned about the security of the United States have come to the conclusion that in order to preserve the existing military and economic strength of the United States, they must protect not only energy sources, but also water resources.

Peru

In the Peruvian capital Lima, there is practically no rain, and water is supplied mainly from the lakes of the Andes, located quite far away. From time to time, they turn off the water altogether for several days. There is a constant lack of water. Once a week, water is brought in by trucks, but it costs the poor ten times more expensive than residents whose houses are connected to central system water supply.

Drinking water consumption

About 1 billion people on Earth do not have access to an improved drinking water source. Over half of the world's households have running water in or near their homes.

8 out of 10 people without access to an improved drinking water source live in rural areas.

884 million people in the world, i.e. almost half of the people living in Asia still use unimproved drinking water sources. Most of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa, South, East and Southeast Asia.

Countries in which bottled water is the main source of drinking water: Dominican Republic (67% of the urban population drink exclusively bottled water), People's Democratic Republic of LAO and Thailand (for half of the urban population, bottled water is the main source of drinking water). There is also a serious situation in Guatemala, Guinea, Turkey, Yemen.

Drinking water treatment practices vary considerably across countries. In Mongolia, Vietnam, water is almost always boiled, a little less often in the People's Democratic Republic of Lao and Cambodia, and even less often in Uganda and Jamaica. In Guinea, it is filtered through a cloth. And in Jamaica, Guinea, Honduras, Haiti, bleach or other disinfectants are simply added to the water to purify it.

Households in rural Africa spend an average of 26% of their time just getting water (mostly women) (UK DFID). Every year it takes approx. 40 billion hours worked (Cosgrove and Rijsberman, 1998). The Tibetan highlands are still inhabited by people who have to spend up to three hours a day walking to fetch water on foot.

Main drivers of water consumption growth

1.: improving sanitation

Access to basic water supply services (drinking water, food production, sanitation, sanitation) remains limited in most developing countries. It is possible that by 2030, more than 5 billion people (67% of the world's population) still lack modern sanitation(OECD, 2008).

Some 340 million Africans lack safe drinking water and nearly 500 million lack modern sanitation.

The importance of ensuring the purity of the water consumed: several billion people today do not have access to clean water(The World Conference of The Future of Science, 2008, Venice).

80% of diseases in developing countries are water-related causing about 1.7 million deaths annually.

According to some estimates, every year in developing countries waterborne diseases kill about 3 million prematurely.

Diarrhea, a major cause of illness and death, is largely due to lack of sanitation and hygiene and unsafe drinking water. 5,000 children die from diarrhea every day. one child every 17 seconds.

In South Africa, 12% of the health budget goes to treating diarrhea: more than half of the patients with this diagnosis in local hospitals every day.

Annually 1.4 million diarrhea deaths could have been prevented... Almost 1/10 of the total number of diseases could be prevented by improving water supply, sanitation, hygiene, and water resources management.

2. Development of agriculture for food production

Water is an essential ingredient in food and Agriculture- the largest consumer of water: falls on it up to 70% of total water consumption(for comparison: 20% of water use - industry, 10% - household use). The area of ​​irrigated land has doubled over the past decades, and water withdrawal has increased 3 times.

Without further improvement of water use in agriculture, the need for water in this sector will increase by 70-90% by 2050, and this despite the fact that already now some countries have reached the limit in the use of their water resources.

On average, 70% of the fresh water consumed is used by agriculture, 22% by industry, and the remaining 8% is used for domestic needs. This ratio varies depending on the country's income: in low- and middle-income countries, 82% is used for agriculture, 10% for industry and 8% for domestic needs; in high-income countries the figures are 30, 59 and 11%.

Due to inefficient irrigation systems, especially in developing countries, 60% of the water used for agriculture evaporates or returns to water bodies.

3. Change in food consumption

In recent years, there have been changes in the lifestyle of people and their eating habits, the consumption of meat and dairy products in countries with economies in transition has increased disproportionately.Today, one person in the world consumes on average 2 times more water than in 1900, and this trend will continue in due to changes in consumption patterns in emerging economies.

V modern world 1.4 billion people are deprived of access to clean water, another 864 million do not have the opportunity to receive the daily caloric intake of food. And the situation continues to deteriorate.

A person needs only 2-4 liters of water per day per day to drink, but producing food for one person requires 2000-5000 liters daily.

The question “how much water do people drink” (on average, in developed countries - from two to five liters per day) is not as important as “how much water do people eat” (according to some estimates, in developed countries this figure is 3,000 liters per day ).

For production 1 kg of wheat needs from 800 to 4,000 liters of water, and 1 kg of beef - from 2,000 to 16,000 liters, 1 kg of rice - 3450 liters.

Increased consumption of meat in the most developed countries: in 2002, Sweden consumed 76 kg of meat per person, and the United States - 125 kg per person.

According to some estimates, a Chinese consumer who ate 20 kg of meat in 1985 will eat 50 kg in 2009. This increase in consumption will increase the demand for grain. One kilogram of grain requires 1,000 kg (1,000 liters) of water. This means that an additional 390 km 3 of water per year will be required to meet the demand.

4. Demographic growth

Water scarcity will increase due to population growth. The total number of inhabitants of the planet, which is currently 6.6 billion people, annually increasing by about 80 million... Hence the growing demand for drinking water, amounting to about 64 billion cubic meters per year.

By 2025, the world's population will exceed 8 billion people. (EPE). 90% of the 3 billion people who will increase the world's population by 2050 will be from developing countries, many of which are located in areas where the current population does not have adequate access to clean water and sanitation (UN).

More than 60% of the global population growth that will occur between 2008 and 2100 will occur in sub-Saharan Africa (32%) and South Asia (30%), which together will account for 50% of the world's population 2100.

5. Urban population growth

Urbanization will continue - relocation to cities where residents are much more sensitive to water shortages. In the 20th century, there was a very sharp increase in the urban population (from 220 million to 2.8 billion). In the next few decades, we will witness its unprecedented growth in developing countries.

The number of urban dwellers is expected to grow by 1.8 billion (compared to 2005) and will account for 60% of the world's population (UN). About 95% of this growth will come from developing countries.

According to EPE, there will be 5.2 billion people by 2025. will live in cities. This level of urbanization will require the creation of a broad infrastructure for water distribution, as well as the collection and treatment of used water, which is impossible without large-scale investments.

6. Migration

Currently, there are about 192 million migrants in the world (in 2000 there were 176 million). Lack of water in desert and semi-desert regions will cause intensive migration of the population. This is expected to affect from 24 to 700 million people... The relationship between water resources and migration is a two-way process: water scarcity leads to migration, and migration, in turn, contributes to water stress. According to some estimates, in the future, coastal regions, where 15 of the 20 megacities of the world are located, will feel the greatest pressure from the influx of migrants. In the world of the next century, more and more people will live in vulnerable urban and coastal areas.

7. Climate change

In 2007, the Bali United Nations Climate Change Conference recognized that even the smallest predictable climate change in the 21st century, at twice the 0.6 ° C rise since 1900, would have severely destructive effects.

Scientists agree that global warming will lead to intensification and acceleration of global hydrological cycles. In other words, intensification can be expressed in an increase in the rate of evaporation and the amount of precipitation. It is not yet known what impact this will have on water resources, but it is expected that lack of water will affect its quality and frequency of extreme situations such as droughts and floods.

It is estimated that by 2025 the warming will be 1.6 ° C compared to the pre-industrial period (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - Groupe d'experts Intergouvernemental sur l'Evolution du Climat).

Now 85% of the world's population lives in the arid part of our planet. In 2030 47% of the world's population will live in areas with high water stress.

Only in Africa by 2020 from 75 to 250 million people may find themselves in conditions of increased pressure on water resources caused by climate change. Along with the growing demand for water; this can affect the livelihoods of the population and exacerbate water supply problems (IPCC 2007).

The impact of climate warming on water resources: an increase in temperature by 1 ° C will entail the complete disappearance of small glaciers in the Andes, which could lead to problems in the supply of water to 50 million people; an increase in temperature by 2 ° C will cause a 20-30% reduction in water resources in "unprotected" regions (southern Africa, the Mediterranean).

Global climate change and strong anthropogenic impact are causing the processes of desertification and deforestation.

According to the 2006 World Human Development Report, by 2025, the number of people experiencing water shortages will reach 3 billion, whereas today their number is 700 million... This problem will be especially acute in southern Africa, China and India.

8. Consumption growth. Improving living standards

9. Intensification of economic activity

The development of the economy and the service sector will lead to additional growth in water consumption, with most of the responsibility resting with industry rather than agriculture (EPE).

10. Growth in energy consumption

According to the calculations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the global demand for electricity should grow by 55% by 2030. Only the share of China and India will be 45% in it. Developing countries will account for 74%.

It is assumed that the amount of energy generated by hydropower plants for the period from 2004 to 2030. will grow annually by 1.7%. Its overall growth over this period will be 60%.

Dams, criticized for their serious environmental impacts and the displacement of large numbers of people, are today, however, viewed by many as a possible solution to the water problem in the face of reduced fossil energy supplies, the need to switch to cleaner energy sources, the need to adapt to different hydrological conditions and the instability caused by climate change.

11. Biofuel production

Biofuels are used to meet the growing energy needs. However, the widespread production of biofuels further reduces the acreage for growing plant foods.

Bioethanol production has tripled over the 2000-2007 period. and in 2008 amounted to about 77 billion liters. The largest producers of this type of biofuel are Brazil and the USA - their share in world production is 77%. Production of biodiesel from oilseeds, 2000-2007 increased 11 times. 67% of it is produced in the countries of the European Union (OECD-FAO, 2008)

In 2007, 23% of the maize produced in the United States was used to make ethanol, and 54% of the sugarcane crop went to Brazil. 47% of the vegetable oil produced in the countries of the European Union was used for the production of biodiesel.

However, despite the increased use of biofuels, its share in total energy production remains small. In 2008, the share of ethanol in the transport fuel market was estimated in the USA - 4.5%, in Brazil - 40%, in the EU - 2.2%. While biofuels can reduce dependence on fossil energy sources, they can place disproportionate pressure on biodiversity and the environment. The main problem is the need for a large amount of water and fertilizers to ensure the harvest. To produce 1 liter of ethanol, 1000 to 4000 liters of water are required. In 2017, global ethanol production is projected to reach 127 billion liters.

About 1/5 of the US maize crop was used in 2006/2007. for ethanol production, replacing about 3% of the country's gasoline fuel (World Development Report 2008, World Bank).

It takes about 2,500 liters of water to produce one liter of ethanol. According to the World Energy Outlook 2006, biofuel production is increasing by 7% over the year. Its production, perhaps, does not create real problems in heavy rainfall. A different situation is developing in China, and in the near future - in India.

12. Tourism

Tourism has become one of the factors behind the growth in water consumption. In Israel, the use of water by hotels along the Jordan River is considered to be the cause of the drying up of the Dead Sea, where the water level has dropped by 16.4 meters since 1977. eighteen holes can consume over 2.3 million liters of water per day. In the Philippines, the use of water for tourism threatens rice cultivation. Tourists in Grenada, Spain, typically use seven times more water than locals, and this figure is considered common in many developing tourist areas.

In Great Britain, improved sanitation and water treatment in the 1880s. contributed to a 15-year increase in life expectancy over the next four decades. (HDR, 2006)

Lack of water and sanitation costs South Africa approximately 5% of the country's GDP annually (UNDP).

Each inhabitant of developed countries uses on average 500-800 liters of water per day (300 m 3 per year); in developing countries, this figure is 60-150 liters per day (20 m 3 per year).

443 million school days are missed each year due to water-related illnesses.

Water market development

Resolving the water crisis

In the Millennium Declaration adopted by the United Nations in 2000, the international community committed itself by 2015 to halve the number of people without access to safe drinking water and to end the unsustainable use of water resources.

The relationship between poverty and water is clear: the number of people living on less than $ 1.25 a day is roughly the same as the number of those without access to safe drinking water.

Since 2001, water has been a major priority for the Natural Sciences Sector of UNESCO.

The water problem is one of the most acute, though not the only one, for developing countries.

Benefits of investing in water resources

By some estimates, every dollar invested in improving water supply and sanitation generates an income of $ 3 to $ 34.

The total losses incurred in Africa alone due to lack of access to safe water and lack of sanitation facilities is about $ US 28.4 billion per year or about 5% of GDP(WHO, 2006)

A survey of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region found that depletion of groundwater resources appears to have led to a decline in GDP in some countries (Jordan 2.1%, Yemen 1.5% , Egypt - 1.3%, Tunisia - 1.2%).

Storage of water supplies

The reservoirs provide reliable sources of water for irrigation, water supply and hydropower, and for flood regulation. For developing countries, it is no exception when 70 to 90% of the annual runoff is accumulated in reservoirs. However, in African countries, only 4% of the renewable flow is retained.

Virtual water

All countries import and export water in the form of its equivalents, i.e. in the form of agricultural and industrial products. The used water counting is defined by the concept of "virtual water".

The theory of "virtual water" in 1993 marked the beginning of a new era in the definition of agricultural and water policy in water-stressed regions and campaigns aimed at saving water resources.

About 80% of virtual water flows are associated with trade in agricultural products. Approximately 16% of the world's water depletion and pollution problems are related to production for export. The prices of the goods sold rarely reflect the costs of water use in the producing countries.

For example, Mexico imports from the US wheat, maize and sorghum, for which 7.1 Gm 3 of water is consumed in the US. If Mexico produced them at home, it would take 15.6 gm 3. The total water savings generated by international trade in virtual water in the form of agricultural products is equivalent to 6% of the total water used in agriculture.

Water recycling

The use of urban wastewater in agriculture remains limited, with the exception of a few countries with very poor water resources (40% of drainage water is reused in the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip, 15% in Israel and 16% in Egypt).

Water demineralization is becoming more and more accessible. It is used mainly for the production of drinking water (24%) and meeting the needs of industry (9%) in countries that have exhausted the limits of their renewable water sources (Saudi Arabia, Israel, Cyprus, etc.).

Water management projects

Approaches to tackling water scarcity:

• Breeding crops resistant to drought and saline soils,
• Desalination of water,
• Water storage.

Today there are political solutions aimed at reducing water losses, improving water resources management, and reducing the need for them. Many countries have already passed laws on the conservation and efficient use of water, however, these reforms have not yet yielded tangible results.

The participants of the Venice Forum (The World Conference of The Future of Science, 2008) invite the leaders of the largest international organizations and governments of the leading countries of the world to start large-scale investments in research work related to solving the specific problems of developing countries in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. In particular, they consider it necessary to start a large project as soon as possible on desalination of sea water for irrigation of deserts, primarily in tropical countries and create a special fund to support agriculture.

The structure of water consumption with a predominance of its agricultural use determines that the search for ways to solve water shortages should be carried out through the introduction of agricultural technologies that make it possible to use precipitation more fully, to achieve a reduction in losses during irrigation and an increase in field productivity.

It is in agriculture that the unproductive water consumption is highest and it is estimated that about half of it is wasted. This represents 30% of the world's total freshwater resources, which represents a huge savings potential. There are many ways to help you reduce your water use. Traditional irrigation is ineffective. In developing countries, mainly surface irrigation is used, for which dams are built. This method, simple and cheap, is used, for example, in rice growing, but a significant part of the water used (about half) is lost due to infiltration and evaporation.

It is quite easy to achieve savings if you use drip irrigation: a small amount of water is delivered directly to the plants using tubes laid above the ground (or even better - underground). This method is economical, but expensive to install.

Judging by the volume of water losses, the existing water supply and irrigation systems are considered extremely ineffective. It is estimated that in the Mediterranean region, water losses in urban water pipes are 25% and in irrigation canals 20%. At least in part, these losses can be avoided. Cities such as Tunisia (Tunisia) and Rabat (Morocco) have reduced water losses by up to 10%. Water loss control programs are under way in Bangkok (Thailand) and Manila (Philippines).

With growing deficits, some countries have already started to include water resource management strategy in their development plans. In Zambia, such an integrated water resources management policy covers all sectors of the economy. The result of such water management, linked to national development plans, was not long in coming - many donors began to include investments in the water sector in Zambia's overall aid portfolio.

Although this experience remains limited, some countries are already using treated wastewater for agricultural needs: 40% is reused in the Gaza Strip in the Palestinian Territories, 15% in Israel and 16% in Egypt.

In desert regions, it is also used seawater desalination method... It is used to obtain drinking and industrial water in countries that have reached the maximum potential for the use of renewable water resources (Saudi Arabia, Israel, Cyprus, etc.).

Thanks to the use of modern membrane technology the cost of desalination has dropped to 50 cents per 1000 liters, but it is still very expensive given the amount of water required for the production of food raw materials. Therefore, desalination is more suitable for the production of drinking water or for use in the food industry, where the added value is quite high. If the cost of desalination can be further reduced, the severity of water problems could be significantly reduced.

The Desertec Foundation has developed designs to combine desalination plants and solar thermal power plants into one system, capable of producing cheap electricity on the coast of North Africa and the Middle East. For these areas, considered the driest in the world, such a solution would be the way out of water problems.

Southeastern Anatolia Development Project in Turkey(GAP) is a multi-sectoral socio-economic development plan aimed at increasing the income of the population in this least developed region of the country. Its total estimated cost is $ 32 million, of which 17 million have already been invested by 2008. With the development of irrigation here, per capita income has tripled. Rural electrification and electricity availability have reached 90%, literacy has increased, infant mortality has decreased, business activity has increased, and land tenure has become more equitable on irrigated land. The number of cities with running water has quadrupled. This region is no longer one of the least developed in the country.

Australia also made changes to its policy through a range of measures. Restrictions have been introduced regarding watering gardens, washing cars, filling swimming pools, etc. in the largest cities of the country. In 2008, Sydney introduced double water supply system - drinking water and purified (technical) water for other needs... A desalination station is under construction by 2011. Investment in the water sector in Australia has doubled over the past 6 years from A $ 2 billion per year to A $ 4 billion per year.

UAE... In the Emirates, it was decided to invest over $ 20 billion over 8 years in the construction and launch of desalination plants. At the moment, 6 such factories have already been launched, the remaining 5 will be built within the above period of time. Thanks to these plants, it is planned to more than triple the amount of potable water. The need for investment in the construction of new factories is associated with the growth of the population in the UAE.

An ambitious project is planned in the UAE Sahara Forest to transform part of the desert into an artificial forest capable of feeding and watering thousands of people by creating extensive super greenhouses. The combination of thermal solar power plants and original desalination plants would enable Sahara Forest to literally produce food, fuel, electricity and drinking water out of nothing, transforming an entire region.

The cost of the "Sahara Forest" is estimated at 80 million euros for a complex of greenhouses with an area of ​​20 hectares, combined with solar installations with a total capacity of 10 megawatts. Greening the world's greatest desert is still a project. But pilot projects, built in the image and likeness of Sahara Forest, may well appear in several places in the coming years at once: groups of businessmen in the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait have already expressed interest in funding these unusual experiments.

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project is an ambitious program (since 2002) for the construction of dams and galleries that transport water from the highlands of Lesotho, an enclave country located in South Africa and equal in size to Belgium, to the arid regions of Gauteng province, located near Johannesburg.

Ethiopia: large investments are being made in infrastructure (construction of dams, provision of borehole water to rural areas. Throughout the country, an increase in the number of tenders for projects to improve access to drinking water, large infrastructure projects (boreholes).

In Pakistan, the government is seriously considering the issue of forcibly melting the glaciers of the Pamirs and the Himalayas.

Iran is considering projects to manage rain clouds.

In 2006, on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, biologists launched a project to create an irrigation system that collects water from fog. Large-scale construction is needed to create a structure for another "fog tower" project on the Chilean coast.

Based on the materials of marketing research on water (extracts),

For more detailed information (prices for water in different countries of the world, etc.

The planet's reserves of fresh water are not endless. Fresh water accounts for less than three percent of all water resources. In addition, the world is experiencing a constant decline in fresh water supplies.

The distribution of fresh water resources across countries is very uneven. In some regions, fresh water is abundant, and in some it is in short supply.

The largest supply of fresh water is located in the countries of Latin America - up to a third of all water resources of the planet are located there.

The second place is occupied by Asian countries - about a fourth of the water belongs to them.

The OECD countries (this association includes 29 countries) account for about twenty percent of the world's water. It gives a huge part of fresh water.

The countries left after the division of the Soviet Union, together with some African states, own another twenty percent of the world's water resources.

Finally, the Middle East and North America are at the bottom of the world's water resource list, accounting for the remaining two percent of water.

Fresh water in Africa is a scarce resource for most countries. In various African regions, there are more than three hundred million people without a full source of drinking water.

A huge problem is also observed with sewage treatment systems in African countries. In many regions they are simply not available, in others the quality of the existing ones is at a very low level.

As a result of the current conditions, more than five hundred thousand people do not receive water of sufficient quality, which leads to many infectious diseases. According to statistics, it is the unacceptable quality of water in regions with a low standard of living that causes more than eighty percent of all diseases.

If we consider reservoirs, then the largest reserves of fresh water are concentrated in. It is the world's largest freshwater treasury located in Russia. There are other large freshwater lakes, which together with rivers provide the main resource for human consumption.

Some of the water resources are drawn from underground reservoirs. A significant amount of fresh water (up to 90% of all reserves) is located in glaciers (for example, in Greenland and Antarctica), but it is difficult to convert them into water, especially since they are located at a considerable distance from human habitats.

Taking into account the constantly growing needs of the world's population for fresh water, only rational use of resources and their economical use can ensure the continued existence of life on the planet.

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Life on planet Earth originated from water, and it is water that continues to support this life. The human body consists of 80% water, it is actively used in food, light and heavy industries. Therefore, a sober assessment of the available reserves is extremely important. After all, water is the source of life and technological progress. The reserves of fresh water on Earth are not endless, so the ecologist is increasingly reminded of the need for rational use of natural resources.

Let's deal with ourselves first. Fresh water is one that contains no more than one tenth of a percent of salt. When calculating reserves, not only liquid from natural sources is taken into account, but also atmospheric gas and reserves in glaciers.

World reserves

More than 97% of all water reserves are in the oceans - it is salty and unsuitable for human use without special treatment. Slightly less than 3% is fresh water. Unfortunately, it is not all available:

• 2.15% is accounted for by glaciers, icebergs and mountain ice.
• About one thousandth of a percent is gas in the atmosphere.
• And only 0.65% of the total amount is available for consumption and is found in freshwater rivers and lakes.

At the moment, it is generally accepted that freshwater reservoirs are an inexhaustible source. This is really so, the world reserves cannot exhaust themselves even with irrational use - the amount of fresh water will be restored due to the planetary circulation of substances. More than half a million cubic meters of fresh water evaporate from the oceans every year. This liquid takes the form of clouds and then replenishes freshwater sources with precipitation.

The problem is that readily available supplies may run out. We are not talking about the fact that a person will drink all the water from rivers and lakes. The problem is the contamination of drinking water sources.

Planetary consumption and scarcity

Consumption is distributed as follows:

• About 70% is spent on maintaining the agricultural sector. This indicator varies greatly from region to region.
• The entire world industry spends about 22%.
• Individual household consumption accounts for 8%.

The available freshwater resources available cannot fully meet the needs of humanity for two reasons: uneven distribution and pollution.

A shortage of fresh water is observed in the following areas:

• Arabian Peninsula. Consumption exceeds available resources by more than five times. And this count is only for individual household consumption. Water on the Arabian Peninsula is extremely expensive - it has to be transported by tankers, pipelines pulled, and seawater desalination plants built.
• Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan. The level of consumption is equal to the amount of available water resources. But with the development of the economy and industry, the risk is extremely high that the consumption of fresh water will increase, which means that fresh water resources will be depleted.
• Iran uses 70% of its renewable freshwater resources.
• All of North Africa is also under threat - 50% of fresh water resources are used.

At first glance, it might seem that the problems are specific to drylands. However, it is not. The largest deficit is observed in hot countries with a high population density. For the most part, these are developing countries, which means that further growth in consumption can be expected.

For example, the Asian region has the largest area of ​​freshwater reservoirs, and the continent Australia has the smallest. At the same time, a resident of Australia is provided with a resource more than 10 times better than a resident of the Asian region. This is due to differences in population density - 3 billion inhabitants in the Asian region versus 30 million in Australia.

Nature management

Depletion of fresh water supplies leads to a pronounced shortage in more than 80 countries around the world. The reduction in stocks affects the economic growth and social well-being of a number of states. The solution to the problem is the search for new sources, since reducing consumption will not be able to significantly change the state of affairs. The share of the annual depletion of fresh water reserves in the world is, according to various estimates, from 0.1% to 0.3%. That's a lot if you keep in mind that not all freshwater sources are available for instant use.

Calculations show that there are countries (mainly the Middle East and North Africa) in which reserves are being depleted slowly, but water is not available due to pollution - more than 95% of fresh water is not potable, this volume requires careful and technologically complex purification.

It makes no sense to hope for a decrease in the needs of the population - consumption only grows every year. As of 2015, more than 2 billion people were more or less limited in consumption, food or household. According to the most optimistic forecasts, with the same consumption of fresh water reserves on Earth, there will be enough until 2025. After that, all countries with a population of more than 3 million people will find themselves in a zone of serious deficit. There are almost 50 such countries. This number shows that more than 25% of countries will find themselves in deficit conditions.

As for the situation in the Russian Federation, there is enough fresh water in Russia; the Russian region will be one of the last to face shortage problems. But this does not mean that the state should not take part in the international regulation of this problem.

Ecological problems

Fresh water resources on the planet are unevenly distributed - this leads to a pronounced shortage in specific regions, along with population density. It is clear that it is impossible to solve this problem. But you can cope with another - with the pollution of existing freshwater reservoirs. The main impurities-pollutants are salts of heavy metals, products of the oil refining industry, and chemical reagents. The liquid contaminated with them requires additional expensive processing.

Water reserves on Earth are also being depleted due to human intervention in hydro-rotation. So, the construction of dams led to a drop in the water level in rivers such as the Mississippi, Yellow River, Volga, and Dnieper. The construction of hydroelectric power plants provides cheap electricity, but damages freshwater sources.

The current strategy to tackle the deficit is desalination, which is becoming more widespread, especially in eastern countries. And this is despite the high cost and energy consumption of the process. At the moment, the technology fully justifies itself, allowing to replenish natural reserves with artificial ones. But the technological capacity may not be sufficient for desalination if the depletion of fresh water supplies continues at the same rate.

Currently, water, especially fresh water, is an extremely important strategic resource. In recent years, water consumption in the world has increased, and there are fears that there will simply not be enough water for everyone. According to the World Commission on Water, today each person needs 20 to 50 liters of water every day for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene.

However, about a billion people in 28 countries around the world do not have access to so many vital resources. About 2.5 billion people live in areas with moderate to severe water stress. It is assumed that by 2025 this number will increase to 5.5 billion and will make up two-thirds of the world's population.

, in connection with the negotiations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic on the use of transboundary waters, made a rating of 10 countries with the largest reserves of water resources in the world:

10 Place

Myanmar

Resources - 1080 cubic meters km

Per capita - 23.3 thousand cubic meters. m

The rivers of Myanmar - Burma are subject to the country's monsoon climate. They originate in the mountains, but feed not on glaciers, but on precipitation.

More than 80% of the annual river supply is rain. In winter, the rivers become shallow, some of them, especially in central Burma, dry up.

There are few lakes in Myanmar; the largest of them is the Indoji tectonic lake in the north of the country with an area of ​​210 sq. km.

9 Place

Venezuela

Resources - 1,320 cubic meters km

Per capita - 60.3 thousand cubic meters. m

Nearly half of Venezuela's 1,000 rivers run off the Andes and the Guiana Highlands into the Orinoco, Latin America's third largest river. Its pool covers an area of ​​about 1 million square meters. km. The Orinoco drainage basin covers approximately four-fifths of Venezuela's territory.

8 Place

India

Resources - 2085 cubic meters km

Per capita - 2.2 thousand cubic meters. m

India has a large amount of water resources: rivers, glaciers, seas and oceans. The most significant rivers are the Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Godavari, Krishna, Narbada, Mahanadi, Kaveri. Many of them are important as sources of irrigation.

Eternal snows and glaciers in India occupy about 40 thousand square meters. km of territory.

7 Place

Bangladesh

Resources - 2,360 cubic meters km

Per capita - 19.6 thousand cubic meters. m

There are many rivers flowing in Bangladesh, and large rivers can flood for weeks. Bangladesh has 58 transboundary rivers, and the issues arising from the use of water resources are very acute in discussions with India.

6 Place

Resources - 2,480 cubic meters km

Per capita - 2.4 thousand cubic meters. m

The United States occupies a vast territory with many rivers and lakes.

5 Place

Indonesia

Resources - 2,530 cubic meters km

Per capita - 12.2 thousand cubic meters. m

On the territories of Indonesia, a fairly large amount of precipitation falls all year round, because of this, the rivers are always full-flowing and play an essential role in the irrigation system.

4 Place

China

Resources - 2 800 cubic meters km

Per capita - 2.3 thousand cubic meters. m

China has 5-6% of the world's water reserves. But China is the most populous country in the world, and its water distribution is extremely uneven.

3rd place

Canada

Resources - 2,900 cubic meters km

Per capita - 98.5 thousand cubic meters. m

Canada is one of the richest countries in the world with lakes. The Great Lakes (Upper, Huron, Erie, Ontario) are located on the border with the United States, connected by small rivers into a huge basin with an area of ​​more than 240 thousand square meters. km.

Less significant lakes lie on the territory of the Canadian Shield (Big Bear, Big Slave, Athabasca, Winnipeg, Winnipegosis), etc.

2nd place

Russia

Resources - 4500 cubic meters km

Per capita - 30.5 thousand cubic meters. m

Russia is washed by the waters of 12 seas belonging to three oceans, as well as the inland Caspian Sea. On the territory of Russia there are over 2.5 million large and small rivers, more than 2 million lakes, hundreds of thousands of swamps and other water resources.

1st place

Brazil

Resources - 6,950 cubic meters km

Per capita - 43.0 thousand cubic meters. m

The rivers of the Brazilian Highlands have significant hydropower potential. The largest lakes in the country are Mirim and Patos. Main rivers: Amazon, Madeira, Rio Negro, Parana, São Francisco.

Also list of countries by total renewable water resources(based on the CIA Directory of the World).