The Crisis in Clean Water:
Water Purification
HIGHLIGHTS
ombating disease . . . providing clean water and safe food . . . developing new
sources of energy . . . confronting climate change. Hello, from Washington, DC,
this is Global Challenges, a special podcast from the American Chemical Soci-
ety — whose 160,000 members make up the world’s largest scientific society. Today’s headlines are a drumbeat of dilemmas that affect the everyday lives of people everywhere. Global
Challenges takes you behind those headlines for eye-opening glimpses of how chemistry
is responding to those challenges — improving and sometimes saving people’s lives. You’ll
hear the stories and meet the scientists whose discoveries are helping to make life longer,
healthier, and happier for millions of people. Today’s global challenge in this ongoing saga of
chemistry for life: providing a thirsty world with clean drinking water.
From San Diego to Santiago to Seville to Sydney, billions of people are facing shortages of
clean water. At least 80 countries already have water shortages that threaten health and economic activity. More than 1 billion people have no access to clean drinking water.
And things are getting worse. World population is growing. Farms, factories, and cities are
using more water. Demand for water is doubling every 21 years — and faster in some areas.
Global climate change adds an unsettling element of uncertainly to what many experts
term a global water crisis. What effect will global warming have on water supplies to homes,
factories, and farms — especially during parched summer months when demand peaks?
◆ The “Professor of
Plumbing” says water
may stagnate and go
bad in home pipes.
◆ Water contaminated
with disease-causing
bacteria claims a terrible toll from diarrheal diseases.
◆ About 1.5 million
children die annually in the developing
world due to contaminated water.
◆ The “Miracle Packet,”
a mini-water filtration plant the size
of a tea bag, purifies
water inexpensively.
A Naturally Scarce Resource
Look down at Earth from space and you see a sparkling blue-and-white jewel. Most of what
you see is water. Earth is the “water planet.” How can a planet with 71 percent of its surface
covered by water face a water shortage?
In reality, we face a natural shortage of water that people can use. About 97 percent of
Earth’s water is saltwater in the oceans and brackish water on land. Polar ice caps and glaciers hold another 2 percent in their frozen embrace. Barely 1 percent of the world’s total
supply of water is in lakes, rivers, and groundwater sources. This is freshwater that people
can use.
◆ Cell phones take on
new role in telemedicine, helping to diagnose water-borne
disease.
The Liquid Fantastic
This natural shortage involves a substance that — second only to air — is the most essential
material for life. As Dr. Julie Beth Zimmerman put it, shortages of clean water are at the basis
of other global problems.
DiD YOU KNOW?
Water covers 71% of Earth’s surface.
Barely 1% is freshwater that people can use.
It takes 39,000 gallons of water to make one car.
A 5-minute shower uses 50–100 quarts of water.
Water is the only substance that exists naturally as a solid, liquid, and gas.
The United Nations declared 2005–2015 “Water for Life,” the International
Decade for Action on water-related issues.
