Being among the most important resources in the world, fresh water is essential for every living creature including people. The biggest problem is that only 3 percents of the water is fresh and not all of this fresh water is usable, as one part of it is locked in the glaciers and ice caps and the other part is located in remote areas where people cannot use it. Actually, this means that we can use only 0.08 percent of the water to meet our daily needs. Can you imagine the mankind to use just 0.08 percent for drinking, manufacturing, environment, leisure, sanitation, etc?

A recent study conducted in 2007 revealed that over 1.2 billion people around the world suffer from the water scarcity, and they do not have access to water enough to meet their daily needs. Another 1.6 billion of people suffer economically from the water scarcity, i.e. their local authorities cannot satisfy the rising water demand in these areas due to the insufficient investments or lack of human capacity.

More than a half of the world population lives in urban centers, which causes pollution to the nearby natural water sources. This is mainly caused by industrial and urban wastewater; that is why it is critical to develop efficient systems for wastewater treatment. The wastewater itself contains many hazardous pollutants like pathogens and heavy metals, which can seriously treat the health and even life of people, who life in or near the big cities.

Because of the limited quantity of the fresh water, people have directed their efforts at water management and optimization of its use. In many areas, water comes in the form of harvested rainwater, so people should learn how to manage it efficiently. The rainwater is usually collected in barrels to be used in those periods when there is little or no rain and for agricultural purposes. The groundwater needs to be utilized as well. People drill wells and use this water both for drinking and agricultural purposes. People should also revive and manage lakes that can collect the water to make it accessible to the nearby residents.

A large portion of 70% of freshwater is used for food production in agriculture. This is explicable, as the world population increases each and every year requiring more and more food to survive. The most part of the population is concentrated in the big cities, which deteriorates the problem with water scarcity even more.

The water problem should be resolved globally by taking the following six important steps. However, each and every individual should consciously contribute to the water problem to be resolved.

We need to start by improving all existing water related data. We need to learn how to protect our environment from any further pollution. We have to reform our water governance and to revitalize the agricultural water use. We need to manage all industrial water demand and provide an access to the water resources to women and children in poor regions.

These steps should be taken globally to avoid water crisis that would be devastating for our world. All industries and urban centers need to learn how to use water efficiently, so that people can increase the water for agricultural purposes to meet the increasing demand for more and more food.

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