Page 16 - trends in automation

A t first glance, water appears to
be an inexhaustible resource.
But appearances can be
deceiving. Although three
quarters of the earth’s surface is covered
by water, only around 0.3 per cent of this
is avail­able as drinking water. Of the
around 1.38 billion cubic kilometres of
water reserves that we have on our
planet, only around 48 million cubic
kilometres are fresh water. Most of it is
not accessible for direct use, as it is
bound up as polar and glacial ice or
permafrost. The rest of the world’s water,
around 97.5 per cent, consists of salt and
brackish water.
Growth demands responsibility
The element that keeps our world moving
doesn’t just sustain the circle of life, it lies
at the very heart of our modern culture.
Rain is the source of our drinking water
supply and allows us to grow crops and
farm fish. Rivers are still one of the
most important means of transporting
goods today. And water is one of the
key elements in industry.
Conserving water by using it efficiently is
one of the key objectives for the coming
decades. People need manufactured
goods, but the production of these goods
requires huge volumes of water, while
people also need clean water to live.
Industry should be urgently seeking
ways to ensure that water returned to
nature after it has been used is clean.
However, this is a complex and expensive
task. The treatment of wastewater poses
major economic and political challenges,
not just in developing and newly
industrialised nations.
Water consumption is rising
The General Secretary of the 5th World
Water Forum, Oktay Tabasaran, said
in May 2009 that worldwide water
consumption would increase by 40 per
cent over the next 20 years. With current
consumption at around 4.5 billion cubic
metres of water annually, it is set to
reach 6.9 billion cubic metres in two
decades according to Tabasaran’s
predictions. Worldwide water
consumption has tripled in the last 50
years. The main reasons for this are
population growth, increasing
urbanisation and industrialisation as well
as global climate change.
H2O
Water is one of nature’s miracles,
and is unique in its variety of
physical forms. Water is different
from all other chemical compounds
on earth because it is the only
molecule that exists as a liquid, solid
and gas. The term ‘water’ is only
used in reference to the liquid state.
The solid state is ice, while in
its gaseous state it is called water
vapour.