"There is a water crisis today. But the crisis is not about having too little water to satisfy our needs. It is a crisis of managing water so badly that billions of people - and the environment - suffer badly." World Water Vision Report

Whilst recently researching and writing our blog "Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink…" on the shortage of water around the world, it made us want to explore the issue further. What solutions are there to the global water shortages? Is there anything we can do to help the situation? What is the future for our drinking water supply?

  • Water management and reducing water consumption in day to day life is a simple way to stop the situation from worsening. Realistic measures can be taken now, by all of us. Almost everywhere water is wasted and changes in food habits for example may reduce the problem – especially when you consider that growing potatoes requires only 100 litres of water whereas 1 kg of beef requires 13,000 litres.
  • Reduce the water ‘footprint' of goods – unbelievably even products such as a pair of jeans, by the time you take into consideration cotton harvesting, processing and washing, consumes around 3,000 gallons of water! The water used for producing and transporting various goods should be reviewed and reduced wherever possible.
  • Desalination is considered to be a leading solution to the world's shortage of water. Ocean water is filtered and distilled into drinking water. However the process demands a huge amount of energy and specialist equipment and is very expensive. Huge desalination plants have been built in countries including Australia, Africa, Spain and India. The large amount of water that can be distilled along with product innovation in designing equipment that requires less energy means that this is big business...
  • Storing rainwater – particularly in rainy countries water can be collected for reuse and can significantly increase water supply. On a large scale, big areas can be used for damming rainwater and on a smaller scale households can reuse water and reduce its consumption. So invest in a water butt and do your bit!
  • Clean existing water – by simply boiling water it can make it safer to drink, however it consumes a lot of energy. An alternative would be to use a water filter or purification to clean the water. There is a lot of innovation happening in this area at the moment in a bid to develop a cheaper and more environmentally friendly solution that can be used on a wider scale.