The use of water Essay Example for Free

The use of water Essay The use of water has been steadily increasing recently all around the world. Some of the reasons that account for this are due to the improvement of living standards, population expansion and human activities including but not limited to, agriculture, industrial and personal-use like, cooking, washing of cars and clothes. In Kuwait for example, the consumption rate of water increased rapidly specially after the discovery of oil in the 1930s. One can just imagine how a small country with a size of 17,820 km2 and a population of 2,505,559 (around 1,291,354 are non-Kuwaiti citizens) has seen tremendous rate of increase in water. Kuwait, consisting of flat desert with arid soil, little or no irrigation water and harsh climate is located in the Middle East region and is characterized by its hot climate in summer with high evaporation rate (long season), and another nearly cold climate season, winter, with a small rate of rain (short season). In the past, Kuwait counted on rain water found on the surface in shallow wells because there was no other water source. After some time, in 1905, a large fresh water capacity well was discovered in Hawally area. However all of those wells were no longer sufficient because of the increasing growth of population and the small rate of seasonal rain. Accordingly, Shaat Al-Arab (in Iraq) was the alternative solution at that time utilizing dhows (special ships) that brought fresh water which were stored in tanks. Thus, a primitive network for distribution was established. After the first oil shipment was effected in 1946, the wealth age of Kuwait began and from then Kuwait had to look for alternative industrial solutions. Two of the main concerns orf the government involved available water and electricity for the country’s development and construction expansion. In fact the water consumption in Kuwait is divided into two main parts, fresh water from desalination plants, and brackish water which usually come from groundwater. Both of them are delivered to households, farms, irrigation and industrial facilities but in separate pipes. However, brackish water delivers only two days per week (specific days for each town). Brackish water is distributed through network pipe lines which are parallel to the fresh water distribution line and is provided from the main distribution water system. It is used for blending with distilled water, irrigation and landscaping as well as for house-hold purposes, livestock watering and construction work, while the fresh water is for the human use. Moreover, the brackish water is distributed for consumers for free (free of charge). The consumption of both types of water has increased because of the growth of population and lifestyle development especially when the oil was discovered and Kuwait became a developed rich country. News released by (†¦) states that the Ministry of Electricity and Water indicated the need of new desalination plants which aim at producing 375 million imperial gallons per day due to the increase of the water consumption. There were also reports that in the final quarter of 2006, freshwater distribution was lower than the estimated consumption. The minister also noted that the consumption of fresh water in November 2006 was around 303. 6 Million Imperial Gallons (MIG) and in 2005 of the same month it was at 279. 6 MIG. Going back to the fifties, it is to be noted that the population of Kuwait was only ten thousand then and it reached around two million during the nineties which resulted in an increase of water consumption. Specifically, in 1957, the consumption of fresh water was 648 MIG and increased to 6638 MIG in 1970. In 1989 it reached 47605 MIG but it has decreased due to the Iraqi invasion in 1991 to 30814 MIG. The consumption of fresh water is gradually increasing since 1992 and reached 67464 MIG in 1996. For more details, the consumption rate until year 2005 is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: shows the gross consumption and the daily average consumption of fresh water from 1988 to 2005. On the other hand, 527 MIG was the consumption of brackish water in 1957, and then it went up to 9750 MIG in 1980 and increased in 1989 to 17998 MIG. The fresh water consumption decreased in 1991 due to the Iraqi invasion, brackish water consumption has decreased for the same reason to 1669 MIG. Since 1992, brackish water consumption is increasing and has reached 19697 MIG in 1994. There was a slight decrease due to the change in supply system in 1995 to 15957 MIG. The consumption of brackish water in 1996 has increased again to 17875 MIG. For more details, the consumption rate until year 2005 is shown in Figure 2. Figure 2: shows the gross consumption of brackish water from 1989 to 2005. Most of the consumers received the two types of water by the distribution network but some of them were received by car-based tanks (tanks) specially the new towns that did not get the distribution network service yet. The distribution network makes the consumption rate higher and easier because of the availability of water while consumers from tanks have limited water. The consumption of both types of water usually increases in summer due to the arid location, very hot climate and dust during the season resulting in the need for more cleaning, cooling and irrigation, etc. For more details, the consumption rate per month for year 2004 and 2005 is shown in figure 3 (fresh water) and 4 (brackish water). Figure 3: shows the production and consumption of water monthly for year 2004 and 2005. Figure 4: shows the production and consumption of brackish monthly for year 2004 and 2005. Agriculture has not been a priority compared to other sectors of development. According to the weakness of natural resources and the availability of fresh water, Kuwait’s agriculture used to get water from the brackish groundwater or some fresh water wells (very rare and some are human made) in some places such as, Al Abdily, Al Wafra and Fontas. Since the introduction desalination plants and the improvement done to the distribution networks, agriculture has developed and expanded. Farms in Al Wafra and Al Abdily became the highest water consumers in Kuwait. These farms are divided into two sections: †¢ Private farms which consumes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¢ Government farms which consumes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Meanwhile, irrigation for planting streets, decorating roads, deck dress towns and public parks are also expanding in Kuwait. Some of these plants are irrigated by a specific distribution system, drip irrigation and others by water tanks. Kuwait is regarded as a non industrial country compared with other countries like USA or Japan but it has some minor industrial facilities. Most of its products are produced from oil such as those from plastic, aluminium, and the most important manufacturing part. It must be noted that Kuwait is one of the biggest countries in producing oil for exportation. Oil derivatives are used to cover public needs such as, pesticides, benzine, diesel, plastic, blacktop etc. This makes the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) as the company with the greatest water consumption section when compared with other industrial facilities. In 1951, the consumption of water was 80000 G/d for the KOC. Currently, the production of oil is around 2. 5 million barrels per day and this means the need for water required for oil processes such as cooling systems, cleaning, pumping and many others. Due to the growth in oil production, the mount water needed has increased sharply compared to the one consumed in the fifties. However, in the past, technology was not as developed as now, and currently part of the water used by the KOC comes from the oil production wells themselves. In contrast, while the oil is pumped out, water comes out as well but this water is usually very acidic (effluent). This water is first treated to reduce its acidity to a level close to the sea water level otherwise it can be harmful to the environment. The water is then pumped back to the ground in order to create enough pressure to push the oil up. When the amount of this effluent water is not enough, additional amount of water (sea water) is used to maintain such pressure. In some cases, average quality water is also produced; this water is treated and used for cooling systems and cleaning. Another source of water consumption is the desalination factories where they use non-negligible amount water for cleaning and cooling system in order to continue their processes (see figure 5). Figure : shows the water consumption inside the desalination plants in 2005. The consumption for households is the largest among all and is the priority concern in Kuwait. Since Kuwait became one of the richest countries, the lifestyles of most of the people there have completely changed. For example, people in Kuwait own big houses and the average number of bathrooms in each house is approximately six and around five cars per house (2-3 cars for people in each apartment). Additionally, the prices of water became very cheap compared with the income of each person. Furthermore, a statement released by (†¦) says that Kuwaiti people wash their cars daily for at least four days a week. Clearly, these reasons will result in more consumption of water besides the hot, dry season and dust storms in summer. Therefore, the consumption of water in summer is more than in winter because of the dust which needs more cleaning (the house, cars, cloths, more showering etc) and cooling for the very hot climate. It is to be noted that most of the houses in Kuwait have gardens (average size of 8 x 6 meters), and this means more water is needed for gardens’ irrigation. In 1960, the mean consumption was 4851 IG per capita and this has further increased in 1970 to 9252 IG. In 1980 it reached 16734 IG, then it increased to 29583 IG in 1992 and in the year 2000 it was 36931 GI. In 2005, the mean per capita consumption was 37279 GI which estimated as one of the highest in the world. Figure 6: shows the consumption of fresh water per capita from 1985 to 2005. The increase in consumption is largely due to the residential areas in Kuwait which have introduced piped water, together with the increase of population and the development of new residential areas. Finally, the consumption of freshwater per capita has reached its saturation levels. Conclusion It is evident that water consumption in Kuwait has increased rapidly in recent years as compared to the past two decades. It has been considered one of the current major concerns since the consumption has been very high as compared with the country size and population. The increase of water consumption is due to several factors. One of these is the discovery of oil in 1991 which made Kuwait one of the richest country, having more facilities and activities most of which are water-based such as big gardens and swimming pools and artificial aqua. Although it has decreased in 1991 due to the Iraqi invasion, it gained momentum and started to increase rapidly again after the war. Water consumption has also increased due to the increase of agriculture and industrial activities.