science

Water issues in developing countries

Water issues in developing countries is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Water issues in developing countries rather than just read about it. In short: Over one billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to clean water. Issues include scarcity of drinking water, poor infrastructure for water and sanitation access, water pollution, and low levels of water security.

Key takeaways

Water issues in developing countries belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Water issues in developing countries to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Water issues in developing countries from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Over one billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to clean water. Issues include scarcity of drinking water, poor infrastructure for water and sanitation access, water pollution, and low levels of water security. The main barriers to addressing water problems in developing nations include poverty, costs of infrastructure, and poor governance. The effects of climate change on the water cycle can make these problems worse. The contamination of water remains a significant issue because of unsanitary social practices that pollute water sources. Almost 80% of disease in developing countries is caused by poor water quality and other water-related issues that cause deadly health conditions such as cholera, malaria, and diarrhea. It is estimated that diarrhea takes the lives of 1.5 million children every year, majority of whom are under the age of five. Access to freshwater is unevenly distributed across the globe, with more than two billion people living in countries with significant water stress. According to UN-Water, by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in areas across the globe with complete water scarcity. Populations in developing countries attempt to access potable water from a variety of sources, such as groundwater, aquifers, or surface waters, which can be easily contaminated. Freshwater access is also constrained by insufficient wastewater and sewage treatment. Progress has been made over recent decades to improve water access, but billions still live in conditions with very limited access to consistent and clean drinking water.

Problems

Water scarcity

People need fresh water for survival, personal care, agriculture, industry, and commerce. The 2019 UN World Water Development report noted that about four billion people, representing nearly two-thirds of the world population, experience severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year. With rising demand, the quality and supply of water have diminished. Water use has been increasing worldwide by about 1% per year since the 1980s. Global water demand is expected to continue increasing at a similar rate until 2050, accounting for an increase of 20–30% above 2019 usage levels. The steady rise in use has principally been led by surging demand in developing countries and emerging economies. Per capita water use in the majority of these countries remains far below water use in developed countries—they are merely catching up. Agriculture (including irrigation, livestock, and aquaculture) is by far the largest water consumer, accounting for 69% of annual water withdrawals globally. Agriculture's share of total water use is likely to fall in comparison with other sectors, but it will remain the largest user overall in terms of both withdrawal and consumption. Industry (including power generation) accounts for 19% and households for 12%.

Water pollution

After accounting for availability or access, water quality can reduce the amount of water for consumption, sanitation, agriculture, and industrial purposes. Acceptable water quality depends on its intended purpose: water that is unfit for human consumption could still be used in industrial or agriculture applications. Parts of the world are experiencing extensive deterioration of water quality, rendering the water unfit for agricultural or industrial use. For example, in China, 54% of the Hai River basin surface water is so polluted that it is considered un-usable.

Safe water is defined as potable water that will not harm the consumer. It is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals: between 1990 and 2015 to "reduce by half the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation." Even having access to an 'improved water source' does not guarantee the water's quality, as it could lack proper treatment and become contaminated during transport or home storage. A study by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that estimates of safe water could be overestimated if accounting for water quality, especially if the water sources were poorly maintained. Polluted drinking water can lead to debilitating or deadly water-borne diseases, such as fever, cholera, dysentery, diarrhea and others. UNICEF cites fecal contamination and high levels of naturally occurring arsenic and fluoride as two of the world's major water quality concerns. Approximately 71% of all illnesses in developing countries are caused by poor water and sanitation conditions. Worldwide, contaminated water leads to 4,000 diarrhea deaths a day in children under 5. However, gaps in wastewater treatment (the amount of wastewater to be treated is greater than the amount that is actually treated) represent the most significant contribution to water pollution and water quality deterioration. In the majority of the developing world, most of the collected wastewater is returned to surface waters directly without treatment, reducing the water's quality. In China, only 38% of China's urban wastewater is treated, and although 91% of China's industrial waste water is treated, it still releases extensive toxins into the water supply. The amount of possible wastewater treatment can also be compromised by the networks required to bring the wastewater to the treatment plants. It is estimated that 15% of China's wastewater treatment facilities are not being used to capacity due to a limited pipe network to collect and transport wastewater. In São Paulo, Brazil, a lack of sanitation infrastructure results in the pollution of the majority of its water supply and forces the city to import over 50% of its water from outside watersheds. Polluted water increases a developing country's operating costs, as lower quality water is more expensive to treat. In Brazil, polluted water from the Guarapiranga Reservoir costs $0.43 per m3 to treat to usable quality, compared to only $0.10 per m3 for water coming from the Cantareira Mountains.

Water security

Managing water safety To address water scarcity, organizations have focused on increasing the supply of fresh water, mitigating its demand, and enabling reuse and recycling.

Clean water plans

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Water issues in developing countries

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Water issues in developing countries claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Water issues in developing countries before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Water issues in developing countries ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Water issues in developing countries

In research: Water issues in developing countries appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Water issues in developing countries in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Water issues in developing countries is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Global environmental issues, Right to health, Sanitation, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Water issues in developing countries outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Water issues in developing countries in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Water issues in developing countries means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Water issues in developing countries out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Water issues in developing countries in simple terms?

Why does Water issues in developing countries matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Water issues in developing countries?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Water issues in developing countries.