Student’s Name: Crystal
Student ID #: QING28742
Teacher: Mr. Misir
Due Date: 8 December 2014
Word Count: 1689
Table of Contents Abstract 1 Introduction 1 Methodology 2 Finding 2 Discussion 4 Conclusions and Recommendations 7 Appendices 8 Reference List 9
Abstract
The Danube River, which is the second largest river in the world, has suffered from a serious water scarcity problem. Based on the research on the Internet, the water pollution and climate change are two of the main reasons of the water scarcity issue. By comparing and contrasting three criteria with specific data, the water filtration system solution was chosen because it has less fund, shorter time in process, and more feasible than the interbasin water transfer. In the conclusion part, the success of the water filtration is confirmed and the further ideas of this research are conducted.
Introduction
Water scarcity issue is so significant that it has already risen to a global issue which many people around the world suffer from. “By 2025, 1.8 billion people will experience absolute water scarcity, and 2/3 of the world will be living under water-stressed conditions (Madison Powers, 2014).”
The Danube River, which originates from Germany and passes though ten European countries and four capital cities, is the second longest river in Europe, which is 2,860 kilometers long. There are 20 million people rely on the Danube River. (River Danube: Facts and Information, 2013) However, such a well-known river now has been encountered the water scarcity issue as well owing to the extreme industrial and agricultural pollutions and the harsh climate changes.
The purpose of this research is to compare two solutions to the water scarcity problem according to three chosen criteria and find the better one to solve this problem. And the two solutions are water filtration system, which has already be used to save the Danube River, and the interbasin water transfer, which means to transfer the water from rich rivers to some water-deficient area. By analyzing the data provided in the finding part, eventually the water filtration system solution is chosen.
Methodology
To illustrate which solution is better, three criteria are used: the cost, total time of the process, and the feasibility, which means the practicability of the process. The method is to compare and contrast the specific data in each criterion about these two solutions. If one solution has more benefits and fewer weaknesses than the other according to these three criteria, that can be chosen as the better one. About the resources collected in this research, in order to make sure that all the resources are reliable, the Internet references are chosen from proprietary websites which are conducted in specific organizations. Also, the opinions made by the author in this report are supported by the reference list shown below which includes all reliable professors and publishers.
Finding
Issue 1—water pollution
The water pollution has already been one of the most serious problems in Danube River. It is reported that there are only 3% of water in Earth is freshwater. (FACTS ABOUT WATER POLLUTION, 2014) For industry aspect, the hazardous substances such as heavy material and oil would be poured into rivers by many factories. And for agriculture, farmers would use pesticides to grow their crops, which allows excessive nutrient loads and toxic component flow into the river.
Issue 2—climate change
The climate change can also influence the water scarcity negatively in Danube River. Severe climate disasters such as drought and acid rain would not only contaminate the water quality, but also eliminate the water quantity. According to the figure given by Amer Cohadzic and Marko Drobnjakovic in 2011, with a total of 14 spots where the Danube level is below the river navigation minimum of 250 centimeters, there are 6 spots where the waters are as shallow as 160 centimeters.
Solution 1—water filtration system
Water filtration system is a kind of method that has already been used in the Danube River. Compressed solid carbon is the main material in water filtration. Its procedure is very simple according to Appendix A. When water passes through the filter, the sediments in the water can be trapped by the carbon material. Then, a kind of chemical substance called chlorine would be used to remove the microbe in the water. Finally the clean water can be provided.
For the cost, the costs of water filtration system consist of the physical and chemical substances’ cost and the vessels’ cost, and the home or office water filtration system usually costs $1,000 - $2,500. For the total time of process, to install a filtration, it will take one day to completely finish the work. And the most effective water filtration system can just finish purifying the water in a moment. (HOW TO INSTALL A WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM, 2014) And for the feasibility, the filtration system requires only the certain space which can accommodate large-size containers and the simple equipment for installing and using the water filtration.
Solution 2— interbasin water transfer program
In order to help Danube River get enough water supplies, another original solution is the interbasin water transfer program which has already happened in China. In Appendix B, the main chain of this program is shown. To send the water to target area, first, the water from water-rich area called first supplier is piped to the second supplier called node1. After the water pass from one node to another node, eventually the water can be provided to the end supplier by the pipes.
For the cost, the costs of interbasin water transfer include the pipes’ cost and the construction costs in each node. For China, over 20,000 million dollars were spent on this program. For the total time of this program, for China, nearly 2 years were used to establish the whole program. (Interbasin Water Transfer: Economic Water Quality-Based Model, 2010) And for the feasibility, such a large-scale program not only requires enough places, but also needs plenty of workforces, construction materials, and even effective transportation according to previous attempts.
Discussion
Thesis statement
The thesis is that comparing to the water filtration system and interbasin water transfer program, the better solution to solve the water scarcity problem in Danube River is the water filtration system. It is well supported by all three criteria, which assert that water filtration has fewer funds, shorter time, and more feasibility than the interbasin water transfer.
Criteria 1—cost
According to the costs of each solution in the finding part, the better one can be easily found. In the introduction part it is reported there are 20 million people using the Danube River. For the water filtration, suggest there are five people in each family, so the total home number is approximately 4 million. And according to the finding part, the home water filtration system usually costs $1,000 - $2,500, so the total spend on water filtration program is mainly 8,000 million dollars. And for the cost of interbasin water transfer, over 20,000 million dollars were spent on this program. So it is clear that the cost of interbasin water transfer is far more than that of water filtration. Meanwhile, the scale of Danube River is much larger than that of all rivers in China. Thus, the fund of Danube should be more expensive than China. Therefore, the solution which can cost less is the water filtration system.
Criteria 2—time
There is a big difference in total time of the process between these two solutions. From the finding part it is said that to install a filtration, one day would used to completely finish the work. That means people can use clean water only after one day when they use the water filtration system. And if they consider the most effective water filtration system, the water can be purified in a moment. In contrast, nearly 2 years were used to establish the whole water transfer program because the large scale and water quantity. To solve the water scarcity problem, water supply should be as soon as possible. Therefore, the water filtration, which saves a lot more time, should be the better choice comparing with the interbasin water transfer.
Criteria 3—feasibility
Feasibility means the availability of the process of each solution. According to the finding part, the filtration system requires only some empty spaces to establish the water filtrations. That means in order to solve water scarcity problem, people can just leave some small spaces to install the filtrations. However, to implement the interbasin water transfer program, not only the places are required, plenty of workforces, construction materials, and even effective transportation are also needed. Considering the Danube River’s current situation, because that river passes though ten European countries and four capital cities, the interbasin water transfer is not practicable because of the long distance and complex construction requirements. In conclusion, what the water filtration required is much simpler than interbasin water transfer program.
Limitations
However, there are still some limitations involved in the report. Firstly, there are only few of examples of interbasin water transfer program over the world. As a result, there are lack of experience and comprehensive data in this program. Moreover, some aspects such as government control, economic capability haven’t been taken into account to choose the best solution.
Conclusions and Recommendations
To summarize, given the issues which are the pollutions and the climate changes, the better solution is water filtration because for solving these water scarcity problems, it has less fund, shorter time in process, and more feasibility than the interbasin water transfer. It is very useful for Danube River, the three reasons mentioned above can all contribute to the success of the water filtration system. Also, this solution is success because if the water filtration is used, that means the water pollution will be alleviated, so people would have chance to use clean water for their lives. And the water scarcity problem can be well solved as well.
Moreover, in the future, the water filtration can be used to the further purpose. For instance, scientists can conduct more experiments to test different kinds of material in the filtration to find out which kind of substance can remove the microbe in water more efficiently, thus the filtrations can be improved; also, people can use different kinds of parts to make the filtrations more timesaving and cheaper, so the water filtration solution can be enhanced as well.
Appendices
Appendix A—water filtration process
Appendix B—main chain of interbasin water transfer program
Reference List
Cohadzic, A & Drobnjakovic, M. (2011), Record drought on the Danube exposes sunken WWII battleships, causes water shortages, thestar.com [online]. Available at: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2011/12/02/record_drought_on_the_danube_exposes_sunken_wwii_battleships_causes_water_shortages.html [Accessed 24 November14]
FACTS ABOUT WATER POLLUTION (2014), Fewresources.org [online]. Available at: http://www.pollutionworld.com/facts-about-water-pollution [Accessed 24 November14]
HOW TO INSTALL A WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM (2014), Scripps Networks [online]. Available at: http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-install-a-water-filtration-system/index.html [Accessed 24 November14]
Jun, D. (2005), Information Dependency Relations and Coordination in Water Resources Supply Chains of Interbasin Water Transfer Project, seiofbluemountain.com [online]. Available at: http://www.seiofbluemountain.com/upload/product/201002/126525129762f6khn.pdf [Accessed 24 November14]
Karamouz, M. (2010), Interbasin Water Transfer: Economic Water Quality-Based Model, eslpascaipb.net [online]. Available at: http://www.eslpascaipb.net/downloads/47762406.pdf [Accessed 24 November14]
Powers, M. (2014), Water Scarcity Issues: We’re running out of water, Fewresources.org [online]. Available at: http://www.fewresources.org/water-scarcity-issues-were-running-out-of-water.html [Accessed 24 November14]
River Danube: Facts and Information (2013), 2015 Primary Facts [online]. Available at: http://primaryfacts.com/1851/river-danube-facts-and-information [Accessed 24 November14]
