Water, water everywhere…

To start off today’s column, here’s a little quiz about water.

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1. How much of the Earth’s surface is covered by water?
a) About 30%
b) About 50%
c) About 70%
d) About 90%

2. What is the ratio of saltwater to fresh water?
a) 3% salt, 97% fresh
b) 25% salt, 75% fresh
c) 50% salt, 50% fresh
d) 97% salt, 3% fresh

3. Of the total amount of freshwater on earth, how much is contained within glacial ice, permafrost, or permanent snow?
a) 30%
b) 50%
c) 70%
d) 90%

4. What percentage of Canada’s freshwater drains toward the north?
a) 20%
b) 40%
c) 60%
d) 80%

5. What percentage of Canada’s area is covered by fresh water?
a) almost 9%
b) almost 27%
c) almost 54%
d) almost 81%

Answers follow today’s article.

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Water, or rather, the lack of it, is making headlines. Politicians are raising the issue, environmental groups are sounding the alarm, and private industry wants to make a profit from it.

But why all the fuss? After all, about 70% of the Earth is covered with water, so it’s not like we’re going to run out, right? You’d think that with all this fresh water there would be plenty for everybody, right?

Wrong.

Of the world’s total fresh water supply, 30% is contained within glacial and polar ice, permafrost, or permanent snow. Of the remainder, about 14% is located in areas that are too remote for humans to access, and 55% comes in the forms of floods, monsoons and other storms, and is often not able to be contained for use by people.

That leaves us about 1% of the total water on the planet.

In other words, if all the world’s fresh water were represented by a 203-litre (45 gal) drum, the available supply would be only a single 2-litre bottle.

There is also no effective way to "create" water. What there is now is all there ever has been, and all there ever will be. Most of our supply of fresh water is replenished — or rather, recycled — by means of evaporation from the surface of the oceans, lakes, and land surfaces. About 80% of all precipitation falls on the oceans, with only 20% falling over land.

There is a lot of finger-pointing toward the bottled water industry as a major reason for the apparent diminishing supply of fresh water available to us. Yes, there are some problems with bottled water, but depleting the Earth’s, or even just Canada’s supply, is not one of them. Water will be consumed whether it comes from a tap or a bottle, and whether in its natural state or after having been made into juice, pop, beer, coffee, or some other beverage.

Once consumed, water eventually makes its way back into the supply chain. The bottle just makes it more convenient — or so some people believe. It also makes water more expensive, which is one of the major concerns I have with bottled water.

The United Nations, the United Church of Canada, and a number of other organizations are pushing to have access to potable water declared a basic human right.

Municipally-supplied tap water costs about three-tenths of a cent per litre, or about twenty-nine cents per cubic metre (1000 litres). A litre of bottled water costs roughly one dollar..

Unfortunately, there are many communities in Canada, particularly in the northern regions, where there is no supply of potable water. Many people in these areas draw water from questionable surface sources, wells, or pay exorbitant prices for bottled water.

There situation is in many ways no better than that of some third-world countries, and in some ways worse: at least in the third-world countries there are aid agencies endeavoring to rectify the situation.

So what is the solution? It begins with conservation.

Locally, the Public Utilities Commission operates the waterworks on behalf of the City. The PUC is charged with the responsibility to "provide safe, reliable potable water at cost for drinking water, fire protection, commercial and industrial processes to residents and businesses within the municipal services boundary of Sault Ste. Marie. Potable water is also supplied to an area of the Rankin First Nations Reserve."

Despite the fact that all water is treated and provided as a safe, potable water supply that meets drinking water standards, drinking water actually accounts for less than 1% of the total consumption. This is typical of most municipalities. The remainder of the water is used for bathing, laundry and household cleaning, lawn watering, and industry. A municipal water system must also provide for an adequate supply of water for fire protection purposes, and it is this that most contributes to the cost.

(Source: PUC Water Commission.)

Will conserving water locally, or anywhere, help return the Great Lakes to their "proper" level? What, actually, is their proper level?

A quick perusal of annual chart datum level data for Lake Superior for the past decade shows the level does indeed fluctuate greatly. For example, the report for November 2004 show levels almost a metre below average, while that for May 1994 show levels 1.5 metres above.

Interestingly, the former report discusses the lake-effect snowfall phenomena, and the effect this has on levels by taking moisture from the lake and depositing it, as snowfall, further inland. Meanwhile, the latter report discusses how the unusually heavy ice conditions that past winter had contributed to an overall increase in levels.

It would be essential, therefore, to study long-term data to determine if there is any real significance to the low levels we are currently experiencing.


Some informative links:

Environment Canada

Kairos Canada — links re: water

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Answers to Quiz

1. c. — about 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water.

2. d. — 97% of the Earth’s water is saltwater, while only 3% is fresh water.

3. a. — glacial ice, permafrost and permanent snow account for about 30% of the world’s fresh water.

4. c. — about 60% of Canada’s rivers drain in a northerly direction (to Hudson’s Bay and the Arctic Ocean), while 85% of the population live near its southern border with the USA.

5. a. — Canada has an estimated 2 million lakes, more lake area than any other country in the world, but these account for only about 9% of Canada’s area.

source: Environment Canada