206 answers to Water supply

Q1. In your own words, explain the reasons for water constraint (5marks)

Miss ST: Many of you do not write in your own words, which mean rephrasing the words or explaining it further as you merely copy the information from the slides. Use proper English sentences and words (‘Aka’ and ‘lame’ is not accepted!). Many stated the points but did not explain the points and link it back to the question that’s asking about water constraint.

Sulynn

As only 1 percent of the water in the sea (fresh water) is usable for instance water consumption and washing clothes. 97% of the water is sea water and the rest of the 2% is fresh water but frozen in the Arctic. Due to our increasing usage of water we are having water constraint. Some of the reasons of water constraint are the increase of water usage for farming, industry and domestic use. As the world population grows, we will need more water to grow crops and others to feed the world.

Yi Jie

The water constraints are due to population growth, rising living standards, pollution and uneven distribution of water. Due to the population boom, Earth’s resources are stretched further in Less Developed countries.The water usage increases due to the rising standards of living. This is due to economic development and industrialization, as companies need water in manufacturing. The pollution of water sources can be attributed to the government’s lack of quality control, failing to reinforce the environmental standards on waste disposal systems.

Ashley

First, population growth results in an increased demand of water for the population and use in farming to grow crops. Next, the increased level of living means more water is needed to sustain this manner of lifestyle. Also, water is being polluted by untreated sewage waste. For instance fertilizers and herbicides are washed from farms and waste water from households, hence reducing the amount of safe drinking water. Finally, water is unevenly distributed across the world with.

Q2. Evaluate the effectiveness of the various responses to the rising demand for water (5marks)

Gerard

First, an increase in the price of water is effective for saving water, as people will feel the pinch when they use excess water unnecessarily. However, this proposal will affect those in poverty as they cannot fork out the money to pay for their water consumption. Secondly, an increment in water catchments areas (e.g. reservoirs) are another way of solving water constraint. This will allow for more collection of rainwater to be treated for usage. However this may be ineffective when there is low or no rainfall. It also occupy the land space, which can also be used for factories, agriculture and the like. Thirdly, we can go about solving water constraint by relying on high-tech devices, for example, desalination plants. However this might be a problem for undeveloped countries, as they do not have the financial resources to afford the machinery needed. Additionally, water that is purified taste different, which might result in a strong dislike by people. Another method is by educating the public about the importance of saving water. This will etch the fact that water is scarce and precious in people’s minds. This is also a low cost solution. Contrary, this method might be hampered by uncooperative people. Lastly, two nations can come to a compromise about the supply of water from one country to another. This however depends heavily on the political ties between countries.

Mayvene

By increasing the price of water, people would be more conscious of the amount of water they are using, thus using less water and also helping to solve the problem of having water constraint. However, this would be a financial problem for those that are poor and do not have enough money to pay the water utility bills. We could also increase the size of the catchments areas, as we could keep the cost of water down and also collect rainwater for our uses. The downside is that land used for the catchments areas would be wasted if there is low rainfall, and obstructs the building of more factories, roads and other amenities. Another way to respond to the rising demand of water is to recycle rainwater, have desalination and use pumps to extract groundwater. However, this requires a lot of capital and less developed countries are not able to afford this. Also, the desalinated and recycled water might taste different, and the people might not get used to it. We can also educate the young about water conservation. In this way, people will inform others about the problem of having water constraint. However, this requires the cooperation of the members of the public. Lastly, we can also establish international agreements to stop this problem and create awareness about this issue. However, this would be rather challenging as it depends on the political ties of the countries.

Sarah and Claudia

On a national level, posters, booklets and flyers are given out to the public to educate them on why water conservation is important or how to reduce water wastage. This is effective the nation will know of methods to do their part in conserving water and can work together to save water for the future. Water reclamation is also a response to the rising demand for water. It is not an effective method as resources are wasted during the process of cleaning the polluted water from the lakes and rivers, which also causes pollution. Increasing the price of water also helps. It forces people to use water wisely and not use it for granted. Another way is increasing the water supply by collecting water in a catchment area. However it may not be an effective way as not enough water is collected for people all over the world. At home we can reuse the water that is used to wash rice to water plants. It is a good method as we will not be wasting unnecessary water and if everyone does their part, we can save a lot of water.

Q3. "Singapore has successfully overcome the constraints of water supply". Do you agree or disagree? (5marks)

Miss ST: I suggest you to take on 1 stand, which is to either agree or disagree. If you want to write both, you need to explain the agree part first, then disagree. Some of you write on ‘agree’, then ‘disagree’ then ‘agree’ again. Its confusing and weakens your argument.

Ashley

I disagree with this statement. First of all, water is still a scarce resource and only a certain amount is available for us to use. Next, as Singapore’s population increases, the demand for water will increase as more water is needed for the population and that may cause a shortage of water as Singapore struggles to get its water supply. Also, we rely on agreements with other countries to get water. These agreements are not long term and it can be terminated by other countries . Next, Singapore is a modernized nation which requires a large amount of water to sustain its industries. As more industries are built, more water is needed for these industries and the water supply may not be enough to supply to these industries. Finally, global warming would reduce the amount of water available to Singapore via local catchment systems as rainfall is reduced which makes catchments as a source of water vulnerable.

Everlyn

I disagree with the statement. Singapore still has to import water from other countries like Malaysia and this shows that Singapore actually do not have enough water for the people. Even thought Singapore has NEWater, people might not like them and they might not accept the water that was recycled. Some might dislike the taste. To create NEWater, it will also need a lot of resources and Singapore might not want to spend so much money on it as perhaps, buying water from Malaysia is cheaper than spending money on all the resources that is needed to recycle water.

Ser min

I agree with this statement. I feel that, compared to the past, Singapore had embarked on several projects to cope with the constraints of water supply, for example, NEWater, a project which aims at using desalination to make undrinkable water clean and drinkable. Also, at some schools, campaigns were set up to discourage water wastage.

I also disagree with this statement as Singapore gets water by buying it from Malaysia. In my opinion, this is the main source of water for Singapore. Therefore, without Malaysia, Singapore would be in serious trouble from the lack of water. This is also the reason why I think that although these had solved the problem of water shortage in Singapore, it is not enough. We still need to do a lot more in order to completely and successfully overcome the constraints of water supply. If we were to stop buying from Malaysia one day, we would have a serious problem. Therefore, in my opinion, we would only successfully overcome the constraints of water supply only if we are independent in getting our own water.