(MENAFN- Newswire.com LLC) LOS ANGELES, March 30, 2019 (Newswire.com) - AMPAC USA works in designing and manufacturing some of the best desalination equipment for a variety of operations. But does that answer all the water woes at once? Lately, one has been hearing nothing but water shortage and how seawater desalination is the answer. Countries in Africa, South America, Asia and a few parts of North America are facing a very bad and gruesome problem of the water crisis. Over a thousand children go every day without a single drop of water, California lakes had dried up, farmers' suicide in India was on the rise due to no rainfall. Shortage of the most important resource of all had driven a lot of countries to seek technological help from the brilliant minds in the world. And that is how the idea of conversion of seawater into freshwater came into existence.
Why seawater desalination?
Seas have ample water to support the human race for thousands of years. If every drop of water was fresh water, the world probably wouldn't have had the problem of water in the first place. But if it were so, one wouldn't have realized the importance of water so soon in the course of the human existence.
'We would have realized that we made a mistake of using up all the water without efficiency and probably lead to extinction,' says Sammy Farag, CEO of AMPAC USA. 'Thanking the mother nature for all its lessons though, we do have a big problem of seawater not suitable for our tastes and health and so a complicated process of Reverse osmosis has to be carried out on every single drop of seawater before being used for drinking. At least many desalination plants do. But something we all have learned now is to not take harsh decisions and just do something because of its benefits. Without proper research building, a desalination plant for countries can be a wrong decision.'
Is desalination necessary?
Countries look forward to such a choice when they are faced with the danger of water shortage. One very interesting step that few countries are taking to ensure the right decision is made, is to first analyze what is really the problem behind water shortage and which is the best solution. A recent analysis of the situation in South Africa revealed that the country faces the problem simply because of poor distribution and handling systems of water resources. Now that the lakes have run dry, desalination seems like the only option but it is very expensive. An interesting find, this can be true for many other countries. The installation of such a desalination plant alone costs millions of dollars and a similar amount is spent each year on maintaining and operating the plants.
Farag agrees, 'It worked well for Israel, the country is rich and has financial resources to spend on advanced technologies and their maintenance. But the smaller and poorer countries cannot afford to run such a plant, it would be bad for the economy and may just increase their problems. Countries will have to focus on the problem areas and analyze all their options first.'
The need for a Resource Audit
On the contrary, much of the water woes can be easily solved for countries with just a proper management system of their natural water cycles. It is true that desalination plants give fresh water quickly but using our natural resources efficiently can help us divert the funds to the relief of the poor, building of jobs and development of the country. Such is the story of many lakes in California that ran dry, some overnight and some gradually, killing thousands of marine animals that harbored there.
'It was the point of time in the state when the people came together and local authorities issued mandatory water conservation activities that revived the lakes after a year and a half. This can be the story of other countries who can adopt several water conservation protocols and efficient water management systems to not depend on the highly expensive technology today,' adds Farag.
How to start a resource audit?
The specifics of resource audits would lie with the department of waterworks. A team of engineers and scientists should be formed that completes the whole audit in detail. Moreover, something of this sort will eventually involve a lot of other departments too and it will have to be a combined effort. But one can list down a few steps like below. Farag suggests a few steps that can help in achieving the goal. 'These are not detailed but an overall list of all the steps that can be taken to ensure the work is in the right direction and results are well received.' He suggests the following points:
- An analysis of how the water system works in your region would be the best way to start with. Know where the water comes from and where does it go.
- Research of the problem at hand, getting in all the brains that can come up with time sensitive impactful solutions to the problem of why doesn't the water stay.
- Implement re-forestation initiatives and make better use of farm and other lands that are out of use for a while. Encourage environmental-friendly projects that mean less deforestation and more afforestation.
- Make mandatory efficient use of water at homes. Provide water in time-specific manner, spread awareness among the people about the importance of saving water, encourage the masses to participate.
- Sanction rainwater harvesting projects and homes. Put funding into research for the same and the applications in urban populations specifically.
- Work on the possibility of generating drinking water from wastewater treatment from areas where more water is rejected. Sewage treatment could also help in generating resources for the agricultural industry.
These steps can be rather helpful to bring greener and with it more water into the region. Once that is done, ensuring that efficient water management system is in place can help further in avoiding the outcome the world never wants to see. If these attempts work probably a few decades down the line we won't need desalination technology anymore.
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