Impact of Water Scarcity in the Household Budget

of the Residents in Barangay Tambunac, San Enrique Iloilo

Major Topic: Impact of Water Scarcity

Water covers 70% of our planet, and it is easy to think that it will always be plentiful.
However, freshwater—the stuff we drink, bathe in, irrigate our farm fields with—is incredibly
rare. Only 3% of the world’s water is fresh water, and two-thirds of that is tucked away in
frozen glaciers or otherwise unavailable for our use.

Furthermore as a result, some 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to water, and a
total of 2.7 billion find water scarce for at least one month of the year. Inadequate sanitation is
also a problem for 2.4 billion people—they are exposed to diseases, such as cholera and
typhoid fever, and other water-borne illnesses. Two million people, mostly children, die each
year from diarrheal diseases alone.

Many of the water systems that keep ecosystems thriving and feed a growing human
population have become stressed. Rivers, lakes and aquifers are drying up or becoming too
polluted to use. More than half the world’s wetlands have disappeared. Agriculture consumes
more water than any other source and wastes much of that through inefficiencies. Climate
change is altering patterns of weather and water around the world, causing shortages and
droughts in some areas and floods in others.

At the current consumption rate, this situation will only get worse. By 2025, two-thirds
of the world’s population may face water shortages. And ecosystems around the world will
suffer even more.

Stated in the article of Science Daily (2020), water scarcity is the lack of sufficient
available water resources to meet the demands of water usage within a region. It already
affects every continent and around 2.8 billion people around the world at least one month out
of every year. More than 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. Water scarcity
involves water stress, water shortage or deficits, and water crisis.

According to Kukreja (2020) there are many causes of water scarcity including the following:

 Overuse of Water: Water overuse is a huge issue that a

lot of people are dealing with. It may be overused on people, animals, land, or any
other number of things. It may also be used for recreational activities without any
care about the effects that it may have on the world around them.

 Pollution of Water: Water pollution is a huge problem, especially when you’re

looking at areas that don’t necessarily have a good sewage system. Pollution can be
 anything from oil, to carcasses, to chemicals, and to fecal matter. No matter what it
is; it makes a lot of issues for the people who may need to use it.

 Conflict: If there is conflict over an area of land, it may be difficult to access the
water that is located there. In the worst case scenarios, people could end up dying if
they try to access the water in these areas (due to violence). This can result in a
variety of other issues, including pollution, which we discussed in the previous point.

 Distance: There are a number of areas throughout the entire world that deal with
water scarcity because they just aren’t close to anywhere that has water. Areas that
are considered to be desert, or areas that are secluded, may not have somewhere
that the people can get water effectively.

 Drought: A drought is, in short, an area which is not getting enough rainfall to be
able to sustain the life that is residing there. Some areas are in perpetual drought,
whereas other areas may be dealing with a drought on occasion. Droughts are
common all over the world, and there is little that can be done to prevent such
things from happening.

 Governmental Access. In some countries, specifically those with dictatorships, the

use of water may be strictly controlled by those in power, causing a scarcity for those
who may be located in those areas of the world. These governments use it as a
source of control over those that they are governing, which can be a huge problem.

The eSchoolToday (2008) grouped the effects of water scarcity into these 4 broad areas
— Health, Hunger, Education, and Poverty.

Health
In many developing countries, people are forced to drink low quality water from flowing
streams, many of which are contaminated. There are many water-borne diseases that
people die off. 

Less water also means sewage does not flow, and mosquitoes are other insects breed on still
(stagnant) dirty water. The result is deadly malaria and other infections.

Lack of water or quality water causes huge sanitation issues. Clinics, local restaurants, public
places of convenience and many other places are forced to use very little water for cleaning.
This compromises the health of the staff and people who use the facilities.

Hunger

It takes a lot of water to grow food and care for animals. Experts say that globally we use 70%
of our water sources for agriculture and irrigation and only 10% on domestic uses.
Less water means farming and other crops that need water to grow have lower yield. It means
farm animals will die and others will not do well without water. The result is constant hunger
and thirst and low quality of life. 

Education

It is a bit hard to see how water and education is related. For many people in other parts of the
world children (and teen girls) have to be up at dawn to collect water for the family. They have
to walk for several miles to get water. The children get tired and some have to miss school as a
result. Doing this for many years take away school times and the cycle continues. In other
places, girls and women are not allowed to go to school at all so that they can serve the family
by getting water and taking care of other family needs.

Poverty

Access to quality water is key to economic prosperity and better living standards. Businesses
and schools thrive when people come to work on time and not have to spend all morning
looking for water. Restaurants, hotels and shopping places need to keep clean to attract tourists
and foreign investments. Manufacturing activities, commercial farms, and mining processes all
need a lot of water to thrive. Lack of water means no economic activities will happen and the
people will be in constant poverty.
 The World’s Road to Water Scarcity: Shortage and Stress in the 20th Century
and Pathways towards Sustainability

By:

M. Kummu, J. H. A. Guillaume, H. de Moel, S. Eisner, M. Flörke, M. Porkka, S. Siebert, T.

I. E. Veldkamp, P. J. Ward

Water scarcity is a rapidly growing concern around the globe, but little is known about
how it has developed over time. This study provides a first assessment of continuous sub-
national trajectories of blue water consumption, renewable freshwater availability, and water
scarcity for the entire 20th century. Water scarcity is analyzed using the fundamental concepts
of shortage (impacts due to low availability per capita) and stress (impacts due to high
consumption relative to availability) which indicate difficulties in satisfying the needs of a
population and overuse of resources respectively. While water consumption increased fourfold
within the study period, the population under water scarcity increased from 0.24 billion (14% of
global population) in the 1900s to 3.8 billion (58%) in the 2000s. Nearly all sub-national
trajectories show an increasing trend in water scarcity. The concept of scarcity trajectory
archetypes and shapes is introduced to characterize the historical development of water scarcity
and suggest measures for alleviating water scarcity and increasing sustainability. Linking the
scarcity trajectories to other datasets may help further deepen understanding of how
trajectories relate to historical and future drivers, and hence help tackle these evolving
challenges.

THE CAUSES AND IMPACT OF WATER SHORTAGE ON THE HOUSEHOLDS OF

GA-KGAPANE TOWNSHIP IN THE LIMPOPO PROVINCE

By

ELLIOT MASOTO MACHETHE

Water shortage is a global problem. While other people in some parts of the world
maybe enjoying enough supply of water others are faced with water shortage. South Africa is
not an exception in this regard because some do not have access to water but rely on distance
conveyance. Government is under constitutional obligation to supply this basic social and
economic service. This study, therefore, aimed at investigating the causes of water shortage
and the impact thereof on the household of Ga-Kgapane Township in Limpopo Province. This
township falls under Greater Letaba Municipality in Modjadjiskloof. The data collected from four
sections/localities of this Township showed that the area has a serious problem of water
shortage. The lack of water according to the findings negatively affects the livelihoods and
development of the people of Ga Kgapane Township.
 IMPACT OF WATER SHORTAGES ON HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Shortages of water could become a major obstacle to public health and development.
Currently, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization
(WHO) estimate that 1.1 billion people lack access to a water supply and 2.6 billion people lack
adequate sanitation. The global health burden associated with these conditions is staggering,
with an estimated 1.6 million deaths every year from diseases associated with lack of access to
safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. In this paper we review the
impact of water shortages on health and human development.
Reference:

Kukreja (2020). Conserve Energy Future. What is Water Scarcity. Retrieved From:
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-water-scarcity.php

World Wildlife Fund (2020). Water Scarcity. Retrieved From:https://www.worldwildlife.org

/threats/water-scarcity

Science Daily (2020). Water Scarcity. Retrieved from:https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms

/water_scarcity.htm

eSchoolToday (2008). Water Shortage. What are the effect of water shortage?. Retrieved From:
http://www.eschooltoday.com/global-water-scarcity/effects-of-water-shortage.html