Veolia Water Technologies by GineersNow Engineering Magazine GineersNow Engineering Magazine September 2016 | Page 79

increase in the population growth, more demands must
be attended to thus industrialization has devoured a lot
of the water supply. With more people to feed, farming
practices must be enough to feed millions of people,
which may lead to unregulated distribution of pesticides.
All these practices have led to contributing to water
pollution.
Water pollution is the main reason why water resources
become more limited than it is before. People have made
water basins and other water bodies a dumping site for
different kinds of wastes - garbage, effluent, industrial
and mining.
What has this water shortage led to?
Latin America was known for being a global leader in
clean energy because it is abundant in water. The water
shortage has affected the energy distribution in these
countries. Energy usually comes from hydropower
production but the water crisis has made it impossible
for the people in the region to rely solely on it. A lot
of these countries like Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela,
Uruguay, Chile and Bolivia have experienced power
blackouts most of the time. Some governments have
resorted to using fossil fuels lately.
Costa Rica invested almost $1 billion in order to use
geothermal energy while Uruguay will be investing
over $1.4 billion for wind energy. Other countries have
imported natural gas from the US.
The water shortage has also affected the water
distribution between the rich and the poor people in the
region. In a study conducted by World Bank (2006), it
showed that people in Latin America have the highest
water bills in the developing world. Those who suffer
from this are the poor ones who have to pay more than
the rich ones for clean water. These people also spend
more time collecting water. Studies have also shown that
they are more likely to be exposed to different water-
Photo by BBC World Online
related health problems.
In a study reported by the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP), it stated, "People suffering the most
from the water and sanitation crisis -- poor people in
general and poor women in particular -- often lack the
political voice needed to assert their claims to water.”
Different organizations have been made to fight for
the people’s right to access to clean water. While
there have also been an increase in private and public
partnerships throughout the area in an attempt to
support sustainable development. One private company,
the US-based brewing company Anheuser-Busch, help
water management pilot projects that would help
barley-growing regions like Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay and
Argentina.
What can people do to improve it?
Now, if these organizations would be able to preserve
their water resources, there’s still a chance that these
countries will run out of freshwater. Water pollution,
which has been a major factor as to why there’s a water
crisis going on, should be a priority for the private
institutions and governments. They must find a way to
reduce the pollution at all cost.
Not only has the water crisis affected the economic and
political growth of the region. It has also affected the
quality of life for its people. Millions of people suffer
from not being able to drink enough water or have access
to proper sanitation. It is up to engineers, researchers,
scientists and businessmen to come up with creative
solutions to address these problems that not only affects
Latin America, but also the whole world.
Photo by PRI
SEPTEMBER 2016
Clean Water Technologies
79