Fresh Water can be found in lakes, rivers, swamps, ponds, streams, ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, icebergs etc. We are very dependent on freshwater, it is an essential to life. More than 100,000 species rely on freshwater ecosystems.
What Do They Use The Resource For?
Water is used for many things, it used 70% for farming, 22% for industry, and 8% for home drinking, washing, and watering. Most of Fresh Water is used in farming and agriculture. Water is mostly found as a liquid, it can also be a gas (water vapor) or a solid (ice). Fresh water for drinking comes from rivers, lakes, creeks, and dams. 97.5% of water is salt water and 2.5% is freshwater. 70% of freshwater is frozen in polar ice-caps, 30% lies underground and less than 1% of freshwater is available for human consumption.
How Do They Extract The Resource?
To extract water from the ground you have to pump it to the surface or by natural springs. There is a layer of rocks saturated with water, it is called aquifers. The groundwater located in aquifers is the most important sources of water on earth. 30% of our liquid freshwater is groundwater. The rest of liquid freshwater can be found at the surface of lakes, streams, rivers and wetlands. Most of the world’s freshwater is trapped in glaciers and icecaps. Freshwater can be found in a range of different rocks, but the most productive aquifer is found in porous, permeable rocks such as; sandstone or open cavities and caves of limestone aquifers.
How Dependent Are We On Freshwater?
We are very dependent on freshwater, it is an essential to life. More than 100,000 species rely on freshwater ecosystems. The importance of clean and healthy freshwater ecosystems is mandatory for a thriving planet. Many freshwater animals are becoming endangered and their populations are decreasing because of freshwater becoming polluted and altered by dams. Some of the animals that are becoming endangered are the amazon river dolphin, freshwater turtle, snow leopard and Mekong giant freshwater fish.
How much money does freshwater contribute to Canada’s GDP (economic value)?
Canada's Water productivity, total (constant 2010 US$ GDP per cubic meter of total freshwater withdrawal)
Will freshwater prices increase as we reach a lower supply?
The water rates are most likely to increase because from 2000-2010 the average price has increased by 33%. The prices for water in Toronto itself has increased by 10.8% over the last decade.
Extracting The Resource
This is a new way we can extract fresh water from the air. Where it is hard to access freshwater, this is a perfect solution. This could be the future of extracting freshwater.
