Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: The world is facing a water crisis. In the developed world, increasing demands for water—for cities, for industry, for agriculture, and for the extraction of fossil fuels—are straining an already burdened system. In the developing world, nearly 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation because of the absence of distribution systems for clean water. Throughout history, water has been considered a plentiful resource, available for the taking. In the developed world, society constructed the infrastructure necessary to direct water to where it was needed, and once the water had been used, it was returned to the environment as waste. The availability of inexpensive water and the inattention to waste disposal fostered rapid development of agriculture, industries, and cities throughout the world. However, this situation cannot persist; we are reaching the limits of our water supply. In the developing world, the same type of infrastructure that has ...
Source: Chemical & Engineering News
Language: English
Subfield: Water Science and Technology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3085379925