Virtual water

In many regions of the world, water scarcity has created numerous problems for the supply of domestic water use, agricultural production, and for the human life cycle in general. Perhaps in the near future water will be synonymous with gold. Over the past two decades, the virtual water concept has become known as a mitigating water scarcity crisis solution which can balance the unequal distribution of world water resources. Virtual water is the amount of water that a product consumes in a production process from start to end. Developers of the virtual water idea believe that by exporting and importing commodities, large volumes of water can be traded which is referred to as virtual water trading. In the theory of virtual water trade, in order to reduce the pressure on water resources, it is recommended that water-scarce countries import products instead of producing them from internal water sources and allocate these water resources for other lucrative business activities. Therefore, in this chapter, the virtual water concept and its specifications and evaluations are fully explained.

Planning and Management of Water Resources in the Context of Economic Devlopment and Climate Change in Algerian Highlandsby the WEAP Model, Case of the Gareat El Tarf Basin (Northwestern Algeria)

Water in the Gareat El Tarf basin, is affected by climatic and economic constraints; while its development is based on the agricultural sector, which creates pressure on water resources. The objective of this study is to analyse the performance of the national water plan to accompany this policy, and the impact of climate change on water resources. The methodology adopted is the application of the WEAP(Water Evaluation and the Planning)software, in order to build a model for the allocation of water resources, up to 2050. The results obtained confirm that the impact of the economic policy shows a very important deficit that exceeds 400 million m3 in 2050. To face this challenge, it is recommended to adopt an economic strategy based on the protection of water resources and adapted to the supply capacities of renewable water resources.

Physicochemical evolution and evaluation of groundwater quality in Mougheul area (Southwest of Algeria)

In arid areas, the pressure on water resources and in particular on groundwater resources is on the rise, mainly due to increasing demand and the deterioration of water quality. In this context, the present work aims to follow the annual evolution, between 2009 and 2019 of the physicochemical parameters, and to evaluate the quality of groundwater of the region of Mougheul, by determining the data of pH, TDS, conductivity and the concentrations of major ions ( Ca+2, Mg+2, Na+, K+, Cl−, HCO3−, SO4−2, NO3−) of 07 water points. The results revealed that all the levels of the physicochemical parameters do not exceed the WHO potability standards, except high values were observed at the level of well W6 which exceeds the limits recommended by the WHO (50 mg /l). The diagram of Schöeller and Berkaloff shows that the groundwater has the bicarbonate magnesium facies. The representation of the data on the Piper triangular diagram shows that W6 has the facies chlorinated and calcium sulfate and magnesium and the other water points have the facies bicarbonate calcium and magnesium. SAR values show that the groundwater of Mougheul is excellent for irrigation. The classification according to the Wilcox diagram shows that the groundwater of Mougheul in general is good quality, but the well of W6 water is suitable for irrigation and requires monitoring the evolution of salinity.

Groundwater Resources from Eastern Romania under Human and Climatic Pressure

Groundwater resources from a region may be subject to complex human and climatic pressure. The present study tries to analyze the human and climatic pressure on the groundwater resources from the eastern part of Romania, between 1983 and 2017, for seven groundwater bodies. Two parameters, the groundwater exploitation index (GWEI) and the Standardized Groundwater Index (SGI) for identifying hydrogeological droughts, were used to assess human and climatic pressure. The high values of GWEI show a significant increase in human pressure on water resources in recent decades, in lower and more populated areas, from the south and north part of de region, amid increasing investment in agriculture. In the case of climate pressure, the SGI values show significant values for the years 1983, 2000, 2007, and 2012. However, the overlap of hydrogeological droughts with an increase in human pressure can have a significant impact on the groundwater resources from this region, with negative effects in the mid and long term, under the growing effects of the regional climate changes.

Water Footprint of Food Quality Schemes

Water Footprint (WF, henceforth) is an indicator of water consumption and has taken ground to assess the impact of agricultural production processes over freshwater. The focus of this study was contrasting non-conventional, certified products with identical products obtained through conventional production schemes (REF, henceforth) using WF as a measure of their pressure on water resources. The aim was to the show whether products that are certified as Food Quality Schemes (FQS, henceforth) could also incorporate the lower impact on water among their quality features. To perform this comparison, we analysed 23 products selected among Organic, PDO and PGI as FQS, and their conventional counterparts. By restricting the domain of analysis to the on-farm phase of the production chain, we obtained that that no significant differences emerged between the FQS and REF products. However, if the impact is measured per unit area rather than per unit product, FQS showed a significant reduction in water demand.

Industrial Wastewater Pollution and Advanced Treatment Techniques

Industry creates more pressure on water resources by wastewater discharge than the quantity used in production. The wastewater produced by industries may be either excessively acidic or alkaline or may contain high or low concentrations of colored matter, organic or toxic materials, and possibly pathogenic bacteria. It is necessary to pre-treat the wastes prior to release to the sewer or a full treatment is necessary when this is discharged directly to surface or ground waters and it must be within the effluent standard limits provided by the environmental protection organizations. The management and control of liquid wastes in the industry as well as the selection of the different possible treatments for the wastewater prior to its discharge to the sewer system was studied. These would protect the environment and also benefits from the waste materials can be gained. Opportunities for introducing pollution prevention measures for different types of pollutants produced by different industries are discussed in this chapter.

Chile water reform may await next government

Subject Reform of water-use rights. Significance Controversy over a bill to reform water-use rights, approved by the Chamber of Deputies on November 22 and now before the Senate, is partly ideological. However, it also reflects growing pressure on water resources and the prospect that, due to global warming as well as Chile’s economic development, this pressure will continue to mount. Impacts Given water scarcity in northern Chile, the mining industry will increasingly turn to seawater desalination. The introduction of fines for non-use of water rights in 2005 has not led to divestment of rights on the expected scale. Both sides in the debate allege that the proposed reform is ideological rather than technical in nature.