Water conservation

Water conservation involves reducing the demand for water, rather than trying to increase water supplies. This is important in a world where water supply is finite. Water conservation can be on three main levels; domestic, agricultural, industrial.

Domestic

Note some of the water saving tips here. Use the headings 'In the home', 'In the garden' and 'Water harvesting'

Agricultural

Use the wikipedia entry to note some tactics for saving water in an agricultural context.

Industrial

Coca-Cola have a number of examples of water conservation on a commercial level. Read their policy and note some examples of the things they have done.

Coca-Cola Sustainability Reports - Water Stewardship

Water transfers

One solution to water shortages is to transfer water form one basin to another. Rivers can be diverted or canals built. All water transfers carry political and environmental risk

Two contrasting examples:

1. The Snowy Mountains Scheme (p52-53)

Also see the Snowy River wikipedia entry

2. The South-North Transfer project (p63)

Good video story

BBC news story
More news reports
Guardian article
Guardian article II

Detail from water-technology.net

Middle East water conflict

Middle East tension over water - video
Inside story - Middle East water shortage
BBC news - global water shortage
Water wars - Spain BBC

Water issues in China

China is suffering from many environmental problems - including water stress. Use this map to complete the sheet detailing some of these issues.

Use this to help you with this task:

Create a detailed MS PowerPoint presentation on the factors which have created water stress in China

Check your text book p39-40

The China Water Risk website is very good. This info-graphic is superb.

Check this article for some excellent information.

Montserrat volcano

Using Google Earth, locate the island of Montserrat. Label the island on Google Earth using the techniques learned last time.

Screen shot your image and paste it into a MS Word document and add the following information:

Go to the Montserrat volcano monitoring web site.

What is the current hazard level? what does this mean?

Read the latest volcano report. What was happening last week?

Go to 'Resources' and use the Glossary to look up the following terms:

Ash

Dome

Igneous rock

Lava

Pyroclastic flow

Vent

Video clip - Discovery Channel
Video clip - 57min - overview - Seconds from disaster: Montserrat