Can New Desalination Techniques Help Alleviate Water Scarcity?
The Yoruba people of Nigeria have an old saying, “Water has no enemy,” which means living in harmony with nature leads to a long and wise life. This message has been spread in and beyond Africa through the music of Nigerian superstar Fela Kuti and his 1975 song, “Water No Get Enemy.”
Unfortunately, in Nigeria the warning hasn’t been heeded. Different factions have used violence to gain access to this precious resource, adding to the number of “water wars” (or water-related conflicts) taking place across the globe.
Water Wars in Africa
In certain regions of Africa, people have always struggled to get their share of water, and this has only been made worse due to climate change. The World Bank has calculated that climate change has contributed to over three-quarters of the Sahel region becoming too dry for livestock herders to settle in one place.
Several years ago, when the water level of the world’s 11th largest lake—Lake Chad, situated in the Sahel region—drastically fell, the nomadic Fulani herdsmen, who used its waters and the surrounding grasslands for their livestock, had no choice but to migrate to the fertile plains of the Benue River.
Unsurprisingly, the resident farmers didn’t take too kindly to the arrival of herds of cattle that are reducing their water supply, contaminating it with their waste, and eating their crops. The locals tried to drive out the unwelcome newcomers, but the herdsmen had access to automatic rifles and powerful political support. This escalated the conflict and caused death and chaos in the troubled region. For instance, in just three months during 2022, 92 people were killed in 10 incidents. As of 2021, an estimated 357,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Benue State due to the fight over water.
While water wars in Nigeria, defined as a violent conflict over a “threat of depletion of water resource in a region or the actual struggle over water resources,” are triggered by a fight over lack of water, in Burkina Faso, water has become a deliberate “weapon of war.”
In Burkina Faso, which is also situated in the drought-stricken Sahel region, local war lords are deliberately terrorizing local populations by destroying water trucks, contaminating the supply, and sabotaging the generators needed to deliver water to the public. In 2022, it was estimated that 300,000 people had been adversely affected, while the city of Djibo has had to accommodate most of the country’s displaced people. The citizens have been forced to survive on only three liters (about 0.8 gallons) of water a day for all of their basic needs: drinking, cooking, and hygiene. This is less than half of the 7.5 liters (2 gallons) absolute minimum per day recommended by the World Health Organization to survive in an emergency situation.
The citizens have been forced to survive on only three liters (about 0.8 gallons) of water a day for all of their basic needs: drinking, cooking, and hygiene. This is less than half of the 7.5 liters (2 gallons) absolute minimum per day recommended by the World Health Organization to survive in an emergency situation.
Negative Environmental Impacts of Water Wars
It is not only the lives of civilians that are disrupted by water wars. These conflicts also have negative environmental impacts, ironically reducing the availability of the water they are fighting over. Water wars can deplete the number of aquifers (the layer of rock needed to extract water from the ground), as well as reduce groundwater itself in the long term. As in the Benue River, the water at the conflict site can become polluted. Furthermore, such conflicts can contribute to biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.
Water Wars in California
Today, the California water war continues—in courtrooms—between policymakers, environmental groups, municipalities, and agricultural groups. The Bay-Delta Plan (with a 6,000-page report) is an example. Initiated in 2018, the stated goal is to conserve and protect wildlife, including trout and salmon, in the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin River watershed by managing water flow into the Sacramento River and Lower San Joaquin River. In a May 2024 update, the goal is to have 55% (45% to 65% adaptive range) and 40% (30% to 50% for February to June) unimpaired tributary flow into the Sacramento River and Lower San Joaquin River, respectively, going into effect by early 2026. This would result in up to a 75% reduction in water supply for Solano County—which gravely threatens local agricultural operations and local neighborhood availability of water, opponents say.
A final decision on the latest Bay-Delta plan update is not expected until 2025, according to the North Bay Business Journal.
[The Bay-Delta Plan] would result in up to a 75% reduction in water supply for Solano County, threatening its agricultural operations.
Potential Solutions to Water Wars
Although there is no one-size-fits-all solution for each water-related conflict, the World Resources Institute (WRI) in their 2020 report recommended solutions based on six case studies in Iraq, Iran, India, the African Sahel (spanning Senegal to Eritrea), Central American Dry Corridor (southern Mexico to Panama), and Yemen. Solutions are based on four broad categories: 1) natural resources, science, and engineering approaches; 2) political and legal tools; 3) economic and financial tools; and 4) policy and governance strategies.
Natural resources, science, and engineering approaches involve the expansion of existing infrastructure and development of new water sources. Political and legal tools include the establishment of transboundary water-sharing agreements, enactment of environmental laws, and improvement of human rights and humanitarian laws. Economic and financial tools include agricultural improvements, reducing food waste, and removing subsidies for water, food, and agriculture. Policy and governance strategies include improved governance and collaboration over water management.
WRI recommended the implementation of transboundary water-sharing agreements in Iran and Iraq, given how both countries share the Tigris-Euphrates Basin. Iran has also been facing severe droughts, thereby also warranting agricultural improvements to improve water use. Solutions for India, given its large population, were focused on improving water-use efficiency and water management. In the African Sahel, WRI indicated the need to reduce inequitable water and land rights. In the Central American Dry Corridor, facing climate-related migration, agricultural extension was recommended, while taking “aggressive measures” to curb gang violence. Finally, the WRI recommended implementing international laws of war and hardening water systems in Yemen, given the ongoing civil war.
Development of Desalination with Renewable Energy
Due to technological advances, creating abundant freshwater from seawater is no longer an impossible dream. Desalination has been considered to be too energy inefficient and costly to be a viable solution to water scarcity. Now a number of innovative desalination systems are being developed to reduce the costs needed to operate them.
One such advancement has been developed by Oneka Technologies, a Canadian-based desalination company using wave energy to power their systems.
Each of the company's floating buoys contains a strainer that intakes seawater, and the seawater passes through filters. The pump, powered through the oscillation of the waves, then moves the water into reverse osmosis membranes. 25% of the resulting water is desalinated, while the remaining 75% is low salinity brine (about 30% saltier than seawater) that is discharged back into the ocean. The desalinated water flows into a pipeline that goes from the buoy to the ocean floor and water storage tank. (See video for details.) Each buoy is tethered to the bottom of the ocean to keep it in place, and it can provide enough water for as many as 3,000 people daily.
Solar power has also been used to power desalination plants. Dutch company Desolenator has a solar thermal desalination solution that can produce 250,000 liters (about 66,000 gallons) of fresh drinking water daily. Each plant is powered by a PVT (photovoltaic-thermal) array on the top, which also heats up the cold seawater feed on the bottom. The seawater is then fed into MED (multiple-effect distillation) components in the middle, distilling it into clean water. Given this method, there are no filters, membranes, or harmful chemicals involved.
Domestic Solutions to Water Scarcity
Research conducted by the Irrigation Association and the International Center for Water Technology at California State University in Fresno suggests that up to 20 percent of water can be saved by farmers and householders using this technology in comparison with traditional irrigation methods.
There are also wins that can be achieved on a much smaller scale but which can still increase the overall availability of water on Earth, reducing the need to fight over it. For example, a smart irrigation system adjusts watering schedules to deliver only what is needed by using technology to monitor weather and soil conditions and check evaporation. This can not only be used in agriculture, but also in our domestic gardens. Research conducted by the Irrigation Association and the International Center for Water Technology at California State University in Fresno suggests that up to 20 percent of water can be saved by farmers and householders using this technology in comparison with traditional irrigation methods.
Another water saving method is drip irrigation, a low pressure water system delivering hydration to the root of the plant rather than using a sprinkler system which soaks the leaves and surrounding area, potentially saving 30 to 50 percent of water usage. Forgoing a lush, green garden for a trendy arid alternative will make one’s own front yard stand out and make a positive impact on water usage. Arid gardens grow hardy plants from dry and desert regions that can survive on very little water, such as Old-man Saltbush and Eremophila.
It is not only in gardens but also in homes, where water can be conserved. Switching from a bath to a shower and reducing it to four minutes can make a big reduction in water usage, as can turning the faucet off when brushing one’s teeth. A running faucet pours away six liters of water per minute. If left on for only two and a half minutes, this loss accumulates to the same amount needed to provide the liquid needs of a person in an emergency situation. Small changes such as these that all people can make in areas where water is plentiful can have a big impact where it is not.
Bringing an abundance of water where there is scarcity or reducing our usage elsewhere in the world would surely help end this ancient source of conflict, improve the quality of life for humans whose lives are blighted by thirst, and reap all of the environmental benefits to be had by living in harmony with nature.
*Gordon Cairns is a freelance journalist and teacher of English and Forest Schools based in Scotland.
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