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Water: Quality and Sustainability within Australia and the World - Coggle…
Water: Quality and Sustainability within Australia and the World
Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems
Invasive Species
Introducing invasive species to a new habitat severely damages the water qualities of the area. They often spread toxins/pathogens and harmful algal blooms to the water and marinelife, decreasing the overall aquatic quality.
Global Warming
Global warming leads to the harmful impact of aquatic ecosystems, raising the water temperature and endangering aquatic species that have adapted to rely on lower temperatures to survive.
Water Acidification
Water absorbs excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, increasing acidity levels, making it more difficult for many marine food chains to maintain consistency while also impacting food supply.
Water Scarcity
Droughts
Small Scale Droughts
Small scale droughts typically last for a few weeks to months, impacting a local area, caused by a lack of precipitation and dry conditions.
Large Scale Droughts
Often affect large areas at a time, lasting for months or years at a time. Large scale droughts are often much more impactful than small scale droughts, damaging ecosystems and water supplies. These are caused by a lack of precipitation for a prolonged period of time or a lack of water in water storage points such as dams, or drier conditions than normal for long periods.
Climate Change
Overextraction
Overextraction occurs when water is pumped from underground sources faster than it can be naturally replenished, declining the overall amount of accessible clean water, deteriorating the water quality by introducing more contaminated water and salts.
Pollution
Chemical Waste
Introducing toxins that harm aquatic ecosystems and pose health risks through contaminated consumables.
Human Waste
Introducing pollutants into water such as nutrients and pharmaceuticals which harm ecosystem and human health
Agricultural runoff
Carries sediments, nutrients, pesticides and other contaminants into water sources
Inefficient water consumption
Excessive use of water
Excessive use of water relative to the amount of water needed for the task
Misallocation of water to needs
When water is allocated differently to the correct proportionate spread of water in agricultural, industrial and domestic use.
Degredation of water quality
Increases the concentration of pollutants from the water table by contaminating surface water through agricultural and industrial runoff
Population Growth
A rapid increase in population increases the global water demand, elevating the disparity between the human demand and amount of drinkable water
Large amount of water is inaccessible (glaciers, ocean)
Water use and Management
Water Cycle
Evaporation leaves sediments behind and turns surface water into water vapour, which later falls as cleaner precipitation
Drinkable Water
97% of water is salt water in the ocean
2% of fresh water is locked in glaciers and ice sheets
Remaining 1% is accessible, drinkable freshwater
Filtration systems (e.g. Puratap)
2 Cartridges: Charcoal Cartridge, Sediment Cartridge
Charcoal Cartridge is used to remove colour and taste from unfiltered water, Sediment Cartridge's purpose is used to remove the sediments from unfiltered water, combining to improve the water purity for drinking.
Water purification
Desalination of water
Desalination plants are important locations spread across the globe which work through processes such as reverse osmosis, minerals and screening.
Distillation
Distillation is used to separate and purify substances through a difference in boiling point. A common example is the removal of salt from water sources, evaporating a large amount of water into water vapour before removing the salt content which was left behind and recooling the vapour back into its liquid state
Contaminants/Viruses
Contaminants and Viruses such as E. Coli or Salmonella are commonly removed from water through advanced filtration processes or boiling.
Chemical Pollutants
Chemical Pollutants are chemical substances including pesticides, metals and industrial chemicals which contaminate water sources when introduced in large quantities, often leading to higher pH levels and damaging the water quality.
Issues with low water quality and sustainability
Decrease in amount of usable water accessible to current and future generations
Environmental Degredation
Public Health Concerns due to water quality
Imbalance in supply and demand for drinkable water as global population increases