In the UK, we take our running water supply for granted. And why shouldn’t we? There is so much precipitation that many parts of the country are regularly afflicted by flooding. Disposing of excess water appears a greater problem than storing the stuff.
While vast tracts of the world are far less exposed to rainfall levels such as ours, 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. There are 326 million cubic miles of it on the planet, according to the US Bureau of Reclamation. However, for the human race, the problem is that 97% of it is seawater, which is naturally far too salty (saline) for human consumption, crop growing or most industrial uses except cooling.
What’s more, five-sixths of the planet’s 3% freshwater share is either locked within glaciers, polar icecaps, soil and the atmosphere; highly polluted; or too deep below the surface to be economically extractable. In other words, just 0.5% of the Earth’s water is actually fresh, accessible and also potable.
