Desalination Plants And Retention Ponds-Lead To Water Abundance

Water-Requirement and Availability

Water is the main source of survival of humans. It is the basic necessity of life. Therefore, its importance is undeniable. We use it for domestic purposes like drinking, cooking and washing. Also, we use it for industrial purposes like construction, agriculture, electricity production, sanitation, medical purposes etc. In Pakistan, we are facing severe water shortage problems these days. Specifically talking about Karachi, it is the populous city of Pakistan. Therefore, it needs more water for the survival of people. 15,741,406 people live in Karachi whereas the growth rate is 2.45%. According to a report, Pakistan receives around 145 million acre feet of water every year but can only save 13.7 million acre feet.

We lack good storage systems in Pakistan. Therefore, people are deprived off getting enough amount of water. In the same regard, Karachi also has the same problem. The deputy managing director of KWSB said that the people of Karachi need 1,188m gallon or water in a day MGD but receive only 650MGD. The Hub Power Company (Hubco) is a company which contributes 10% electricity to national grid. Also, it focuses to make Pakistan independent in terms of energy and power production by 2025. Moreover, it is working to utilise Rs132 billion for water issues in Karachi.

Solutions to water scarcity

There is a need to have manholes in every street and corner of the city. The local municipality of the city should manage these manholes through the local property tax. Moreover, the water from the houses which runs on the roads and causes negative effects should also go to these pipes. Adding to this, there is a need to have channels specified for rainwater.

Retention ponds

Similarly, there is another system of restoring water and keeping the cities unaffected from rainwater. This system is successfully operating in America. It is called as retention pond. They have made these ponds in accordance with a specific plan and locate in so many areas of the cities. Moreover, the purpose of these ponds is to store the water which overflows from different streams and lakes in the time of rainfall. This storage is temporary. This protects the roads and daily routine of cities. Now, the question is that what to do with this water. We should treat this water through water treatment plants and then expose it to environment or in rivers for further uses. In America, this process is regulated and monitored on the basis of “Clean water Act 1972” by American Congress.

Desalination plants

Additionally, the water in the seas and rivers is made clean through a process of desalination. It is the process of removing salt from the sea water. If we install desalination plants, we can turn the salty sea water into fresh water which we can drink and use for other purposes. More than 18,000 desalination plants operate in 150 countries including US, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Gulf States, etc. every day 10 to 13 billion gallon water is purified across the globe. If we adopt these practises for our country, we can solve many of the problems we are facing.