Since immemorial time, in some parts of the world, fresh water has always been a limited resource. However, nowadays, freshwater scarcity has become a global problem due to growing worldwide demand. This essay will elicit the causes of the increased demand as well as countermeasures that governments and individuals could take to respond to this problem.
Firstly, humans have been decreasing current freshwater reserves further by polluting it in their activities. For example, uncontrolled usage of chemicals in agriculture, direct waste from factory to river, lake without preprocessing, recreational swimming and so on. Secondly, overpopulation increases more demand for water day by day, resulting in a surge in freshwater usage. This can be proved by the world population is more than 7 billion and still increasing exponentially every day.
There are several measures that governments and individuals could take to respond to this matter. National authorities can increase their citizens’ awareness of the matter through education, and heavier punishment through enactment of new laws and legislation. For example, propagate the severity of freshwater pollution through radio or TV, implement stricter laws that treat any individual or organization that heavily tainting the surrounding environment as criminals. Individuals can contribute to this noble by reducing the usage of water in their household. This includes using showers instead of tubs, checking pipeline leakage regularly.
In conclusion, the surge in freshwater demand can be solved or suppressed to a certain extent if the governments and individuals work together.