Felix Ruble, Karim Elkotn, Ziad Akl

3/2/2014

Water Conservation
Water conservation refers to reducing the usage of water and recycling of waste water for different purposes such as cleaning, manufacturing and irrigation. (http://www.ask.com/question/what-iswater-conservation) Water conservation is important as fresh water is a scarce resource that everyone uses for a variety of purposes. As the worlds population is continually growing we need more and more fresh water, but there is only so much, so we have to conserve water so that everyone can have access to water. Water conservation is needed all over the world, but especially in countries that are particularly dry, have access to little fresh water, countries where water is at a high risk of being polluted, or countries where geopolitical problems lead to water shortages. Lebanon fits many of the conditions in this list: it shares much of its fresh water sources with countries with which it has dangerous political tensions, the huge population density means that water gets polluted easily, as there are many people using the same water and if even very few pollute the water many will be affected adversely, and this year there was very little rain and the amount of fresh water here is particularly low as a result. There are many ways to help conserve water in Lebanon. A few ways are the placement of rain buckets all over the cities and villages of Lebanon, this will help conserve water immensely and will reduce the stress on fresh water reserves in Lebanon; and it rains 5million m3, so a considerable amount of water can be won. It is possible to re-use Grey Water and distill it for industrial/domestic use. This will increase the water supply greatly and save great amounts of sewer water. Sea springs capture unsalted water from offshore; this would be excellent for Lebanon because of its huge coast line. Artificially Recharged Underground Aquifers are great supporters for the freshwater systems in many countries. The Aquifers will increase fresh ground water, filter salt water, increase water supply by 158 million c3 annually, minimize the intrusion of seawater, and generally improve water quality. Water shortages and failure to conserve water in Lebanon is most visible when examining rain water collection, which is one of Lebanons primary sources of fresh water. Failure to harvest rain water properly is definitely a leading cause of water shortages in Lebanon. Failure of the government to develop functioning water infrastructure is another major cause of water shortages in this country. Conserving water efficiently requires large scale coordination which requires a competent and diligent government, something this country is most definitely lacking. Bibliography:

Water is one of Lebanons most precious resources; each drop is a national treasure. Lebanese Center for Water Management and Conservation. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. <http://www.lcwmc.org/web/index.php/en/>. "Bluegold Lebanon." Bluegold Lebanon. Blue and Gold Lebanon, n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. <http://bluegoldlebanon.com/>.

"What Is Water Conservation?." What Is Water Conservation. Ask.com, n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. <http://www.ask.com/question/what-is-water-conservation>.

Further Reading: 1) www.lcwmc.org 2) http://bluegoldlebanon.com/blue-gold-initiatives Quiz: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) List two ways to conserve water, specifically ones that work in Lebanon. In general, why is it necessary to conserve water? List two reasons why it is necessary for Lebanon to conserve its water. What challenges does Lebanon face when it comes to water conservation? Do you try to conserve water? If so, how?