Water

The three basic requirements for life are Energy and Water so that the necessary biochemistry can take place to create Biomass.

Water serves three main purposes for Man

  • a primary input for drinking
  • ablutions and sanitation and thus maintaining public health
  • a primary input for Biomass (food) production.

Prior to modern urban development all fecal waste produced by Heterotrophs was dumped on the land and through the action of the weather and biochemical decomposition, it was broken down, dissipated and re-assimilated into the soil where it could become nutrients for plant Biomass formation.

Virtually none of this waste was dumped directly into water so the impact on nutrients in the Water Cycle was negligible.

Water quality in the Water Cycle was maintained because the Nutrient Cycle in the aquatic environment was not distorted or overloaded and by the cleansing effect of the Primary Water Cycle; evaporation, transportation in clouds and precipitation.

The impact of the Anthropocene on Water has probably been greater than the impact of greenhouse gases on the atmosphere, and arguably poses a greater and more imminent threat.

We have been forced to distort natural water courses to supply urban centers and the effect has been to concentrate downstream wastewater flows. The residual contaminants/nutrients in these flows is overloading nutrient levels in bulk water resources and driving the process of eutrophication.

Eutrophication promotes the uptake of nutrients into the production of Biomass in the form of Cyanobacteria and algae at the expense of the productive Food Chain that we need to maintain water quality for reuse.

If we allow the Nutrient Cycle to be distorted in this way, it undermines the integrity of the Water Cycle. We need the Water Cycle to perform in a manner that maintains water quality for maximum reusability so it is only by adopting the Renewable Water paradigm that water security and food security can be assured.

If water quality is degraded because of high levels of algae, Cyanobacteria, coliforms and other contaminants, we cannot use it for irrigation to produce food Biomass or to service our needs for potable water and water borne sanitation.

Understanding how distortions in the Nutrient Cycle degrade water quality in the Water Cycle to impair both water supply and food production at the WEB Nexus is critical to sustainable resource management.

Menu