Water, Water Everywhere . . .
95
establish Where economic desalination might be possible. The
survey indicated that at least fty areas merited further, more
detailed, investigations. It also revealed some surprising anomalies
in the price paid for water supplies—in some cases people paid
more for their water than the cost of desalted water. Many of the
areas covered by the investigation suffered both a shortage and a
serious lack of quality in their fresh water. Such lack of quality
frequently expresses itself in a high incidence of water—borne
diseases and other ailments stemming from the lack of adequate
personal hygiene. For example, the number of deaths each year in
the developing countries from diarrhoeal disease among children
under the age of one year is estimated to be nearly ve million, and
a high proportion of this appalling total results from poor water
supplies.
Clearly water can have considerable political content—one has
only to recall the example of the Aswan High Dam. This dam,
which is capable of retaining for Egypt the average annual ow of
the Nile, was built with Soviet nancial and technical aid, as an
international political gambit whose pay—off came in the promotion
of political ideology and power within a key Arab area. The same
possibilities may well exist with large—scale desalination. The United
States have been quick to recognize the value of being able to provide
sources of cheap fresh water. The Water for Peace Conference held
in Washington in May 1967 is an indication of this. This inter—
national meeting of desalination experts was held under the auspices
of the US. State Department and not, as might be expected, the
Ofce of Saline Water. No Soviet experts were present, for the
USSR also appreciates the value of cornering the water supply
market in developing areas of the world.
If this political interpretation is correct, considerable expansion
in water—supply propaganda' and” the investment of even greater
sums
of money in desalination can be condently anticipated.
However, in the midst of their banner—waving, the advanced nations
of the world may nd a little introspection essential; their own water
supply situation gives little reason for complacency. In the United
States the use of water is growing at a rate of 25,000 gallons per
minute and is expected to rise from a daily rate of 359 thousand
million gallons in 1965 to 453 thousand million gallons a day m
197 5. In south—east England, Which supports the highest density of
people per acre of catchment area in the world, water must be taken
95
establish Where economic desalination might be possible. The
survey indicated that at least fty areas merited further, more
detailed, investigations. It also revealed some surprising anomalies
in the price paid for water supplies—in some cases people paid
more for their water than the cost of desalted water. Many of the
areas covered by the investigation suffered both a shortage and a
serious lack of quality in their fresh water. Such lack of quality
frequently expresses itself in a high incidence of water—borne
diseases and other ailments stemming from the lack of adequate
personal hygiene. For example, the number of deaths each year in
the developing countries from diarrhoeal disease among children
under the age of one year is estimated to be nearly ve million, and
a high proportion of this appalling total results from poor water
supplies.
Clearly water can have considerable political content—one has
only to recall the example of the Aswan High Dam. This dam,
which is capable of retaining for Egypt the average annual ow of
the Nile, was built with Soviet nancial and technical aid, as an
international political gambit whose pay—off came in the promotion
of political ideology and power within a key Arab area. The same
possibilities may well exist with large—scale desalination. The United
States have been quick to recognize the value of being able to provide
sources of cheap fresh water. The Water for Peace Conference held
in Washington in May 1967 is an indication of this. This inter—
national meeting of desalination experts was held under the auspices
of the US. State Department and not, as might be expected, the
Ofce of Saline Water. No Soviet experts were present, for the
USSR also appreciates the value of cornering the water supply
market in developing areas of the world.
If this political interpretation is correct, considerable expansion
in water—supply propaganda' and” the investment of even greater
sums
of money in desalination can be condently anticipated.
However, in the midst of their banner—waving, the advanced nations
of the world may nd a little introspection essential; their own water
supply situation gives little reason for complacency. In the United
States the use of water is growing at a rate of 25,000 gallons per
minute and is expected to rise from a daily rate of 359 thousand
million gallons in 1965 to 453 thousand million gallons a day m
197 5. In south—east England, Which supports the highest density of
people per acre of catchment area in the world, water must be taken