

Eight Ways to Address Water Scarcity
LifeStraw (1/8)
A woman takes a drink using a LifeStraw personal, a portable water purifier that kills bacteria and viruses responsible for waterborne diseases, such as cholera, typhoid, diphtheria, and common diarrhea, which afflict millions of people each year.
This model, which can purify a minimum of 700 liters of water - enough water for between six months and a year - costs around 3.50 US dollars. The LifeStraw won an Index International Design Award in 2005, and was named "Invention of the Year" in 2005 by Time magazine. (Photo: Vestergaard Frandsen)
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LifeStraw (1/8)
A woman takes a drink using a LifeStraw personal, a portable water purifier that kills bacteria and viruses responsible for waterborne diseases, such as cholera, typhoid, diphtheria, and common diarrhea, which afflict millions of people each year.
This model, which can purify a minimum of 700 liters of water - enough water for between six months and a year - costs around 3.50 US dollars. The LifeStraw won an Index International Design Award in 2005, and was named "Invention of the Year" in 2005 by Time magazine. (Photo: Vestergaard Frandsen)


Eight Ways to Address Water Scarcity
Q-Drum (2/8)
A child collects water using a Q-Drum portable container. Collecting water is a daily burden in rural Africa, with people often forced to carry limited amounts of water back home from the nearest water source - sometimes kilometers away.
The Q-Drum is made of durable polyethylene and designed to reduce the burden of fetching water. Even when filled up to its 50-liter capacity, the makers of the Q-Drum say that a child can easily pull the roller over flat terrain. (Photo: PJ Hendrikse)
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Q-Drum (2/8)
A child collects water using a Q-Drum portable container. Collecting water is a daily burden in rural Africa, with people often forced to carry limited amounts of water back home from the nearest water source - sometimes kilometers away.
The Q-Drum is made of durable polyethylene and designed to reduce the burden of fetching water. Even when filled up to its 50-liter capacity, the makers of the Q-Drum say that a child can easily pull the roller over flat terrain. (Photo: PJ Hendrikse)


Eight Ways to Address Water Scarcity
Watercone (3/8)
A man empties freshwater from a Watercone into a bottle. The Watercone is a lightweight, portable solar still that uses the sun's heat and the condensation process to produce drinkable water out of salty or brackish water.
In the sun's heat, the salty water evaporates, condenses on the plastic, and drips down into the circular trough at the inner base of the cone. The Watercone could be especially useful for coastal communities, which may be located next to huge bodies of undrinkable water. Each device can desalinate up to 1.5 liters of water per day.
(Photo: Stephan Augustin / www.watercone.com)
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Watercone (3/8)
A man empties freshwater from a Watercone into a bottle. The Watercone is a lightweight, portable solar still that uses the sun's heat and the condensation process to produce drinkable water out of salty or brackish water.
In the sun's heat, the salty water evaporates, condenses on the plastic, and drips down into the circular trough at the inner base of the cone. The Watercone could be especially useful for coastal communities, which may be located next to huge bodies of undrinkable water. Each device can desalinate up to 1.5 liters of water per day.
(Photo: Stephan Augustin / www.watercone.com)


Eight Ways to Address Water Scarcity
Fog Collectors (4/8)
This small fog collector is one of several energy- and water-saving features at the Chartwell School in Seaside, California, which was awarded a LEED Platinum certificate from the U.S. Green Building Council in December 2007.
When fog blows through the nylon mesh net, it condenses and water trickles down into a tank. Fog collectors have become a primary source of freshwater in some areas, such as the coastal Chilean village of Chungungo, where around 90 large fog collectors can supply between 15,000-100,000 liters per day. (Photo: Planet Relations / Chartwell School)
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Fog Collectors (4/8)
This small fog collector is one of several energy- and water-saving features at the Chartwell School in Seaside, California, which was awarded a LEED Platinum certificate from the U.S. Green Building Council in December 2007.
When fog blows through the nylon mesh net, it condenses and water trickles down into a tank. Fog collectors have become a primary source of freshwater in some areas, such as the coastal Chilean village of Chungungo, where around 90 large fog collectors can supply between 15,000-100,000 liters per day. (Photo: Planet Relations / Chartwell School)


Eight Ways to Address Water Scarcity
PlayPumps (5/8)
Children playing on a PlayPump Water System, a merry-go-round that pumps groundwater into an adjacent water storage tank. The 2,500-liter tank stands seven meters off the ground, using gravity to give the community easier access to water.
According to PlayPumps International, the NGO that produces the system, the device can pump up to 1,400 liters of water per hour. The systems cost 14,000 U.S. dollars to install and operate. Billboards on the water tanks can carry public health messages or advertising from local companies, which can help cover costs. (Photo: PlayPumps International / Frimmel Smith)
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PlayPumps (5/8)
Children playing on a PlayPump Water System, a merry-go-round that pumps groundwater into an adjacent water storage tank. The 2,500-liter tank stands seven meters off the ground, using gravity to give the community easier access to water.
According to PlayPumps International, the NGO that produces the system, the device can pump up to 1,400 liters of water per hour. The systems cost 14,000 U.S. dollars to install and operate. Billboards on the water tanks can carry public health messages or advertising from local companies, which can help cover costs. (Photo: PlayPumps International / Frimmel Smith)


Eight Ways to Address Water Scarcity
Rainwater Harvesting (6/8)
Iysha Zawde stands next to the 1,500-liter rainwater harvesting jar outside her home in Wakiso District, Uganda. The various methods of harvesting and storing rainwater are widely seen as effective, low-cost alternative sources of water for drinking, sanitation, and irrigation, particularly when there access to centralized water is either ineffective or simply non-existent. (Photo: WaterAid / Caroline Irby)
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Rainwater Harvesting (6/8)
Iysha Zawde stands next to the 1,500-liter rainwater harvesting jar outside her home in Wakiso District, Uganda. The various methods of harvesting and storing rainwater are widely seen as effective, low-cost alternative sources of water for drinking, sanitation, and irrigation, particularly when there access to centralized water is either ineffective or simply non-existent. (Photo: WaterAid / Caroline Irby)


Eight Ways to Address Water Scarcity
Desalination (7/8)
Lime-storage silos at the Tuas desalination plant in Singapore, which produces 110 million liters of freshwater every day. Singapore is one of several countries hoping to meet some of its growing water needs through desalination, the energy-intensive process by which salt water is converted to freshwater.
The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia both get around 70 percent of their drinking water from desalination plants. Spain, Britain, Australia, China, India, and the United States are among the other countries with plans to build more desalination facilities. (Photo: Reuters)
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Desalination (7/8)
Lime-storage silos at the Tuas desalination plant in Singapore, which produces 110 million liters of freshwater every day. Singapore is one of several countries hoping to meet some of its growing water needs through desalination, the energy-intensive process by which salt water is converted to freshwater.
The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia both get around 70 percent of their drinking water from desalination plants. Spain, Britain, Australia, China, India, and the United States are among the other countries with plans to build more desalination facilities. (Photo: Reuters)


Eight Ways to Address Water Scarcity
Conservation (8/8)
During a drought, the Water Feature in front of the Parliament House in Canberra, Australia is shut down. Water conservation not only helps to ensure availability of water, but it also reduces the energy and environmental impact of extracting, treating, and delivering water.
Water-saving measures include changing to more efficient and low-flow toilets, showers, and faucet heads, recycling "greywater" in the garden, or taking shorter showers. Fixing leaky water pipes can also help save huge amounts of water in cities with aging infrastructure. (Photo: Reuters)
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Conservation (8/8)
During a drought, the Water Feature in front of the Parliament House in Canberra, Australia is shut down. Water conservation not only helps to ensure availability of water, but it also reduces the energy and environmental impact of extracting, treating, and delivering water.
Water-saving measures include changing to more efficient and low-flow toilets, showers, and faucet heads, recycling "greywater" in the garden, or taking shorter showers. Fixing leaky water pipes can also help save huge amounts of water in cities with aging infrastructure. (Photo: Reuters)
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