Introduction

Although many areas on the earth are covered by water, water remains a scare resource to human in many of the arid areas around the world. The reason is that clean and drinkable water is hardly accessible by the large population in certain arid areas. The water from the sea is largely salt water, and that is not viable for human consumption or for industrial usages. Very often, human requires fresh and clean water. In this article, the various water provision techniques will be discussed. Then, the more suitable techniques to provide clean and fresh water to arid area of Beijing will be considered.

Background of Beijing

Beijing is the capital of China. It is a highly developed and populous city. However, one major issue of Beijing is that fresh water is increasingly become scare, due to the migration of people from other places, as well as the growth of population in the city. In Beijing, rainfall is also limited (Net Resources International, 2011). All these are causing water scarcity issues for Beijing. This article will discuss some viable water provision techniques to supply sufficient water for Beijing.

Water Provision Techniques

There are three water provision methods to be discussed in this article. These include ground pumping technique, diversion of water from other places to arid areas, as well as applications of distillation process to produce fresh water. The description of these techniques will be discussed in the following sections.

Ground Pumping Technique

Under the group pumping technique, the underground water is to be exploited and accessed via deep digging process. A piping channel will be built to the reach the sources of underground water and the water will be pumped out from the group for human consumption purposes. This is a relatively old technique (Goosen, 2007), and the technological requirement for such technique is usually low.

Diversion of Water to Arid Places

Another viable and easy technique to provide fresh water to arid areas is to divert water from areas with abundance of fresh water. Usually, water can be diverted from mountainous areas. For the case of Beijing, water can be diverted from the mountainous southern areas. In this case, water can be transferred from the lakes or rivers from the southern part to Beijing via construction of large water pipes and channels (Net Resources International, 2011). Similarly, such a water provision methods is not technologically intensive. However, the costs involved may varied depending on the situation.

Distillation Process

One of the modern water provision techniques is through the distillation process (University of Colorado, 2010). In this technique, the salt water from the sea is extracted to become clean water, through the distillation process. There are various types of distillation processes available around the world, varied from those low to high technologies (Larane et. al., 1992).

Comparisons of Water Provision Techniques

In order to investigate if which is the best strategy to provide fresh water to arid area of Beijing, the several water provision techniques will be considered from several perspectives, among them include: costs, quality of water, maturity of technology, location factors as well as impacts to environment/ ecology (O’Riordan, 2003).

To provide water through the water pumping technique is a viable method. Firstly, the technological requirement of such technique is not high. Secondly, the costs involved are affordable. Thirdly, the water quality is excellent. However, the technique may create pollution if such techniques are overused. For example, when the underground water is over exploited, intrusion of sea water is possible (Hess, 1988). Besides, due to the highly populous situation in Beijing, to rely on ground pumping method may not be sufficient to provide water to people in the area. In the long run, other water provision techniques are necessary to support the increasing demands of fresh water in Beijing.

To divert water from the southern areas may also be viable projects. Firstly, such methods can be low costs, and able to provide sufficiently good quality of water (Prendergast, 1993) to population in Beijing. The technology required for completion of the infrastructure to transfer water from the southern areas to Beijing is also not too high. However, such a method may not be environmentally or ecologically friendly. The ecosystem may be destroyed or disturbed in the water piping or infrastructure construction process (Rural Water Supply Network, 2010). Given the large amount of fresh water required by the population, it is reasonable to expect that the construction process will be required to be carried out in large scale. It is very certain that the habitats of the valuable flora and fauna will be destroyed or damaged in the process. Besides, the fresh water in the southern region of China may be required for usage in other coastal cities in China, for example, Shang Hai, Shen Zhen and etc. Thus, such a technique may not be the best choices.

Distillation process to provide fresh water can be a good option for Beijing. Firstly, Beijing is located in coastal areas. Besides, such a technique will also create minimal pollution to the environment. Distillation can also be carried out in large scale, without seriously harming the environment or ecosystem. There are also a range of distillation techniques to be used, ranging from those high-tech to a simpler one, as well as from those costly methods to a more affordable one.

Recommendations

Overall, it is found that the best method to provide fresh and clean water for consumption and industrial usages to Beijing is through the distillation process, followed by group pumping techniques, and lastly to the diversion of water from southern areas. The distillation process is preferred because it creates minimal disruption to the environment, while it can also be implemented on a large scale. The only issues to be handled in such techniques is the required capital investment, the technologies required as well as the proper implementation of the projects to mitigate impacts to the environment. As time pass by, it is also possible that the efficiencies of such technique can be further improved. Nevertheless, it is suggested that a combination of these methods can be used to provide fresh water, depending on the cost/ benefits analysis (Jagals et. al., n.d.). While distillation can be launched on the large scale, group pumping technique may also be employed on a larger scale whenever it is relevant.

Conclusion

As a conclusion, it is found that each of the water provision techniques have respective advantages and disadvantages. It is also found that distillation process is the most viable water provision technique for Beijing. That conclusion is made after considering several important factors as follow: costs, quality of water, maturity of technology, location factors as well as impacts to environment/ ecology. However, it should also be acknowledged that other possible methods to provide water to Beijing are not discussed. Perhaps all of that can be discussed in the further research.

References & Bibliography

Goosen, J. (2007, July). Water provision in rural KwaZulu-Natal. Civil Engineering : Magazine of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering, 15(7), 9-11.

Hess, A. F. (1988). Getting the VOCs out of well water. Civil Engineering, 58(5), 81.

Jagals,P., & Rietveld, L. (n. d.). Estimating costs of small scale water supply interventions. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/economic/chapter7.pdf. (Accessed on 3 April 2011)

Larane, A. (1992, March). Water Purification in France: A Tradition with Much to Offer. Water Engineering & Management, 139(3), 16.

Net Resources International. (2011). South-to-North Water Diversion Project, China. Retrieved from http://www.water-technology.net/projects/south_north/. (Accessed on 3 April 2011)

O’Riordan, T. (2003). Rethinking Water Provision. Environment, 45(10), 0_2.

Prendergast, J. (1993). Fit to drink. Civil Engineering, 63(5), 52.

Rural Water Supply Network. (2010). Code of Practice for Cost Effective Boreholes. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/wash/files/Code_of_Practice_FINAL.pdf. (Accessed on 3 April 2011)

University of Colorado, Boulder, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, (2010). Distillation. Retrieved from http://orgchem.colorado.edu/hndbksupport/dist/dist.html. (Accessed on 3 April 2011)