Water

It makes up more than half of our bodies’ composition. We need it to drink, cook and clean. We turn on the faucet, and it’s there. It’s easy to take it for granted, since we use this natural resource so much in our daily lives. In fact, we can’t live without it.

Water is essential for the survival of all known life forms, including humans. It is involved in photosynthesis, metabolic processes and respiration. It’s also needed for agriculture, solvents, waste management, food processing, chemical reactions, power generation and, of course, hydration.

Water is a naturally renewable resource that regenerates continuously through the hydrologic cycle. The process begins when the heat of the sun evaporates water from the ocean, sending it as vapor up into the air. The cooler temperatures found high in the atmosphere cause the vapor to condense, forming clouds. As air currents move the clouds around the globe, particles within them collide, grow and then fall to the earth as precipitation in the form of snow or rain. Snow can accumulate as ice caps and glaciers, storing frozen water for thousands of years, or melt into our rivers and oceans. Rain can fall directly to the sea or onto land, becoming stored groundwater or flowing over the ground back to the ocean. And then the whole process begins anew.

At any stage of the hydrologic cycle, the earth always contains a vast amount of water, nearly all of it in the ocean. Only 2.5 percent exists in freshwater and much of that is bound in glaciers and permanent snow. This leaves only a small fraction of usable freshwater available to meet the demands of human civilization and satisfy the world’s environmental needs.

The human factor

Because of increasing populations, unwise water use and declining rainfall, the quality and abundance of freshwater natural resources are dwindling. In fact, according to the United Nations’ 2008 Millennium Development Goals Report, it is estimated that by 2025, almost half of the world’s population will face a serious shortage of fresh water.

Since the state of human health depends on access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, minimized burden of water-related disease and healthy freshwater ecosystems, this has the potential to become a crisis of epidemic proportions. The U.N.’s goal is to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by the year 2015.

In order to ensure this goal is met, we must start seeking alternative water sources now. Progress is already being made with water treatment technology that will let our planet’s vast oceans finally provide a sustainable source of clean-water supplies. Indeed, through desalination, the rich natural resources of the world’s oceans, brackish groundwater sources and other “impaired” waters can be converted to clean water for human use without harming our planet’s ecology.

Whether it’s ensuring this natural resource is here for future generations or tapping this force of nature for a more intelligent form of energy, water has potential that goes beyond what most of us realize.

Leading by example

ACCIONA is an industry leader well versed in the multiple ways water factors into a sustainable world. We know the value of this natural resource and how it can be tapped to create a better world for all. That’s why we’re leading the charge with advanced water treatment technology.

Advanced water treatment technology – As a leading provider of global solutions contributing to development in the sustainable water resources sector, ACCIONA Agua designs, constructs and operates innovative water treatment plants that leverage technologies like desalination to purify seawater for human consumption. ACCIONA Agua currently operates the largest desalination plant in the U.S. in Tampa Bay, Florida, and a pilot plant in Monterey, California.