Water 1. Even in earliest times, people understood the importance of water, and these nomadic people set up temporary shelters near streams, recognising the link between drinking water and life. When they began to live in settled communities, they chose to do so near running water for the same reason. Great civilisations, such as those of Mesopotamia and Egypt, flourished around waterways. Mesopotamia, the so-called cradle of civilisation, was situated between the great Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and used them to irrigate its crops, thus becoming rich through agriculture. Egypt used the Nile to transport huge varieties of goods for trade with other countries, and used to its advantage the fact that the river flooded its banks every year, ensuring fertile agricultural land without the expense of irrigation. In modern times, people created great trading ports – for example Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo – by building them on rivers.

2. Water featured in the philosophy of the Ancient Greeks, who considered it as one of the four elements used to create every living thing, along with fire, air and earth. Water is seen as a purifier in many religions, with ritual washing being incorporated into Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam; moreover, stories of floods feature in several religions, where a god or gods used water as a punishment for human misbehaviour or immorality. Water is also integral to various recreational activities, such as swimming, surfing and boating, and many people find that even the sound and appearance of flowing water is relaxing.

3. Electricity can be generated by water: hydro-electricity, as it is called, has the advantage of being a low-cost, non-polluting energy source, an example of which is the Three Gorges Dam, completed in 2008, which spans the Yangtse river and is the world’s largest power station. And of course water is vital for everyday washing and cleaning purposes: how often are morning showers and washing machines taken for granted – yet these consume millions of gallons of water globally each day.

4. But not everyone can be considered as lucky, and the availability and distribution of water through -out the world is a major social and economic concern. In some parts of the world people do not have access to safe water; drinking contaminated water, or preparing food in it, may lead to illness or even death. Even where safe water exists, it often has to be transported long distances from wells, usually by women or by children. Some countries are particularly susceptible to flooding, which causes homelessness and disease, whereas other countries suffer the opposite problem, a lack of water, or drought, which brings about starvation, misery and displacement of entire communities. Very often the world looks on helplessly as these tragedies unfold, powerless to stop them. As the global population continues to increase from its current seven billion to a forecast nine billion in 2050, the demand for food, and thus for the water needed to produce it, is set to rise proportionally.

5. Steps are being taken to solve these worrying problems. In 2003, the leaders of the world’s affluent countries, the G8, made it their policy to halve, by 2015, the number of people worldwide with no access to safe water. The World Health Organisation is working to reduce waterborne diseases in affected countries, and predicts that this policy could prevent the deaths of more than a million children annually. More safe drinking water can be produced by removing salt from sea water; this process, called desalination, is under way in, for example, the United Arab Emirates and Australia. It is expensive because of the huge amounts of energy and specialised machinery required, but it is nevertheless viewed with optimism by many scientists who have made it their goal to provide safe water for every person on the planet. Other countries which are not self-sufficient in water buy it from their more water-rich neighbours, examples of this being Singapore, which buys water from Malaysia, and South Africa, which buys water from Lesotho, provided through the ambitious Lesotho Highlands
Water Project.

Section 1: Reading for Ideas

1 (a) Notes [12 marks]

Identify and write down the points in the passage which describe the uses of water down
through the ages, and the problems and solutions associated with ensuring an adequate
supply of water to everyone in the world.

USE MATERIAL FROM THE WHOLE PASSAGE.

At this stage, you need NOT use your own words. To help you get started, the first point in
each section of notes is done for you. You will be awarded up to 12 marks for content points.

MAIN POINTS

Q1 The uses of water down through the ages
• Nomadic people set up shelters near streams for drinking water

Q2 Problems and solutions associated with ensuring an adequate supply of water
• Some people do not have access to safe water