EFFICIENT WATER SEPARATION

Summer has come and made the theme of water supply relevant again. There have been fewer water supply interruptions in Baku in the past few years, even in its residential areas, but this does not resolve the bigger problem with drinking water in Azerbaijan. In addition, the problem of shortage of drinking water is a global one. Although the amount of water around the world does not decrease, demand for it grows each year. Statistically, only 2.5 per cent of all water on the planet is fresh water suitable for drinking.

Every sixth person lacks drinking water in the present-day world. According to international organizations, a child dies from water-related problems every eight seconds in the world. The quality of drinking water is responsible for 80 per cent of illnesses and deaths in the developing world. According to WHO, 80 per cent of people on the planet use poor water and 40 per cent use contaminated water. Therefore, the problem of shortage of fresh water is quite important.

"Poor" in water

According to official data published on the website of Azersu open-type joint-stock company, the amount of water suitable for drinking in Azerbaijan is quite limited and unevenly distributed. Currently, surface water resources are 27 cubic kilometres, and in dry years they fall to 20-21 cubic kilometres. Nineteen to 20 cubic kilometres are transboundary waters and the other 9-10 are the resources of inland rivers. Azerbaijan is one of the "poorest" South Caucasus countries in terms of fresh water reserves.

There is no precise statistics on the water problem in Azerbaijan but it is known that more than 4,500 administrative residential areas experience water-related problems. Certainly, these are mainly in Baku and Abseron peninsula. Because of the growing population and, consequently, an increase in its needs, the Sollar water pipeline could no longer fully meet all demand, so one more water pipeline - the Oguz-Qabala-Baku one - was put into operation in 2010.

The waters of the Kura run through the Caucasus countries and are therefore very contaminated. For example, in Georgia, water from the Kura is used solely as auxiliary water and is not suitable for use by people.

In Azerbaijan, unlike neighbouring countries, there are no separate, isolated sources, so drinking water is often used instead of auxiliary water. Drinking water is used for agricultural purposes and, even more regrettably, to wash cars. One of the most important ways to ensure an efficient use of the scarce water resources is to ensure proper control over how they are used.

We are not faced with lack of water?

Azersu open-type joint-stock company carries out a set of measures to meter water consumption. Illegal use of water and sewerage systems are revealed, mainly at consumer facilities, car washes and restaurants. For years now, fairly strict sanctions and fines have been imposed on people found making an illegal use of water and sewerage systems. Unauthorized connection to water supply pipes and sewerage systems is considered illegal.

But even timely and strict control over the use of water resources does not guarantee that everyone will have water. Could all surface and ground water run out?

Geologist Vaqif Behbudoglu comments that there is a shortage of drinking water around the world nowadays. African countries are the most affected ones. The drying up of the Aral Sea [a lake in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan] could lead to an environmental disaster in the future. However, the geologist believes, Azerbaijan has no such problem: "Our country is next to the Caspian Sea as well the mountains of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus (correspondingly, it is next to rivers that are linked to these mountain ranges). In addition, the salinity of the Caspian Sea is three times lower than that of the World Ocean." If we take into account all these facts, the geologist said, we will see that Azerbaijan is not facing a water problem, it's just that water consumption methods should be changed. Until now, flowing rivers have been considered the main sources of water but nowadays that is not enough and these ideas are considered obsolete.

According to the geologist, although we do have a sufficient number of underground rivers, they are not being used to the full. "These sources need to be used in a more intensive way. The current level of technological development allows this to be done. Digging underground sources - kahrizes - would not go amiss either."

The chairman of the Environmental Forecasting Centre, Telman Zeynalov, also believes that Azerbaijan has sufficient resources to meet all demand for water: "We have 8,800 small rivers. Certainly, against the backdrop of global warming in the southern hemisphere, there may be a shortage of water, but the northern hemisphere is not faced with this. Look, there is a tendency towards a cooling at the moment, snow is falling in the cold regions and rains and cold winters will lead to us having not just a sufficient amount of water but even a surplus of it." According to the ecologist, for us not to have problems with water, we do not need to seek additional resources but just need to be more careful when using it. "In our country there is no separation into auxiliary and drinking water," the ecologist comments. "Auxiliary water should be used at plants, for irrigation, to wash cars, and even in homes it can be used to do laundry and take a bath." However, we use drinking water to do all that.

A few years ago the press published articles about projects to desalinate the Caspian Sea. "I was against that," Telman Zeynalov says. "Desalination facilities operate on a nuclear reactor. Let alone the fact that they harm the environment and make water radioactive. It is doubtful that this water could be used for irrigation. It needs to be purified, while the construction of special treatment facilities means a huge additional use of money and efforts."

Water running out

However, the chairman of the Association of International Hydrological Programmes, Rafiq Verdiyev, is of a different opinion. According to him, there have always been problems with water. This becomes especially relevant in summertime, when fields are irrigated. Water, which comes in a centralized manner, is used both in agriculture and urban areas, to irrigate green areas and plots of land. Global warming may, too, lead to a depletion of water resources in some areas. The expert notes that a 15- to 20-per-cent depletion of water resources is expected in the next 30 to 40 years. To avoid this, water resources need to be used in a more rational manner, Verdiyev believes.

According to economist Vuqar Bayramov, people in Azerbaijan use an average of about 400 litres of water. This is significantly higher than, for example, in Europe (incidentally, water is more expensive in Europe, which makes people there be more careful with it). We have obvious problems with water use. The chairman of the Green Movement, Farid Huseynov, also believes that water in Azerbaijan is used inefficiently. City fountains do cool the air in hot weather but they evaporate a lot of moisture, and a lot of water is used in car washes, where, in addition to cars, carpets are also washed. In addition, one should not forget the "cute" habit of most citizens not to close the tap after using it. Indiscriminate carpet washing, too, means big water usage, particularly in summer, when carpets and rugs are generously washed using water continuously flowing from the water hose. Overall, urban water usage is much higher than rural.

Summarizing all of the foregoing, one can say that nurturing a careful attitude to water and water resources is much more cost-effective than the implementation of expensive projects to release latent capacity, for which, it turns out, there is no particular need.