Zimbabwean City Officials Rolling Out Controversial Prepaid Water Program
Councillors in Harare City, Zimbabwe, are launching a project that they hope will see the cost of water treatment and delivery shift to the general public and away from local government.
Zimbabwean City Officials Rolling Out Controversial Prepaid Water Program
Though much of the scientific community recognizes the legitimacy of global warming and its effects on the planet, there are still those who refuse to acknowledge that the Earth is in a massive state of flux as a result of man’s industrial pursuits.
Regardless of what your personal beliefs on the matter are, it’s difficult to argue that the planet is indeed in the throes of ecological turmoil the intensity of which has seldom, if ever, been recorded. For many, the greatest concern is not rising sea levels or temperatures, but the growing scarcity of clean drinking water. London for example, has already exceeded its pollution limits for 2016.
While there have been a number of breakthroughs to combat dwindling water supplies, many are too costly for the world’s most impoverished municipalities to consider, leaving a great many of their residents at risk.
Hadley Cells: What Are They and How Are They Making Things Worse?
A Hadley cell is an atmospheric circulation phenomenon that drives energy towards the north and south poles and occupies zones between the latitudes of 30ºN and 30ºS. Because most of the moisture contained in these systems is lost on the route towards the poles, the returning air is dry. As a result, the incidence of precipitation is quite low.
There is scientific evidence to suggest that due to the effects of global warming, the Hadley cells are expanding – an event that can have a significant and negative impact on precipitation levels in areas that are already struggling to maintain a regular supply of water. As the regions on the precipice of these expanding cells gets dryer, the inhabitants of these areas could be the unfortunate benefactors of intense drought and little rainfall.
Naturally, entire cities can’t be moved to avoid these potential conditions, so it begs the question: what can governments do to mitigate these global changes?
Prepaid Water Meters: An Attempt at Water Management?
Councillors in Harare City, Zimbabwe, are launching a project that they hope will see the cost of water treatment and delivery shift to the general public and away from local government. Unsurprisingly, the plan (which may or may not have been inspired by prepaid phone cards) isn’t exactly striking a chord with local residents, who are vehemently opposed to its implementation. While the government views the installation of prepaid water meters as a means to support the local authorities charged with providing the region with clean drinking water, many residents consider the meters to be a way for the city’s elite to line their pockets at the expense of the poor and vulnerable.
To be fair, providing clean water to an entire city is a costly endeavour – especially when a city’s budget doesn’t allow for things like modernizing the system’s infrastructure or even preventative maintenance. Imagine the cost of finding and repairing a leak to a government that is already struggling financially. To that end, there are devices that can assess a water pipeline’s condition and allow water main monitoring that can alert the authorities to needed repairs before a rupture occurs. These types of systems not only reduce immense repair cost, but also help to preserve the water supply by allowing the city to take preventative and not reactive measures.
One could argue that a prepaid water service may possibly act as a method that can promote the importance of water conservation (wasting water both dwindles supplies and is shockingly costly) but it can also set a very dangerous precedent; that of charging people for one of their basic necessities for survival – a slippery slope indeed.
Technologies That Can Help Keep the World Hydrated
There are many projects and technologies that can help increase a region’s water supply. Perhaps the one that contains the most promise is the desalination of ocean water – a process that can convert undrinkable salt water into freshwater. On a small scale, getting drinkable water from seawater is possible through the use of a still. When boiled, seawater evaporates. The water vapour travels through a tube where it cools, and draining into a receptacle, effectively separating the water from the salt. The problem with this method is that it is time consuming, requires a lot of energy, and yields a minimal amount of drinkable water.
Large-scale desalination plants have typically required too much energy to be practical, but recent innovations are making this technology a much more realistic option to quenching the world’s thirst. Through reverse osmosis, saltwater is pumped through very thin membranes that are so fine they trap salt and other impurities while letting clean water through. Currently, desalination is only used when there are no other choices available – but it is becoming much more mainstream.
Water Filtration Systems
Many cities are turning to filtration systems to make used water into clean drinking water. By using water treatment technologies like nano-filtration, ultra-filtration, biological filtration, local governments can ensure an adequate water supply for their populace.
For regions like Harare City, it’s difficult to say whether or not their prepaid water solution will be successful or not. One thing is for certain though: as the world’s freshwater supply continues to be exhausted the urgency to find a cost-effective solution with grow exponentially.
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