Leader . On the


cover Continuous processing provides an alternative for fine chemical batch processes with concerns about exothermic reactions and unstable products


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4 Chemistry&Industry • November 2013 Volume 77 • Issue 11


… everywhere, but not a drop to drink – so go the lines in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. But the truth is not so very different, as freshwater supplies are becoming scarcer by the day due to the demand of agriculture and industry, apart for the growing global population’s need for drinking water. And the problem is not just limited to the developing world; Western countries are also starting to see their water supplies squeezed.


Although 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered


with water, most is seawater, which accounts for 97% of the total available water. Of the remaining 3% that is freshwater, most is frozen as a permanent layer of snow and ice in the polar caps and glaciers. So out of the Earth’s vast volumes of water, just 0.5% is accessible drinking water. In 2010, it has been estimated that 397m people globally were affected by water scarcity, and by 2050 that figure is expected to rise to 2.1bn.


Just as with energy and food, securing water supplies is becoming a major challenge for countries and regions around the world. And, of course, these three critical social challenges are inextricably linked – without water there can be no food or energy, and the problem is further exacerbated by the trend of urbanisation. More than half the world’s population already lives in cities, and by 2050 this is expected to rise to 70% of a total population that could be 9bn people.


And in the older cities, ageing infrastructure, in some cases over 100 years old, is beginning to be a major problem, with insufficient capacity, losses through leakage and even water theft, resulting in lost revenues for water utilities and shortages for city dwellers. It has been estimated that up to £12.5bn could be saved through the implementation of smart water grid technology, involving leak detection and pressure monitoring; but this technology is still at an early stage of development, according to research analyst Megan Dean, at US research consultancy Zpryme. Graham Symmonds and Trevor Hill, of Global


Water Resources, a water and wastewater utility operating in Phoenix, Arizona, US, have pointed out: ‘The reality is that mankind has rarely – if ever – lived in complete harmony with our most necessary


Water water...


Find C&I online at www.soci.org/chemistryandindustry


Steve Reid


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