Groundwater: Out of sight but can't be out of our minds

THIS World Water Day, I wholeheartedly support the year's focus theme - Groundwater: making the invisible visible. While groundwater is the source of more than half of the world's drinking water, in my country Denmark, more than 99 per cent of drinking water is from groundwater. We in Denmark are also lucky to have some of the world's best drinking water and in most cases can drink it straight from the tap or with minimal filtration and treatment. But sadly, this is not the case in most parts of the world.

Climate change, coupled with economic and population growth, is leading to grave problems such as depletion and pollution of this vital source of water. Though globally around 40 per cent of groundwater is used for irrigated agriculture and about a third is required for industry, given that this resource is below ground and is out of sight, it is out of mind for most people. We cannot continue to ignore this invisible yet critical resource, and need to make its importance visible.

Groundwater is critical not only for economic reasons, but to also sustain ecosystems - as it plays an important role in maintaining the flow of rivers and in preventing land from sinking and seawater intrusion. A case in point here is Jakarta, where the main reason for the sinking of the city is claimed to be excessive extraction of its groundwater. This has led to the Indonesian government's decision to relocate its capital to the East Kalimantan province by 2024.

There are also immediate issues arising from the lack of groundwater. The United Nations (UN) says that 1 in 3 people lack access to safely managed drinking water, and most of them are from rural areas. This has resulted in women and girls being responsible for water collection in 80 per cent of households without access to water on the premises. If we do not act now, this figure is projected to increase with the progression of climate change.

Serious shortage of water supply

Unfortunately, with the increase in population, many cities globally are facing a serious shortage of water supply. For example, Orangi in Karachi, Pakistan - one of the world's largest unplanned settlements with more than 2 million people - is struggling from the inequitable water supply in the city.

Poor communities such as these have to pay high prices for water that is rightfully theirs.

Perween Rahman, a social activist, was murdered while trying to get justice and water for the people of Orangi. While Perween has helped bring attention to the value of water, we must in turn play our part and change our collective mindset by working together and delivering sustainable solutions. Providing access to drinking water needs to be prioritised as it is a basic human right.

What can also create a bigger impact is partnerships - collaboration among governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), companies, and communities to share knowledge and experience, explore new perspectives, and advance digitalisation to solve the world's water access challenges.

These partnerships can offer great opportunities to better understand what solutions are required and how they can adapt to different needs, and thereby tailor comprehensive solutions according to demand.

One example is the partnership between the Embassy of Iceland, NGO Water Mission Uganda, the Ugandan government and Grundfos to bring access to safe water to around 45,000 people in the Buikwe district of Uganda.

While there is an immediate need to address water access challenges, we also have to focus on the long-term strategy for groundwater.

The 4 Rs

Here, I would go back to the basic principles of the 4 Rs: reduce, recycle, reuse and recharge. We need to become more efficient in our water usage and reduce overall consumption and water loss. Building intelligence into the systems through digitalisation can play a key role in enabling this transformation. Here again, Denmark has manged to reduce its water consumption significantly by 42 per cent since 1980. The country's focus on improving monitoring, use of data and digitalisation in managing its groundwater as well as appropriate pricing has been instrumental in achieving this.

The next R we need to focus on is recycling - treating the water we discharge. This treated water can then be reused for various purposes, thus reducing the demand for extraction of more groundwater. Another critical aspect that can improve the availability and quality of groundwater is through the recharge and restoration of aquifers and water tables.

Even simple methods such as rainwater harvesting can have an immense impact. The state of Tamil Nadu in India launched the Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) scheme in 2001 to rejuvenate water sources and improve ground water levels in the parched southern state. Nearly 21 years down the road, this has benefited the citizens of the state and especially in its capital, Chennai. The scheme has helped people in water-scarce cities like Chennai by raising water tables in most neighbourhoods.

The UN has set some strong goals around water and sanitation (SDG 6) that aim at substantially increasing water-use efficiency across all sectors to ensure the sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity by 2030. If all concerned stakeholders work together, we can make a real difference for people all over the world. Water belongs to all of us, we therefore must care and act now.

The writer is group president & CEO of Grundfos