Water resources are all the potentially useful sources of water available to us. It is well known that only 3% of the worlds water is fresh water, and of that 69% is locked up as ice and 30% under ground. This leaves only 1% of 3% of our potential water resources as easily accessible surface water (rivers, lakes and wetlands).
Water types include:
- Potable water – that we can drink
- Treated effluent – polished for reuse
- Groundwater – from boreholes & wells
- Surface water – from rivers & lakes
- Brackish water – slightly saline
- Sea water – saline & most costly to use for potable purposes
In each major project we recommend a full spatial-temporal (since water availability changes with location and time of year) water balance as the first step towards Water Resources Management.