E-Portfolio 3 (summary of clean water)

Read and summarize a 500-1000 word article related to the 14 grand challenges for engineering. The article should be from a reputable source (e.g. not Wikipedia). The summary should be approximately 300 words. Remember to include a citation for the article.

“Clean water has been a scarcity in Earth.” Without much doubt, few will object to such statement. Now, many parts of the world have been experiencing water shortages and unfortunately, it has also become a rising problem that relates to the survival of every living organism. Basically, water serves as the main purpose of hydrating our bodies and maintaining the proper functioning of our biological system. Furthermore, it is used for domestic, agricultural and commercial purposes and not forgetting the natural-occurring water movement cycle which essentially sustains lives.
This problem, however, still persists although there are abundant water supplies throughout the world. The main contributing factor can be explained by the fact of uneven distribution of water supplies among nations. In addition, natural disasters like droughts and nation’s political and economic constraints can also result in water shortages as well. In those countries experiencing water shortages, people are usually in poor state of health and prone to all kinds of diseases with their low immune system. Expectedly, there is a worrying rise in mortality rate resulting from poor health conditions.
As it concerns one’s survival, engineers have come out with solutions to enhance water availability for everyone. Desalination, a process whereby portable water is produced by removing salt out of seawater, has been commonly practiced worldwide, especially in Middle East. However, due to its high cost and energy-consumption, impoverished nations are not able to have it established to resolve the problem. On the other hand, engineers have also adopted the idea of recycling waste water and sewage treatment, reducing water usage and setting up decentralized distilled units that could possibly relieve water shortage issues.
For these reasons, engineers play a significant role in present society and possibly, they could formulate feasible yet low-cost solutions to address to current water shortages, provided considering the importance of environmental protection and sustainable development.


• National Academy of Engineering (2008). Grand Challenges for Engineering; Provide access to clean water. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9142.aspx