Growing need to embrace water treatment

“Water is life” is a popular and accurate saying. However, domestic, institutional, and commercial consumers of water seldom pay attention to where the water they consume originates. They are even less likely to understand the critical role water treatment plays in providing and preserving this ‘life’ resource. It can, therefore, be said that water treatment is as invisible as groundwater to the consumer.

As we develop our towns and cities amid a changing climate, threats to groundwater increase and so does the demand for it. While consumers admire new buildings, roads, and economic structures, groundwater and water treatment go even deeper from consumer awareness. It is, therefore, important that institutions like the UN and The Gleaner raise public awareness to make the invisible visible.

Water treatment significantly reduces the pollution of groundwater, enables the recycling of commercial water and is, therefore, critical for societies to achieve the optimal balance between climate change and water resources.

Groundwater is contained in what you may call underground rivers (aquifers). “Groundwater is a very important natural resource and has a significant role in the economy. It is the main source of water for irrigation and the food industry.”

Jamaica is called the land of wood and water, and rightly so, because the country has an abundance of groundwater. The problem is, in Kingston, for example, where the demand for groundwater is highest, a significant portion of our groundwater cannot be used due to high pollution. Pollution has come about from increased needed development, but with gaps in water treatments.

As the city continues to grow and the climate continues to change, the demand for invisible groundwater and water treatment will become more and more important in preserving life. There is a growing need for governments to accept these challenges and, therefore, embrace the role water treatment will have to play making groundwater visible and viable. We encourage consumers to become more aware because change starts there.

– Contributed by Chem-Quip Water Treatment