Energy vs Water – Preventing Shortages in Water-Strapped Countries (Part 3)

Previous entries in this series have looked at the water and energy struggle in regards to renewable sources, and how this affects agriculture in many areas. This part will describe what different people and places are doing about water shortages.

Toilet to Tap Water

Singapore is one of those places that doesn't have natural groundwater and must rely on outside sources. When Singapore gained independence in the 1960s, the government had to negotiate two treaties to guarantee a water supply for the next century. In order to achieve water independence, the country decided to commit to water recycling. Singapore has been collecting the wastewater, cleaning it to exceptional levels, and serving it to the public as NEWater.

Since its debut in 2003, about 40 megaliters of recycled water is mixed into the city-state's water supply each day, which comes out to 2% consumption. Singapore also has a seawater desalination process that accounts for 136 megaliters each day.

The End of Electricity Theft

In the seven-island archipelago named Malta, there is an issue with electricity theft. Enemalta Corporation, an electrical utility in Marse, is planning on putting in an $88 million grid that will make distribution fair and theft detection easier. Malta currently relies on electricity to desalinate the seawater and extract groundwater, which makes it easy to see why the price of electricity dictates the price of water. With its groundwater running out, Malta has to choose whether to preserve water and energy, or to pay the hefty price of desalinating their water and powering their homes.

This smart grid promises to address issues with electricity and water by providing the people of Malta with an immense quantity of information so that they can make better educated decisions. At Water Services Corporation, 75% of the cost of water is due to electricity. When Enemalta raised the cost of electricity by 60% for big commercial customers, it bumped up the cost of water by as much as 25%. Water Services has been consistently installing new technology to reduce the power it takes to desalinate water. The energy used to desalinate 1 million liters of water has decreased from 5 kilowatt-hours to 2.8 kilowatt hours over the span of 25 years.

Even with the smart grid in place, higher prices for electricity and water are still possible. Malta's acquifers, which supply approximately 60% of the freshwater, are steadily being contaminated with saltwater. This will cause more energy consumption through seawater desalination of the acquifers.

Resources

IEEE Spectrum – Singapore's Water Cycle Wizardry

IEEE Spectrum – Malta's Smart Grid Solution