The U.S. water system is very complex and carefully designed. The system is designed to get the most use of our current resources of water. This includes water surveying, groundwater controls, and the recycling of the water system. Additionally, things like functionality and safety standards are also taken into account. Engineering firms are tasked with these water skills and are an important part of preserving and reusing our water supplies.
The world?s current supply of water
Many people mistakenly believe that we have endless supplies of water. In return, they do not care for the little water that we actually do have. Water is left running, hoses and outdoor water supplies are left on for hours per day, and many people are not even aware of basic conservation water needs. In actuality, the planet has very little consumable water. Although we are surrounded by many, many acres of water, much of this water is not consumable.
Even out of the water sources that are acceptable for drinking water, many are currently polluted. Water quality reports indicate that 45% of U.S. streams, 47% of lakes, and 32% of bays are polluted. This pollution comes from both individual consumers, as well as large corporate businesses. Although there are minimal regulations in terms of corporate responsibility for caring for water supplies, these regulations are often not pushed.
What is the country doing about it?
There are some organizations and individuals who are aware of these water concerns. The country has put limitations on what types of products can be disposed of, and where they can be disposed at. Individual consumers are asked to conserve water. However, with increasing water demands and decreases water quality and supplies, it is still a huge problem. Current surveying and mining are also important in finding new water supplies.
In the meantime, the U.S. is attempting to find additional sources of water. This process, however, is not easy. Approximately 500,000 new residential wells are constructed annually, according to NGWA estimates. The construction of these vitally needed water supply systems involves the use of more than 18,460 drilling machines by an estimated 8,085 groundwater contracting firms. Working with these many contractors and supplies, it can be difficult to use regulations and mining requirements. This can lead to poor drilling practices that actually end up contaminating the water supply.
The increase of water related jobs
As the water supply decreases and the demand around the world increase for healthy and safe drinking water, the jobs associated with water supplies will also increase. This is one of the expected fasted growing industries today. This will also mean an increase related jobs, including coal mining and surveying practices. Geotechnical skills will also become important, in locating the water supplies. According to the 2015 U.S. Annual Coal Report published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, surface coal mining operations and surveying located predominantly in the aforementioned region, provided between 26,000 and 37,000 U.S. jobs. These numbers are only expected to grow with growing demands.
Water is a necessary resource. Although it might seem like we have endless supplies of water, this is not actually the case. Water supplies are deleting and current consumer and manufacturer practices are only ruining the supplies that we do have. There are not enough regulations or strict adherence to the regulations that do exist. Both consumers and manufacturers can do their part in preserving the little consumable water that we do have. Additionally, U.S. workers can prepare for an increase in coal mining and water mining jobs. An increase of these jobs, paired with a lot of prepared workers is the only hope for increasing the water supply.
