Water, they say is life. If this is true, then the life is gradually going out of our urban communities. Urban communities all over the world are faced with water shortages of all degrees; from mild to very acute. However, these are places where we have a large number of people living so if there is no enough water in these places, then it can be said that, a large number of people do not have access to water. This situation is predicted to worsen if measures are not taken immediately. In some cases, the water available may not be portable or even polluted, but because people do not have any option, they use it as such. Reasons have been ascribed to the worsening water shortages in urban areas.

Overpopulation

The main reason given for the water shortage in urban areas has to do with over population. When the cities were planned, the water and other resources were allocated according to the estimated number of people. Overtime however, the numbers increased far above what was estimated and so, the water allocated could not be sufficient for all the people. The population keeps increasing but the volume of water to the area remains the same. This is going to worsen the water shortage.

Destruction of water bodies

Water supply to bigger cities is taken from nearby water bodies. These water bodies are getting polluted and getting destroyed. People are cutting down the vegetation covers that protect them in the name of development and so the water eventually dries up. Many of the water bodies are also being converted to drainage systems and so, the water bodies that can be used to supply the increasing water demands of the bigger cities are being destroyed. This situation is worsening and so more and more people will not have access to water over time.

Age of the supply system

Some water supply systems are as old as the cities which they serve. Many of such systems have not seen repairs or any form of maintenance in many years. Pipelines and storage tanks in some of these systems breakdown, not serving any purpose any longer and so the communities they are supposed to supply are cut off from the water supply system. As time goes on, more of these facilities will breakdown and so many more communities will be cut off from water supply systems.

Wastage

While some people do not have access to water, others have it but are waste it. Wastage is something that has lived with human beings for ages and is only increasing as the years go by. People who have water in their homes use it unwisely. This water that is wasted could be supplied to other people who have no access to water. It has been observed that given the amount of money paid per volume of water stays the same, homes pay increasing bills for water over time. This is leading to increasing water shortage in cities.
Even as there is no substitute for water, life is going to be difficult for many city dwellers if things do not change.

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