Introduction
By Osama Al zoubi
From the beginning of life, human beings have always faced challenges and difficulties in their lives. However, what is unique about humans is their ability to adapt and find solutions to these challenges. Engineering has always been the key and the most influential element to the survival of humanity in the face of the unending challenges. A committee of scientists and engineers from around the world have proposed the major 14th challenges in the 21 st century in a document entitled "Grand Challenges for Engineering." They stated that it is very important to address these challenges to ensure a healthy and enjoyable lifestyle of the world's civilizations.
One of the challenges addressed is the challenge of providing access to clean drinking water. In fact, with the world's rapid population growth, the demand of clean water is increasingly becoming one of the most prominent issues in the world. I was astonished to know that thousands of people die because of the lack of clean water.
According to the document proposed, about 1 out of every 6 people living today is currently unable to gain access to fresh drinking water, resulting in nearly 5,000 deaths from diseases due to poor water sources, i.e.; diarrhea.
Water current situation
Water is life. It is the crucial ingredient to the sustainability of civilizations and their prosperity. It is vital for domestic, agriculture and industrial purposes. We know that water on Earth should be sufficient to all its creations. Water is about 70% of Earth's surface. However, water is becoming one of the greatest challenges that may cause wars in the near future. Water is enough in some regions while in others there is a drought. The Earth's two poles have mountains of snow, oceans, rivers and inner water in the ground which is sufficient if it is used and divided equally. Many efforts to use this
References: - http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/challenges.aspx , 2012 - http://www.yalescientific.org/2011/04/engineering-clean-water/, Wendy Dewolf, 2011. -http://engineeringasweknowit.blogspot.ae/2012/12/providing-access-to-clean-water- one-of.html -http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3080283/: Journal of Biological Engineering by Mark R Riley, Charles P Gerba, and Menachem Elimelech, 2011 -http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/concepts-providing-clean-drinking-water.html: 15 Concepts and Solutions for Providing Clean Drinking Water by Derek Markham, 2012. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_Tunnel