For example, Australia has only a small portion of the world's water resources but also has a small population, so it has more water available per person than Asia, which has far more water but a much bigger population.
Northern Australia has significant water resources but these are not easy to capture and store. In terms of rainfall, Australia is the driest inhabited continent, and the amount of rainwater that enters rivers is also very low.
Water scarcity is a persistent issue in Australia given the relatively dry and variable climate and now the emergence of climate change.
For now, Australia may have sufficient freshwater to meet its needs but the unreliability of its rainfall, the uncertainty of climate change, and the difficulties of supplying fast-growing cities and isolated rural communities poses problems.
In Australia, 70% of freshwater is used for agriculture; 16% for energy and industry; and 14% is used by the public for general activities – drinking, showering, flushing the loo, doing laundry and watering the garden. Running out of water, even temporarily, will slow or stop these activities.
Dry conditions were experienced across most of Australia for the second successive year. Combined water storage across Australia on 30 June 2020 was 46 per cent of capacity, similar to the previous year. Total water taken in Australia for consumptive use was 14 270 GL, six per cent less than the previous year.
When one-third of the Australian continent was submerged, ancestors of the world's oldest living cultures were there to see it. Lands that once were wide open to exploration and home to many people flooded as the ocean crept inland following the last ice age, some 10,000 years ago.
Clean Up Australia chair Pip Kiernan says Australians must remember 90 per cent of the cost of a bottle of water can be traced back to the vessel, the lid and the label. "You can save all that money by remembering your reusable bottle and drinking tap water or filling up at public drinking water fountains."
Australia is the driest inhabited continent in the world; 70% of it is either arid or semi arid land. The arid zone is defined as areas which receive an average rainfall of 250mm or less. The semi arid zone is defined as areas which receive an average rainfall between 250-350mm.
Seven hundred kilometres south of Alice Springs, Oodnadatta sits in the hot, dry heart of the Australian outback. Here, temperatures regularly rise past the mid thirties and rain is rarely seen.
State by state
Western Australians (at one hour and 51 minutes per day) are the nation's biggest tapwater users. They are followed by Victorians (one hour and 30 minutes), New South Welsh (one hour and 29 minutes), South Australians (one hour and 17 minutes) and Queenslanders (one hour and 13 minutes).
The quality of drinking water in Australia is generally high, with 93% of households having access to clean, safe drinking water. Yet, while this is true for urban households, almost 200,000 people living in remote parts of the country do not have the same luxury.
Brazil has highest freshwater resources in the world which is accounts for approximately 12% of the world's freshwater resources. It is just because Amazon region this country contains 70% of the total freshwater. Russia has second largest freshwater reserve which is approximately 1/5 of freshwater in the world.
Australia is one of the world's leading producers of bauxite (aluminium ore), iron ore, lithium, gold, lead, diamond, rare earth elements, uranium, and zinc. Australia also has large mineral sand deposits of ilmenite, zircon and rutile.
Australia is the world's largest producer of opal and the world's largest exporter of coal. The country is also one of the top producers of iron ore, nickel, gold, uranium, diamonds, and zinc. New Zealand is an important producer of coal, silver, iron ore, limestone, and gold.
Australia's Water Supply
As we all know, climate change is also drastically affecting water levels the world over. The available freshwater in Australia is expected to drop significantly as rainfall patterns change. Additional pressure on water resources is also felt as a result of rapid population growth.
Bottled water is also considerably more expensive than tap. One litre of bottled water costs an average of $3 compared to just $0.25 for a litre of tap water. Making tap water 12 times less expensive per litre.
Desalination. Australia has around 270 desalination plants, mostly small scale, to desalinate marine and brackish water for various uses. The total desalination capacity across Australia is about 880 GL of water per year.
While there are a few places that boast extremely clean water, such as Canada, Iceland, Antarctica, or even Upstate New York, the team of scientists determined that the cleanest water in the world was in the Patagonia region of Chile, Puerto Williams.
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The top four owners of water entitlements by country are Canada with 2.0 percent of the total Australian water entitlement on issue, the US with 1.6 percent, China with 1.5 percent, and the UK with 1.0 percent. In 2020, the same four countries topped the list, but with China in second place and the US in third.
At the end of the last ice age, about 12,000 years ago, when glaciers melted and sea level rose, waters inundated one-third of Australia's habitable land.
What became South Australia was mainly under a great inland sea stretched over one quarter of the yet to emerge full Australian continent during the Cretaceous period (144 to 65 million years ago). The ancient inland sea inhabited by large underwater creatures and brimming with sea life.