MIT LogoLong Term Recovery and Environmental Remediation
Long-term Water Problem

The various water problems an area devastated by tsunami is going to face in the long run can be divided into two main categories: fresh water conservation, salt water decontamination. Following the short-term relief (definition agreed upon by the entire Mission 2009 team), long-term relief and environmental remediation take place. Water is a problem that will continuously plague the process of relief and remediation; we will have to deal with both the lack and the excess of water, dirty and clean water, sea water, river water, rain water, well water, etc. A complete study of the problem requires extensive study of the data and research published by authorized agencies and institutions, as well as first-hand reports and articles about specific areas after a water-source-damaging natural disaster.

1.      Conservation:

One key problem that we may expect from the aftermath of a tsunami is the conservation of fresh water. Before the December 2004 tsunami, various donors, NGOs, and UN agencies had set up a system that had traditionally been working efficiently in disaster relief. They had reserved supplies of cash, food, equipments and other resources for contingency planning and emergency relief. Nevertheless, the system almost collapsed after the grand-scale tsunami; people chose to plan for more frequent, smaller-in-scale disasters instead of a rare, bigger one. Fresh water, therefore, for some period of time, ran low in devastated areas. Since we cannot, and should not, place a definite upper limit on the most disastrous tsunami possible, we should expect there to be a potential lack of fresh water in the long run in either Micronesia or Peru. Therefore, it should be an integral part of our plan to conserve fresh water when there is a low supply. We should differentiate between the two countries in talking about conservation of water because they have drastically different climates and water sources.

Water problem can and will be huge in Peru after a tsunami that erodes the country’s coastal farms and invades its fresh water supplies. Roughly 5/6 of its water sources are from surface water produced internally (river flow) and 1/6 is from groundwater recharge (Water Resources and Freshwater Ecosystems). Most importantly, Peru is an extremely dry country; Lima, one of the most humid cities on the coast, only gets around 40-50 days of drizzle, which accumulates into just 19 millimeters of rainfall yearly, and most coastal cities only get about 10-20 days of rain (Climate Information for Peru). Under this limitation, people will have to conserve water if its fresh water sources are cut by a significant portion. An easy way to save water would simply be not spending water that can be avoided from being spent. Some ways to do this would be to turn to bathroom tap off when it is not in use, fix all leaks and drips, run full loads in dish and clothes washers, clean vegetables efficiently, and use the garbage disposal infrequently. People could also water the lawn only when necessary, not let water run while brushing teeth, or turn off the water in a shower when putting on soap and shampoo (Water Conservation). Other slightly more complicated ways to conserve water include spraying taps and faucet aerators to enable a smaller-volume water outflow that achieves the same result, installing low flow shower heads that minimize water volume and maximize coverage, adjusting the toilet to allow a smaller amount of flushing water, insulating water pipe so that people don’t wait too long for hot water to come out, using salt water to wash clothes and accomplish other tasks that are compatible with salt water (Water Concervation). Notably, 86% of its water consumption is spent on agriculture each year, yet only 2.8% of the country’s land is arable (Water Resources). After tsunami hits and damages its river system, where to find that much fresh water to irrigate the land and keep the lifeline of the country running will become a central issue. There are several ways to go about the problem. First, in the “gray-water system,” (Water Conservation). Used freshwater (from sinks, baths, showers, washers) can be gathered and guided by pipes to irrigate the land. In this case, it will require the government, international agencies, and private companies to set up such a system. Secondly, the Peruvian government or private companies can invest to build new aqueducts, replacing the contaminated ones, to bring freshwater from major rivers, such as the Amazon, that haven’t yet been contaminated. Lastly, government can import substance crops such as rice and cereals for a few months, while subsisting the desperate farmers with necessities and money.

 Micronesia paints a somewhat nicer picture in our potential relief program. The country constitutes of 607 small islands, with a few islands (Pohnpei, Chuuk Islands, Yap Islands, Kosrae) bigger than the others. With its total area roughly equal to four times that of Washington D.C., this small nation receives heavy, year-round rainfall. (Micronesia, Geography) Additionally, mountainous islands up to 791m above the sea level often includes streams and springs that provide a quite consistent fresh water supply to the people of those islands and to people of other low-altitude, coral islands. An ample supply of fresh water does not mean, however, there will not be a water problem in Micronesia after tsunami hits. In fact, for people living in islands whose streams are damaged by salt water, conservation methods as explained in the Peru section should be applied.

2.      Decontamination:

Mere conservation does little help if much of the fresh water is tainted by salt carried by the waves. It is especially true when a tsunami hits: sea water flows miles inland and deluges streams, rivers, water tanks, wells, and farms along the way, and it also infiltrates the aquifers and contaminates the underground water source. In the long run, the issue will be less much less serious for Micronesia than for Peru; although salt water could infiltrate the porous rocks of the atolls and hamper its fresh water composition in the short run (Tsunami's Salt Threat), vast amount of rain almost throughout the year will wash the chemicals away. It could, however, be a major problem in Peruvian villages, where vast majority of drinking water comes from wells and streams, and in its metropolitan areas, where it requires a grand-scale water purification system and a pipe network.

Firstly, tsunami could contaminate the wells of a coastal village severely. Under such circumstance, it will require specialists to conduct a so-called Water Quality Test, which includes testing for coliform bacteria, nitrates, pH, sodium, chloride, fluoride, sulphate, iron, manganese, total dissolved solids, and hardness. (Water Quality Test) Villagers have to remember that water that looks and tastes good isn’t necessarily good for health. If the well was tested as having been contaminated, steps to decontaminate the well should follow. Major steps include: pumping and rinsing a few times, chemical disinfecting using potable desalting machines and water purification tablets, supplying test kits to local residents and training them to detect bacteria in the long run. Another solution to the problem will be to dig deep wells, usually 6 meters underground, somewhere else (Situation Report 30). On small islands where fresh water resource is almost completely destroyed, one good way, instead of decontaminating all the wells, would be to relocate the residents onto mainland in the short run and wait for the aquifers to reach self-correct. 

On the other hand, cities face a problem on a much larger scale, although not necessarily more difficult than that the villages face. The only way a Peruvian city’s water source would be severely damaged would be that the tsunami sends salt water and debris into the river source. In the long run, the saltwater and debris would be able to alter the water quality of the river. This requires the city’s water factories to improve the processes of chemical disinfecting (Halazone tablets, Superchlorination-dechlorination method, and Iodine) and filtering (layers of rocks and sands, etc.) (Water Treatment Methods).

Lastly, there are machines that turn salt water into fresh water currently used by the UNICEF (Handunnetti 2005). The machines could be applied to both villages and cities. If the supply of such machines is limited, some coastal regions can even try building their own desalting machines—a giant still, for example.


Sources:

Climate Information for Peru. Climate ZONE.com. Retrieved 24 October 2005 http://www.climate-zone.com/climate/peru/.

Handunnetti, D. (2005). SciDev Net. Sri Lankan crops and water hit by tsunami salt. Retrieved 29 October 2005, from http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=1856&language=1.

Micronesia, Geography. CIA-The World Factbook. Retrieved 25 October 2005, from http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/fm.html.

Tsunami’s salt threat to islands. BBC News Science/Nature. Retrieved 27 October 2005, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4151653.stm.

Water Conservation: Every Drop Counts. Freshwater Website. Retrieved Oct. 25, 2005, from http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/info/pubs/FS/e_FSA6.htm

Water Resources and Freshwater Ecosystems. Earth Trends Country Profiles. Retrieved 25 October 2005 http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/wat_cou_604.pdf.

Water Treatment Methods. High Altitude Medicine Guide. Retrieved 29 October 2005, from http://www.high-altitude-medicine.com/water.html.

Water Quality Test. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Retrieved 28 October 2005, from http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/water/wtesting_e.htm

Situation Report 30. World Health Organization. Retrieved 28 October 2005, from http://www.who.int/hac/crises/international/asia_tsunami/sitrep/30/en/.