Skip to main content

Global Water Resources: Distribution and Demand

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Clean Water and Sanitation

Definitions

Water resources are any of the entire range of natural waters that occur on the Earth, regardless of their state (i.e., vapor, liquid, or solid) and that are of potential use to humans (Water Resource 2020). Water resources in the broadest sense are all waters of the hydrosphere and include waters of the oceans and seas, rivers and lakes, underground waters, glaciers.

Freshwater means naturally occurring water having a low concentration of salts. It is generally accepted as suitable for abstraction and treatment to produce potable water (United Nations 1997).

Water use refers to the use of water by agriculture, industry, energy production, and households, including in-line use, such as fishing, recreation, transportation, and waste disposal (United Nations 1997).

Water scarcity means scarcity in availability due to physical shortage, or scarcity in access due to the failure of institutions to ensure a regular supply or due to a lack of adequate infrastructure (UN Water 2020)....

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Khilchevskyi, V., Karamushka, V. (2021). Global Water Resources: Distribution and Demand. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Lange Salvia, A., Wall, T. (eds) Clean Water and Sanitation. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70061-8_101-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70061-8_101-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-70061-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-70061-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics