Water Quality Management: An Introductory Framework

Abstract

Much has been written and discussed in recent years on the water crisis and the belief that the world may run out of water in the foreseeable future. The main issue, however, is not physical scarcity of water but poor management. It is primarily a crisis due to mismanagement. An important result of such poor management practices has been the continual deterioration of water quality on a global basis. The main emphasis in the past and present has been on water quantity management, including allocation. Managing water quality is still not receiving adequate attention, because it is significantly more complex, difficult and expensive compared with water quantity management.