Māris kļaviņŠ, azamat azizov, JĀnis zaļoksnis environment, pollution, development: the case of uzbekistan

Figure 3.3. 
Water 
consumption variability 
tendencies and forecasts 
in the main sectors

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3. Water resources of Uzbekistan
 25
Water is one of the substances most consumed by human beings – 
large amounts of water are used for household needs, pro duction, 
especially  in  agriculture  (Figure 3.3).  Humans  mostly  use  high-
quality freshwater, but at the same time wastewater is produced as 
a by-product of human activities, and quite often it does not receive 
sufficient  treatment.  The  highest  water  consumption  rates  in  the 
world are in the following sectors: agriculture (69%), industry (23%), 
households and services (approx. 8%). Industrial consumption of water 
is mostly related to various technological processes. Considering the 
relatively large volumes of water required for industrial production, 
in many cases the availability of fresh water is the decisive factor for 
the placement of plants and factories at certain locations. Today, when 
many other economic factors also come to the fore, most industrial 
technologies reuse the water for production after proper treatment.
Households consume large amounts of water. It is generally 
known that a human being, depending on his or her weight and out-
door temperature, for personal consumption needs approx. 40 grams 
of water per weight kilogram daily. Calculations show that one city 
dweller in the temperate zone consumes approximately 200-220 litres 
of  water  daily.  Even  more,  over  320 litres  of  water  are  consumed 
daily in order to satisfy all the needs of one person, including pro-
duction of food and commodities and provision of services.
Due to the relatively high precipitation and low evaporation 
rates, sufficient freshwater supplies are available for people and eco-
nomies in the Baltic Sea Region. Presently, because of the low po-
pulation density, the availability of water is not an issue and does not 
in any way affect the quality of life and economy in the northern part 
of the Baltic Sea basin. At the same time, in Germany and Poland, the 
availability of water resources has already become the limiting factor 
for further development of agriculture. Poland, for example, now uses 
18% of the total water runoff in rivers, which is considered to be the 
maximum amount of water that can be consumed without affecting 
the water ecosystems. The situation is even more critical in the 
Mediterranean countries. They do not have enough freshwater, and 
this deficit is substantially delimiting the development of traditional 
forms of agriculture. Therefore, these countries are reorienting their 
national economies to the service sector (mainly tourism).
Agriculture is the industry that consumes the largest amount of 
water. While in the developed countries this consumption does not 
exceed 20-25%, in the developing countries up to 80% of water or 
even more is used for irrigation.
The Baltic Sea is an inland sea. Therefore, its water exchange 
is limited, it has a relatively low salinity level, it is not deep, it 
has a large catchment basin and significant freshwater influence. 
Together these factors make the Baltic Sea particularly sensitive 

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26 
ENVIRONMENT, POLLUTION, DEVELOPMENT:  THE CASE OF UZBEKISTAN
to pollution, for the harmful substances discharged into the sea 
remain there for relatively long periods of time, contaminate water 
and living organisms, form sediments. 
Even though the water masses involved in the hydrological cycle 
are huge, human activity affects the flows of water. At present, the 
amount of water that humans consume is comparable to a substantial