Write your abstract here. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.
Its one of the worlds most precious comodity. Everyone needs
it, few people have it in decent quantities as well as qualitity. So important it is that it''''s one of the five largests markets in the world, with about $350 Billion being spent annually in generating and delivery systems. The world''''s ever growing population, urbanization, proliferation of mechanised agriculture in large scale, urbanization and industrialization is taking toll on that commodity-water. And now, the scarce fresh water resources that are left face another danger of global warming. We mostly associate water scarcity with the dry countries,
especially those that lie in the Arabian peninsula. But as this issue will reveal, water scarcity is also experienced in relatively temperate countries like the UK. In US alone, there are over 8,000 water drilling entities that do an average of 800,000 wells per year. The drilling activities in other parts of the world are much less pronounced. These figures are likely to
increase in the future as the need for clean, fresh and uncontaminated water increase, mainly driven by the ever increasing population and attendant needs. A Helmut Kaiser Consultancy projects an increase in demand for underground water driven by deteriorating quality of public water and also a serious supply crunch. And whereas the consultancy finds that the profits margins for many companies in the water sector only averages about 12%, the report concedes that the market is more stable with limited fluctuations in any year.
Many development agencies concede that water may become the greatest single threat to worlds stability in about two decades from now, and may even develop into a spectre of war.
There are options available for the production of clean water. They include biological methods, and engineering. The former would include using plants to clean up deteriorated or intoxicated water. The engineering methods are more widely used, and they involve development of underground water, desalination of seawater or treating contaminated water. The latter two methods have limitations and are especially costly, puting them beyond reach of all but the most wealthy. The two methods are also energy-guzzlers. Ground water development is perhaps the most favourable as it''''s one of the most cost effective methods. The water from undeground is also less likely to contain sediments and it''''s chemical composition remains constant most of the time. Environmentalists also praise the use of ground water for its environmental sustainability. There is no need to build huge reservoirs which disturb the ecological make up of a river. And that comes after thousands of people lose their homes.
One needs to drill a well to reach the ground water, or anything that is hidden underneath, including oil, coal or natural gas. The fact is that the tools used for drilling for any kind of resource, including drilling for the geothermal power, are by and large similar. And this study shall, as much as its possible, try to look at the industry as one provided that an accurate picture of the state of the industry is given. It will take into account the short-term to long term views of the industry, plus the major players involved. The main products,/tools that are relevant to the debate shall be discussed in their present forms. And there shal be considerable examination of the different firms that are on the ground. The country by country analysis shall, whenever possible, be accompanied by an examination of the major players in the sector, the tools that they use, the revenues, the barriers to entry in any given market (for both tarriff and non-tarriff barriers), the price of sinking a well in different markets, the dominant factor of production, especially labor Vs capital, and the major players in the industry including the ownership structure as far as its relevant to the broader discussion. Included als