×

Environment > Water Stats: compare key data on South Africa & United Kingdom

Definitions

  • Availability: Water availability per capita (1961-1990 (avg.))
    Units: Thousands Cubic Meters/Person
    Units: This variable measures internal renewable water (average annual surface runoff and groundwater recharge generated from endogenous precipitation)
  • Dissolved oxygen concentration: Dissolved oxygen concentration
    Units: Milligrams/Liter
    Units: The country values represent averages of the station-level values for the three year time period 1994-96, exceptwhere data were only available for an earlier time period (1988-1993). The number of stations per country varies depending on country size; number of bodies of water; and level of participation in the GEMS monitoring system. The data from "The Wellbeing of Nations" included a smaller subset of stations representing outfalls of major watersheds. An analysis of a sample of countries with numerous stations found that the data for stations in the subset is broadly comparable to the data for all GEMS stations in those countries.
  • Drinking water > Population with improved drinking water sources > Rural: Proportion of the population using improved drinking water sources, rural.
  • Drinking water > Population with improved drinking water sources > Urban: Proportion of the population using improved drinking water sources, urban.
  • Drinking water > Population with improved drinking water sources > Urban and rural: Proportion of the population using improved drinking water sources, total.
  • Freshwater internal flow: Internal flow of water: River run-off and groundwater produced during a year through perception minus evaporation.
  • Freshwater internal flow per capita: Internal flow of water: River run-off and groundwater produced during a year through perception minus evaporation. Figures expressed per capita for the same year.
  • Freshwater pollution: Industrial organic pollutants per available freshwater
    Units: Metric Tons of BOD Emissions per Cubic Km of Water
    Units: Emissions of organic water pollutants are measured by biochemical oxygen demand, which refers to the amount of oxygen that bacteria in water will consume in breaking down waste. This is a standard water-treatment test for the presence of organic pollutants. The data from the World Bank, which represented BOD emissions (kilograms per day) were normalized by the combination of water availability per capita and water inflow availability per capita from the WaterGap2.1 model. In calculating the ESI, the base-10 logarithm of this variable was used.
  • Percent of water resources used: Proportion of total water resources used, percentage.
  • Population connected to wastewater collecting system: Population connected to wastewater collecting system.
  • Population connected to wastewater treatment: Population connected to wastewater treatment.
  • Population supplied by water supply industry: Total population supplied by water supply industry.
  • Proportion of marine area under protection: Marine areas protected to territorial waters, percentage.
  • Severe water stress: Percent of country's territory under severe water stress
    Units: Percent of Land Area
    Units: This data is derived from the WaterGap 2.1 gridded hydrological model developed by the Center for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel, Germany. The modellers derived, for each country, grid cell by grid cell estimates of whether the water consumption exceeds 40 percent of the water available in that particular grid cell. These were then converted to land area equivalents in order to calculate the percentage of the territory under severe water stress.
  • Surface and Groundwater inflow: Inflow of surface and groundwaters for neighboring countries.
  • Salinisation: Electrical conductivity
    Units: Micro-Siemens/Centimeter
    Units: The country values represent averages of the station-level values for the three year time period 1994-96, except where data were only available for an earlier time period (1988-1993). The number of stations per country varies depending on country size; number of water bodies; and level of participation in the GEMS monitoring system.
  • Suspended solids: Suspended solids
    Units: Natural Log of Milligrams/Liter
    Units: The country values represent averages of the station-level values for the three year time period 1994-96, exceptwhere data were only available for an earlier time period (1988-1993). The number of stations per country varies depending on country size; number of bodies of water; and level of participation in the GEMS monitoring system. Data from "The Wellbeing of Nations" included a smaller subset of stations representing outfalls of majorwatersheds. An analysis of a sample of countries with numerous stations found that the data for stations in the subset is broadly comparable to the data for all GEMS stations in those countries. The data in this table was transformed using the natural logarithm.
  • Phosphorus concentration: Phosphorus concentration
    Units: Milligrams/Liter
    Units: The country values represent averages of the station-level values for the three year time period 1994-96, except where data were only available for an earlier time period (1988-1993). The number of stations per country varies depending on country size; number of bodies of water; and level of participation in the GEMS monitoring system. The data from "The Wellbeing of Nations" included a smaller subset of stations representing outfalls of major watersheds. An analysis of a sample of countries with numerous stations found that the data for stations in the subset is broadly comparable to the data for all GEMS stations in those countries.
  • Drinking water > Population with improved sanitation > Rural: Proportion of the population using improved sanitation facilities, rural.
  • Surface and Groundwater inflow per capita: Inflow of surface and groundwaters for neighboring countries. Figures expressed per capita for the same year.
STAT South Africa United Kingdom HISTORY
Availability 1.25 thousand cubic metres
Ranked 101st.
3.1 thousand cubic metres
Ranked 68th. 2 times more than South Africa
Dissolved oxygen concentration 7.54 mls/litre
Ranked 78th.
10.4 mls/litre
Ranked 14th. 38% more than South Africa
Drinking water > Population with improved drinking water sources > Rural 79.27
Ranked 136th.
100
Ranked 14th. 26% more than South Africa

Drinking water > Population with improved drinking water sources > Urban 98.98
Ranked 84th.
100
Ranked 20th. 1% more than South Africa

Drinking water > Population with improved drinking water sources > Urban and rural 91.49
Ranked 124th.
100
Ranked 14th. 9% more than South Africa

Freshwater internal flow 49.04 billion cubic metres
Ranked 19th.
169.88 billion cubic metres
Ranked 3rd. 3 times more than South Africa

Freshwater internal flow per capita 1,114.55 cubic metres
Ranked 38th.
2,748.33 cubic metres
Ranked 10th. 2 times more than South Africa

Freshwater pollution 4.74 tons/cubic km
Ranked 11th. 42% more than United Kingdom
3.34 tons/cubic km
Ranked 17th.
Percent of water resources used 24.28%
Ranked 34th. 3 times more than United Kingdom
8.84%
Ranked 55th.

Population connected to wastewater collecting system 60%
Ranked 29th.
97.7%
Ranked 8th. 63% more than South Africa
Population connected to wastewater treatment 57%
Ranked 23th.
97.5%
Ranked 4th. 71% more than South Africa
Population supplied by water supply industry 68%
Ranked 37th.
99%
Ranked 12th. 46% more than South Africa
Proportion of marine area under protection 12.76%
Ranked 46th.
16.61%
Ranked 35th. 30% more than South Africa

Severe water stress 68.5
Ranked 28th. 3 times more than United Kingdom
21
Ranked 51st.
Surface and Groundwater inflow 5.26 billion cubic metres
Ranked 25th.
7.23 billion cubic metres
Ranked 14th. 37% more than South Africa

Salinisation 1,312.26
Ranked 27th. 4 times more than United Kingdom
368.06
Ranked 101st.
Suspended solids 4.44 mls/litre
Ranked 87th. 96% more than United Kingdom
2.26 mls/litre
Ranked 137th.
Phosphorus concentration 0.73 mls/litre
Ranked 9th. 8 times more than United Kingdom
0.09 mls/litre
Ranked 125th.
Drinking water > Population with improved sanitation > Rural 57.09
Ranked 118th.
100
Ranked 17th. 75% more than South Africa

Surface and Groundwater inflow per capita 119.55 cubic metres
Ranked 26th. 2% more than United Kingdom
116.99 cubic metres
Ranked 14th.

SOURCES: Center for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel, WaterGAP 2.1B, 2001 via ciesin.org; United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Global Environmental Monitoring System/Water Quality Monitoring System, with data for an additional 29 countries from Prescott-Allen,R. The Well being of Nations, Washington, DC: Island Press, 2001; United Nations Statistics Division. Source tables; United Nations Statistics Division. Source tables; United Nations Statistics Division. Source tables; http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=ENV&f=variableID%3a5, Freshwater internal flow; http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=ENV&f=variableID%3a5, Freshwater internal flow. Population figures from World Bank: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; World Bank, World Development Indicators 2001, Washington, DC: World Bank, 2001 (for BOD emissions)and Center for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel, WaterGap 2.1, 2000 (for data on waterquantity). via ciesin.org; United Nations Statistics Division. Source tables; United Nations Statistics Division. Source tables; United Nations Statistics Division. Source tables; United Nations Statistics Division. Source tables; United Nations Statistics Division. Source tables; Center for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel, WaterGap 2.1, 2000 via ciesin.org; http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=ENV&f=variableID%3a8, Inflow of surface and groundwaters; United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Global Environmental Monitoring System/Water Quality Monitoring System, with data for an additional 29 countries from Prescott-Allen, R. The Well being of Nations, Washington, DC: Island Press, 2001; United Nations Statistics Division Original html; http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=ENV&f=variableID%3a8, Inflow of surface and groundwaters. Population figures from World Bank: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.

Citation

Adblocker detected! Please consider reading this notice.

We've detected that you are using AdBlock Plus or some other adblocking software which is preventing the page from fully loading.

We don't have any banner, Flash, animation, obnoxious sound, or popup ad. We do not implement these annoying types of ads!

We need money to operate the site, and almost all of it comes from our online advertising.

Please add www.nationmaster.com to your ad blocking whitelist or disable your adblocking software.

×