Drought... I got a question

I keep hearing about drought here and there. Well call me stupid or whatever but, isn't like already technology that allows for example to yacht owners to change the sea water into drinkable one? It's called reveresed osmosis.
Isn't our planet like 2/3rds of water?
Am I mising something here?

You are right. I guess the government's priorities are out of whack.

Cost is a major factor.

De-salinators also produce large amounts of salt, which can be a major ground-water problem if dumped.

Then there is the problem of land-locked countries.

Pipelines are the solution to land-locked areas, however with reverse osmosis...sure the sea salt can be refined and used, however what would they do with all the resulting left over toxins? The world's water is a finite resource and if we start taking it from the oceans that will definitely, adversely affect life there. There is a lot to be considered.

If the water drought fears were addressed, a control mechanism would no longer exist. Have you ever personally known a control freak? Not fun. And now our water is being used for control.

mmmm

Originally posted by InTheLight
Pipelines are the solution to land-locked areas, however with reverse osmosis...sure the sea salt can be refined and used, however what would they do with all the resulting left over toxins? The world's water is a finite resource and if we start taking it from the oceans that will definitely, adversely affect life there. There is a lot to be considered.

As to the pipelines....do you pump pure seawater to the land-locked country or do you purify it next to the ocean so you only pump fresh water to the recipient?

One good thing about using salt-water is that it is an unlimited resource. The water removed will eventually return as the system is closed.

reply to post by Alda1981

You raise a good point. Besides reverse osmosis there is also desalination via evaporation plants and they are already used in some countries, especially in the Middle East where they have the money for the plants and to supply the electric power needed.

Generally though, I think the problem is infrastructure -- namely being able to move water to exactly where it's needed. If it's a farming area (especially for growing crops) where rainfall normally does the job, there'd need to be either drip-feed or sprinkler systems installed on a massive scale and that would be hugely expensive. And that's assuming there is water available via pipelines either directly from fresh-water reserviors or else desalination plants.

To supply residential areas where the infrastructure of reticulated water systems is already in place, the problem still remains of how to fill the low reservoirs that the pumping stations normally draw from. If saline water is nearby then I think it's doable to re-route main pipes if desalination plants are built, but for towns further from the coast the infrastructure issue is the killer.

Sooner or later, though -- and most likely sooner -- many places that now are reaching the limits of their fresh-water resources are going to have to deal with this problem and they'll have to bite the bullet and either (a ) spend the money for desalination plants and all the infrastructure that will be needed, or (b ) severely restrict water usage by both householders and industry.

Mike

Originally posted by OccamAssassin
Cost is a major factor.

De-salinators also produce large amounts of salt, which can be a major ground-water problem if dumped.

Then there is the problem of land-locked countries.

This is easy! The cost of changing sea water into palpable water is readily covered by the sale of salt! I have not studied the prices of salt as of late but remember that it was not free.

Last thing we want to create, is a pump station that we drive to, that has another dispenser on it.

87 - $4.30
89 - $4.55
92 - $5.25
H2O - $12.50

From article:

Faced with these crises, the world must learn to be less wasteful and to manage its water resources better. Methods include conserving supplies, using reservoirs and small dams to catch runoff, recharging aquifers, protecting watersheds and recycling waste water in agriculture and industry.

So then, why aren't they looking at these options first, instead of disrupting the sensitive ecosystems?

www.fao.org...

Originally posted by OccamAssassin
[snippy snip]
As to the pipelines....do you pump pure seawater to the land-locked country or do you purify it next to the ocean so you only pump fresh water to the recipient?

One good thing about using salt-water is that it is an unlimited resource. The water removed will eventually return as the system is closed.

It would make economic sense to desalinate near the coast and then pump fresh water to where it's needed. There are several reasons why, but the main ones that come to mind are that a system carrying salt water requires more protection from corrosion (as it's not just the pipes but also valves and ancillary equipment that needs protecting), there will be less environmental damage if a main pipe lets go and floods an area, and basic economies of scale would likely make it cheaper to run a few large desalination plants and then pipe fresh water out from them.

And you're quite right: in the long term, the oceans are effectively an unlimited resource and considering their huge volume versus the paltry amount of fresh water in the world we would have minimal effect on the overall salt-water ecology -- certainly far less than we have been having on the world's fresh-water ecology, anyway.

Mike

Originally posted by OccamAssassin
Cost is a major factor.

De-salinators also produce large amounts of salt, which can be a major ground-water problem if dumped.

Then there is the problem of land-locked countries.

The land locked countries for sure would have a problem with this, but for the salt issue, if they ever get the cost down, I wonder if they could package the salt and sell it, if it's cleaned?
Sea salt is big business.

In the colder countries, in areas that aren't around any farmland, they still use salt on the icy roads in the winter. That cost could come down if there was an abundance of the stuff

We are headed for trouble....

From article:

Food & Water Watch advocates instead for better fresh water management practices. "Ocean desalination hides the growing water supply problem instead of focusing on water management and lowering water usage," the group reports, citing a recent study which found that California can meet its water needs for the next 30 years by implementing cost-effective urban water conservation. Desalination is "an expensive, speculative supply option that will drain resources away from more practical solutions," the group says.

environment.about.com...

another solution is to steal it from somebody else


Arizona’s Sens. McCain & Kyl Seek to Extinguish Navajo and Hopi Water Rights
educate-yourself.org...

i wonder what the current status of gaddafi's man made river project is now?
Virtually unknown in the West: Libya's water resources. The real reason for toppling Quadaffi?
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Projects like the Great Man Made River in Libya show what can be done.

en.wikipedia.org...

It has just been announced that Africa is sitting on top of vast resources of underground water resources.

Increased investment in R&D for desalination processes would make it far more efficient and cost effective.

If a concerted effort was made to allign and integrate all related technologies and approaches on a global scale it is not unreasonable to believe that despite climate changes water shortages could quite easily become a thing of the past for every single person on earth.

Sounds so simple.....I wonder why it hasn't been done?

reply to post by InTheLight


Conservation is a sound plan.

But, in the meantime, why do we need to irrigate golf courses and lawns for the rich who decide to live and play in deserts?

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe


Sounds like a job for the occupiers.

I don't know about where you live but here in the UK, there was an idea to link all the canals again and transport the excess water from Scotland. But it was rejected.
I don't know why but it seems like a good idea to me.

All boils down to money I suppose.