Report: We have plenty of water, we’re just dumb with it

[Faux pas]

We have enough clean water worldwide, we're just not using it well, a new study says. The report, produced by the Challenge Program on Water and Food, looked at 10 river basins, from the Ganges to the Nile to the Andes, and found that, "There is clearly sufficient water to sustain food, energy, industrial and environmental needs during the 21st century."

http://www.grist.org/list/2011-09-27-report-we-have-plenty-of-water-were-just-dumb-with-it

[TheWraith]

1. Not to mention, we have the tech to convert sea water into drinking water.

The only reason we don't is because it requires an investment to get started.

[badtoworse]

2. In most places, there are cheaper ways to provide clean water.

That's why we don't do it. It only makes economic sense under special and unusual circumstances.

[TheWraith]

3. Why should we be concerned primarily by cheapness?

It's the cheapness of the solution that has LA and most of California still suffering from water shortages despite being backed up against a virtually limitless ocean. Isn't providing a completely reliable water supply worth a little expense?

[badtoworse]

6. I've never studied the economics of desalination for LA. Have you?

The fact is that in most places, it doesn't make sense. The places I know where is used include Saudi Arabia and the surrounding areas, as well as southern Peru, in the Atacama Desert where it rarely rains.

Why be concerned with cost? Do I really need to answer that?

[hunter]

4. Using fossil fuels to desalinate sea water is a bad idea.

Maybe with the right sort of reservoir system to handle an intermittent energy supply, we could use solar and wind energy to desalinate water. But that would make the water even more expensive.

It's much easier to use less water, and to recycle water, especially in suburban areas.

But then you have to tell people they can't water their lawns or have green golf courses.

Personally I think golf would be a much more interesting game if golf courses were adapted to their local environments.

[ellisonz]

5. What if we used solar or biodiesal...

This country needs to start getting creative.

[JCMach1]

7. Most of the modern de-salinization plants here in the Middle-East are coupled with a electric plant

Water production is quite efficient because it uses the excess heat of the electric generation (i.e. steam is condensed back to fresh water).

There are other drawbacks though... such as higher saline content in the Persian Gulf.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. well, that's good news...that' there is enough.