"Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink"
The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner"
This is a tale of the haves and do not haves. It has something to do with money, something to do with location, and a whole lot to do with resources. The world it seems, is running out of potable water. What, you say? We live on the "water planet". One of the things we have learned from snooping around the galaxy with our Hubble and Kepler telescopes is this - planets with water are rare. Planets that have over 75% of their surface level comprised of water are very, very rare. And yet here we sit, with all the technology in the world needed to fix this problem, and we are running out of drinking water.
I know - many are thinking I must be on drugs talking about this issue. Last week at the grocery store, they had three cases of water for $10. It did not tasted as good as Perrier, but so what? It was only $10. Here is the fact about water today. In this country, we are blessed to have water, water, everywhere. Just about every home has a kitchen faucet that dispenses water good enough, safe enough, to drink. For those who choose to, and can afford it, high quality bottled drinking water may be obtained at most grocery stores. Adds are being run all the time telling us to drink sixty-four ounces per day to maintain proper hydration. We wash our pets, our cars, our bodies, water our grass, use it for food production, manufacturing, and so on and so on. In this country, life without water is unthinkable.
Yet, the reality is not everyone is blessed enough to be able to drink sixty-four ounces per day to maintain proper hydration. In fact, 780 million people worldwide lack access to an improved water source - that is one in nine people. It is so bad in some parts of the world that UNICEF estimates that every day, 4,000 children die from either not enough water, or drinking tainted water. If that is not a crime in 2013, it damn well should be.
But who cares about them? We got ours, right? WRONG! If there was a trophy to be handed out for the biggest water waster in the history of mankind, it would be us. Much of our water comes from our valuable aquifers. Many of our aquifers are ancient - going back to when the Earth was cooling and the rain came down in years instead of days. They do regenerate to an extent, but the amount of depletion compared to the regeneration is nowhere near equal. So what? The what is this - at current consumption, many of our major aquifers will be gone by 2030. The Midwest, the southwest, the "bread belt", will be left with one remaining option - pray for rain.
Options? Oh, we have many. First off, we need to remember the difference between potable and fresh water. We are pumping aquifer water out of the ground which is pure and potable, and using it for reasons other than drinking water. THIS IS MADNESS. For decades now, we have had the technology to build large scale desalination facilities. Some countries which are land locked don't have that option. We on the other hand, not only have the resources and technology, but we also have oceans on three out of four of our borders.
However, we may still get fresh water without incurring the expense of desalination. Every year, our nation is drenched from time to time with more rain than can be absorbed by the land. The result is run off. All of that natural soft water that comes down as rain goes into our lakes, streams and rivers. Eventually, the streams and rivers merge and finally exit (via the St. Lawrence Seaway or Mississippi River) into the ocean, only to be mixed with and absorbed by non-fresh, non-potable sea water. There has to be a way to capture a good part of this fresh water from the major tributaries prior to entering the ocean. Done right, it would not interfere with navigation or other water usage upstream from where the capture would take place.
Salt water by itself is basically useless to us. We can dry it out to obtain salt. Other than that, salt water is only good for the oceans. Fresh water on the other hand, is good for many things. Most fresh water is not potable - however, it can still be used for irrigation, manufacturing and so on. Potable water is the crown jewel of all water. It should be protected as it is becoming more valuable every year.
It has been said many times that potable water will soon become the new gold. At one time that was said about oil. However, we can live (albeit not as well) without oil. Most humans can live less than a week without water. This is an issue about race - the human race. Global water resource should be front and center for all of us. Awareness on where our water comes from and how we use it should be taught at the earliest possible age. Our time is running out. Last year was a wake up call with the drought we experienced. When our aquifer water runs out, it is not like we were not warned. If we choose to do nothing, it is our choice, and our choice alone.
I know - many are thinking I must be on drugs talking about this issue. Last week at the grocery store, they had three cases of water for $10. It did not tasted as good as Perrier, but so what? It was only $10. Here is the fact about water today. In this country, we are blessed to have water, water, everywhere. Just about every home has a kitchen faucet that dispenses water good enough, safe enough, to drink. For those who choose to, and can afford it, high quality bottled drinking water may be obtained at most grocery stores. Adds are being run all the time telling us to drink sixty-four ounces per day to maintain proper hydration. We wash our pets, our cars, our bodies, water our grass, use it for food production, manufacturing, and so on and so on. In this country, life without water is unthinkable.
Yet, the reality is not everyone is blessed enough to be able to drink sixty-four ounces per day to maintain proper hydration. In fact, 780 million people worldwide lack access to an improved water source - that is one in nine people. It is so bad in some parts of the world that UNICEF estimates that every day, 4,000 children die from either not enough water, or drinking tainted water. If that is not a crime in 2013, it damn well should be.
But who cares about them? We got ours, right? WRONG! If there was a trophy to be handed out for the biggest water waster in the history of mankind, it would be us. Much of our water comes from our valuable aquifers. Many of our aquifers are ancient - going back to when the Earth was cooling and the rain came down in years instead of days. They do regenerate to an extent, but the amount of depletion compared to the regeneration is nowhere near equal. So what? The what is this - at current consumption, many of our major aquifers will be gone by 2030. The Midwest, the southwest, the "bread belt", will be left with one remaining option - pray for rain.
Options? Oh, we have many. First off, we need to remember the difference between potable and fresh water. We are pumping aquifer water out of the ground which is pure and potable, and using it for reasons other than drinking water. THIS IS MADNESS. For decades now, we have had the technology to build large scale desalination facilities. Some countries which are land locked don't have that option. We on the other hand, not only have the resources and technology, but we also have oceans on three out of four of our borders.
However, we may still get fresh water without incurring the expense of desalination. Every year, our nation is drenched from time to time with more rain than can be absorbed by the land. The result is run off. All of that natural soft water that comes down as rain goes into our lakes, streams and rivers. Eventually, the streams and rivers merge and finally exit (via the St. Lawrence Seaway or Mississippi River) into the ocean, only to be mixed with and absorbed by non-fresh, non-potable sea water. There has to be a way to capture a good part of this fresh water from the major tributaries prior to entering the ocean. Done right, it would not interfere with navigation or other water usage upstream from where the capture would take place.
Salt water by itself is basically useless to us. We can dry it out to obtain salt. Other than that, salt water is only good for the oceans. Fresh water on the other hand, is good for many things. Most fresh water is not potable - however, it can still be used for irrigation, manufacturing and so on. Potable water is the crown jewel of all water. It should be protected as it is becoming more valuable every year.
It has been said many times that potable water will soon become the new gold. At one time that was said about oil. However, we can live (albeit not as well) without oil. Most humans can live less than a week without water. This is an issue about race - the human race. Global water resource should be front and center for all of us. Awareness on where our water comes from and how we use it should be taught at the earliest possible age. Our time is running out. Last year was a wake up call with the drought we experienced. When our aquifer water runs out, it is not like we were not warned. If we choose to do nothing, it is our choice, and our choice alone.
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