Someone from Spain told me that even though they get little rainfall, they still don't have many problems with water because they spend a large amount of money on desalinating ocean water and being conservative with water. Since most of the United States is in a major drought, should we invest more in desalination programs like Spain? The drought is already driving up the cost of water and food.
I really do not get why desalinisation would be expensive...yes, it IS costlier than collecting rain water etc...and it would be time consuming yes, but anyone in their own home can do it with the right chemistry apparatus (or simply a big jar, some heat and a container to catch the pure water that has been separated from the salt). Bonus: you get some free salt too. There are also an abundance of natural springs everywhere, people just need to WAKE UP and find them. Why even pay for water? Or go and urinate and distill that. There is an abundance of water and I am so tired of all the fear mongering about water running out...it WILL NOT.
It may not run out anytime soon but it is currently affecting our lives. I buy a bag of grain based pet food every month. What used to be twelve dollars is now seventeen. The lack of rain is damaging a lot of our crops. Natural springs are better left alone for now as an emergency supply. Desalination, common in extremely dry areas like Spain, should be the first line of defense in a drought.
We've had the hottest summer in living memory here, yet there has been no water shortage, and the price of fruit and vegetables has remained stable. They haven't even been asking us to cut down on water use, so the desalination programme is obviously doing its job. As a by product of the hot weather, the salt mountains around the salt lakes are higher than ever, so there'll be more to sell to Northern Europe for road clearing in the winter. I certainly think desalination is the way to go for the future.
The problem in the US and places like mexico city is that the aquaphours underground are emptying. This leaves huge open caverns underground which will eventually collapse. In fact mexico city is sinking as we speak and whole houses have sunk into the ground.
The cost of desalinization is the setting it up and starting production: Tampa, Florida did the study about 25 years ago, and determined it would take 10+ years to pay for itself. The bonus is that there is a whole lot more salt water out there than ground water. Ground water IS running out - wells run dry! In times of drought, many folks have to dig new and deeper wells for water. Florida has many problems with this, being basically a sandbar. As the swamps are drained to provide for new development, the ground dries and salt water moves in - called "salt water intrusion". In many areas, this is what creates sinkholes. You may not see them on the news where you are, but they are a fairly common occurence in Florida. Sure, they're just an isolated area - but it dry is dry, and with people multiplying and demands for fresh water going up, it is a major problem and desalinization is an excellent and fairly 'green' solution. Georgia, too, has had problems: during the last few years of drought, Atlanta has used it's water supply without any restrictions, and yes, it is RUNNING OUT. They use water from Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River chain - and they wanted to divert water from the Savannah River (along the Georgia/South Carolina border), despite the fact that the people local to that river were ALSO running low on water. Fresh water is essential to human life - and NOT an unlimited resource! Don't waste it!
