"Will we run out of fresh water in the 21st century?"

[mamooth]

Once upon a time a (now deceased) Alaska Governor proposed building a 36" WATER pipeline from his (note male gender, so you Palin-haters piss off) to California.

36 _inches_?

You're clearly not an engineer. Even 72 inches is a joke. The aquaducts feeding southern California from the north are more like 36 _feet_.

Oh, California runs a budget surplus. It happened after the Democrats took full control. That's not a coincidence.

And that pipeline was rejected as science-fiction. Plus it would have cost $150 billion. In 1991 dollars. Before the usual cost inflation of any project. And run undersea, through an active earthquake zone.

 

[FA_Q2]

So where is all the water going?

We have oceans of water that can easily be turned into potable drinking water.

Don't worry we won't die of thirst any time soon

And the core reason that no one ever talks about it as the OP pointed out.
The fact is that this ‘problem’ is easily addressed if not somewhat more pricey than it is now. There are places in the world where this is a much larger problem but for the most part, industrialized nations would feel little change from this. Perhaps the only real change here would be Americans becoming more like the Germans – shower once every 2 or 3 days rather than daily….

Please don’t let THAT be the case

 

[SwimExpert]

If it is too expensive then more competition comes into the fold decreasing the price.

Competition has nothing to do with it. You cannot decrease the price below the cost of production. Producing potable water from sea water will always be substantially more expensive than sourcing from natural sources. If we reach the point where we become dependent on artificially produced potable water, it's going to have a negative effect on our economy.

That is how markets work and considering that water is something that is going to be need in MASS quantities I am supremely confident that such things can be taken care of.

Things where this is a high need, but low supply, are expensive. That's how markets work.

The sole purview of the government in such a case would be to ensure that a monopoly over something such as water was never attained. THAT would create a bad situation.

A monopoly won't at all be needed in order for the price of water to become relatively substantial. Look at the price of gasoline. There are many companies all over the world producing. But gasoline is still expensive, because it's a need.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

So where is all the water going?

We have oceans of water that can easily be turned into potable drinking water.

Don't worry we won't die of thirst any time soon

Desalinization on an enormous scale is not "easy", nor is it cheap.

$2 a gallon.

 

[Old Rocks]

The effects of the need for clean fresh water are already being felt in many areas. Municipalities are buying the water rights from farmers, thereby reducing the amount of farmland as the land lies fallow for lack of water. Cadillac Desert predicted much of what we are seeing today. A good example of what was once good farm land is the Owens Valley.

I have a cousin in Montana, rather conservative, that 30 years ago noted that when Montana and adjacent states were getting a surplus of water, Texas and adjacent states seemed to have lacking water. He suggested then that a canal be built from Montana to Texas for the years that Texas was in drought, and Montana had a surplus. A bit of a project, but one more feasable and shorter would be creating some lakes on lands that feed the aquifers beneath the Great Plains, and feeding those in years of water surplus in the northern states.

 

[Old Rocks]

So where is all the water going?

We have oceans of water that can easily be turned into potable drinking water.

Don't worry we won't die of thirst any time soon

Desalinization on an enormous scale is not "easy", nor is it cheap.

$2 a gallon.

Exactly. Then there is the cost of transporting it was to where it is needed.

By the way, love that avatar. And the sig line. Reminds me of what a old boss used to say. "Everytime I build something that I think is idiot proof, they build a better idiot." Kind of like some people on this board.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Will we run out of fresh water in the 21st century? | The Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science - Columbia University

Fresh water supplies are going to run out, so what can we do to make the taps keep running? - Nature - Environment - The Independent

America Is Still Running Out of Fresh Water - NationalJournal.com

"In the United States, the demand for fresh water will exceed the supply by 40 percent by the year 2030, according to a State Department report last year. Water scarcity results from short- and long-term droughts and human activity.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, at least 36 states are faced with local or regional water shortages."


Before we run out of oil or natural gas, we'll run out of fresh water. Can start dealing with it now and avoid such a calamity, or pretend other things are more important. But as events in West Virginia show, just because you have fresh water today doesn't mean you will tomorrow.

Short answer, no.

Longer answer, three quarters of the fucking planet is covered with water, we will run out of air before we run out of water.

 

[jon_berzerk]

So where is all the water going?

We have oceans of water that can easily be turned into potable drinking water.

Don't worry we won't die of thirst any time soon

Desalinization on an enormous scale is not "easy", nor is it cheap.

$2 a gallon.

no not really

8. What is the average unit cost of desalinated brackish groundwater? Seawater?
Unit cost of desalinated water is a function of capital cost, debt service, and operating cost. In general, cost of desalinated brackish water can range from $1.25 to $2.60 per 1,000 gallons, whereas desalinated seawater may cost anywhere from $3.60 to $5.80 per 1,000 gallons.

Desalination FAQ - Innovative Water Technologies | Texas Water Development Board

 

[zeke]

So your one solution isn't going to happen. Humanity will suffer a mass die-off then?

Yea probably. People die everyday from a lack of clean water. Not unusual at all.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

So where is all the water going?

We have oceans of water that can easily be turned into potable drinking water.

Don't worry we won't die of thirst any time soon

Desalinization on an enormous scale is not "easy", nor is it cheap.

$2 a gallon.

no not really

8. What is the average unit cost of desalinated brackish groundwater? Seawater?
Unit cost of desalinated water is a function of capital cost, debt service, and operating cost. In general, cost of desalinated brackish water can range from $1.25 to $2.60 per 1,000 gallons, whereas desalinated seawater may cost anywhere from $3.60 to $5.80 per 1,000 gallons.

Desalination FAQ - Innovative Water Technologies | Texas Water Development Board

WaterFX Sees Solar Desalination As One Way To Address The World's Water Problem - Forbes

 

[SSDD]

Will we run out of fresh water in the 21st century? | The Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science - Columbia University

Fresh water supplies are going to run out, so what can we do to make the taps keep running? - Nature - Environment - The Independent

America Is Still Running Out of Fresh Water - NationalJournal.com

"In the United States, the demand for fresh water will exceed the supply by 40 percent by the year 2030, according to a State Department report last year. Water scarcity results from short- and long-term droughts and human activity.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, at least 36 states are faced with local or regional water shortages."


Before we run out of oil or natural gas, we'll run out of fresh water. Can start dealing with it now and avoid such a calamity, or pretend other things are more important. But as events in West Virginia show, just because you have fresh water today doesn't mean you will tomorrow.

Sure we will. Do you guys never grow tired of being taken for fools by panic mongering envirowackos?

We will run out of water in the 21st century like we ran out of coal by 1900 according to Stanley Jevons, and like we we would out of oil by 1949 according to the interior department, and like we have run out of tin, nickel, zinc, lead and manganese by now according to the government in 1939, and on and on and on. Hysterical claims by envirowackos which never fail to fail to come to pass.

How many times must they cry wolf before you guys finally figure it out?

 

[HenryBHough]

water today doesn't mean you will tomorrow.

How many times must they cry wolf before you guys finally figure it out?[/QUOTE]

Sheeeessssshhhhhhhhh!

Back off on the warnings!

There's still money to be made outta those rubes.

 

[Shaarona]

Will we run out of fresh water in the 21st century? | The Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science - Columbia University

Fresh water supplies are going to run out, so what can we do to make the taps keep running? - Nature - Environment - The Independent

America Is Still Running Out of Fresh Water - NationalJournal.com

"In the United States, the demand for fresh water will exceed the supply by 40 percent by the year 2030, according to a State Department report last year. Water scarcity results from short- and long-term droughts and human activity.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, at least 36 states are faced with local or regional water shortages."


Before we run out of oil or natural gas, we'll run out of fresh water. Can start dealing with it now and avoid such a calamity, or pretend other things are more important. But as events in West Virginia show, just because you have fresh water today doesn't mean you will tomorrow.

Have you read about recharge dams?

Sometimes we have too much water at once. Other countries are capturing ground water.

 

[whitehall]

You can't have it both ways. Under the global warming scenario we will be up to our asses in water. It is only during ice ages that water is locked up and unavailable. Does the "scientific community" allege a ice age is looming? If so we have a lot more to worry about.

 

[SwimExpert]

You can't have it both ways. Under the global warming scenario we will be up to our asses in water. It is only during ice ages that water is locked up and unavailable. Does the "scientific community" allege a ice age is looming? If so we have a lot more to worry about.

Except that with global warming, you can have it both ways at once. It's the magic of carbon dioxide! Warming makes it colder, and causes droughts and increased precipitation all at the same time. One thing we know for sure....as soon as things change it's really going to be different around here!

 

[jon_berzerk]

You can't have it both ways. Under the global warming scenario we will be up to our asses in water. It is only during ice ages that water is locked up and unavailable. Does the "scientific community" allege a ice age is looming? If so we have a lot more to worry about.

Except that with global warming, you can have it both ways at once. It's the magic of carbon dioxide! Warming makes it colder, and causes droughts and increased precipitation all at the same time. One thing we know for sure....as soon as things change it's really going to be different around here!

not just both ways but rather any ways

everything is caused by the magical CO2

 

[Politico]

Not while any of us are alive.

 

[JQPublic1]

Water from Icebergs

The planet’s greatest stores of freshwater lie far away from the arid, heavily populated regions that need it the most. Nearly 70% of all fresh water is locked in the polar ice caps. Just the new icebergs that form every year around Antarctica hold enough water to meet the needs of every person on Earth for several months. Longstanding proposals to tow icebergs to lower latitudes where their valuable water can be harvested have been met with both skepticism and interest. To date, no successful attempts have been made.

Water from Icebergs


Towing icebergs to tropical zones is unworkable, IMHO. There are myriad hazards and environmental calamities that might result. Perhaps, onsite “ice mining” would be more feasible at either Antarctica or in the Arctic Zone. Icebergs from the Arctic could be towed a short distance to staging areas ( Alaska) where a process to convert them into liquid H2O could be initiated. Oil tankers could be converted to water tankers for transport.


Since the ice of Antarctica is formed over a land mass, geothermal energy could one day be tapped to form a lake that would never freeze. Although it sounds like science fiction, an array of satellites fitted with lasers could not only help to melt ice, such technology could be the means for tapping into the land underneath Antarctica for geothermal applications.

 

[zeke]

Water from Icebergs

The planet’s greatest stores of freshwater lie far away from the arid, heavily populated regions that need it the most. Nearly 70% of all fresh water is locked in the polar ice caps. Just the new icebergs that form every year around Antarctica hold enough water to meet the needs of every person on Earth for several months. Longstanding proposals to tow icebergs to lower latitudes where their valuable water can be harvested have been met with both skepticism and interest. To date, no successful attempts have been made.

Water from Icebergs


Towing icebergs to tropical zones is unworkable, IMHO. There are myriad hazards and environmental calamities that might result. Perhaps, onsite “ice mining” would be more feasible at either Antarctica or in the Arctic Zone. Icebergs from the Arctic could be towed a short distance to staging areas ( Alaska) where a process to convert them into liquid H2O could be initiated. Oil tankers could be converted to water tankers for transport.


Since the ice of Antarctica is formed over a land mass, geothermal energy could one day be tapped to form a lake that would never freeze. Although it sounds like science fiction, an array of satellites fitted with lasers could not only help to melt ice, such technology could be the means for tapping into the land underneath Antarctica for geothermal applications.

Hey, does that idea cost very much? Seems to me the cost would be measured in trillions of dollars. Where we gonna get that money?

And it is back to the future again. Before freezers, ice was towed to ports where it would be blocked off for the use of the citizenry for food storage. That's what we need. Except people will be buying blocks of ice for their drinking water. It will be real cool.

 

[editec]

Will we run out of fresh water in the 21st century? | The Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science - Columbia University

Fresh water supplies are going to run out, so what can we do to make the taps keep running? - Nature - Environment - The Independent

America Is Still Running Out of Fresh Water - NationalJournal.com

"In the United States, the demand for fresh water will exceed the supply by 40 percent by the year 2030, according to a State Department report last year. Water scarcity results from short- and long-term droughts and human activity.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, at least 36 states are faced with local or regional water shortages."


Before we run out of oil or natural gas, we'll run out of fresh water. Can start dealing with it now and avoid such a calamity, or pretend other things are more important. But as events in West Virginia show, just because you have fresh water today doesn't mean you will tomorrow.

We might if we keep FRACKING IT UP.

But as the WEST?

Yes they ARE running out of potable water.


The operative question is not WILL WE...?, its WHEN WILL WE...?