No water no oil

[OILEATER]

Are oil companies the most dominating force in the world or water processing companies? Our current society needs oil to run, but humankind needs clean useable water to survive for more than a few days. Controlling the world supply of useable water will be far more important for our society in the next few years. Gas sells for $2.50 a gallon when processed water sells for aroun $1.50 for 20 oz.

"Water experts estimate that there is no more fresh water on earth than there was 2,000 years ago -- when population was three percent of its
current size. Nearly half a billion people around the world in 31 countries -- mostly in the Middle East and Africa -- currently face extreme water shortages, says the report. By 2015, the number will increase fivefold to 2.8 billion people -- 35 percent of the world's projected total population of eight billion people will be without a sustainable supply of fresh water, warns the study."

[Novus]

Two words for you.

Life Straw

http://www.lifestraw.com/en/high/faq.asp

You can even drink sea water with it.

I would to buy several hundred for my survialist needs.

[OILEATER]

Life Straw is fine, there are hundreds of water purification devices currently on the market. The problem is sustainablility, none of the current devices can purify enough water for large populations. The current purification devices also contaminate quickly. So like you said, better buy several hundred.

[Tanada]

Life Straw is fine, there are hundreds of water purification devices currently on the market. The problem is sustainablility, none of the current devices can purify enough water for large populations. The current purification devices also contaminate quickly. So like you said, better buy several hundred.

Define enough, if you can get 350 litre's of fresh clean water through a life straw before it ceases to be effective on sea water you would need two per person per year on any sea coast on earth for those without alternatives. Certainly the technology which accomplishes this feat could be used on a large scale to make potable water on a city wide scale, and with a city size plant you can store water for maintenence periods.

[OILEATER]

Yes the technology is in place to theoretically set up water purification for large populations, the problem is it isn't set up. Just like the technology is available to start moving away from massive oil consumption, but we don't. Running out of oil will be a problem, but not as severe as running out of potable water. Most adults use two-point-five liters daily, this is based on an average of one milliliter for each calorie of food eaten.

[Falconoffury]

I know silver is effective at killing all forms of bacteria, but it's harmless to humans. If no other water purification solution is available, shaking some silver coins in a water bottle will at least lower your chance of getting sick.

[max_power29]

Most of the Cost of a bottle of water comes directly from oil. The plastic bottle itself is made from petrochemicals (oil and natural gas), then pumping and/or purification of the bottled water is energy intensive (uses oil directly or by using a substitutable form of energy, which drives up the price of all energy), and finally transporting the bottled water takes a lot of diesel because water is a very heavy/dense compound.....so in the end consuming processed water also consumes oil. It is difficult to say which resource (potable water or light sweet crude) is more important because in reality they are so intertwined.

[Doly]

Most of the Cost of a bottle of water comes directly from oil. The plastic bottle itself is made from petrochemicals (oil and natural gas), then pumping and/or purification of the bottled water is energy intensive (uses oil directly or by using a substitutable form of energy, which drives up the price of all energy), and finally transporting the bottled water takes a lot of diesel because water is a very heavy/dense compound.....so in the end consuming processed water also consumes oil. It is difficult to say which resource (potable water or light sweet crude) is more important because in reality they are so intertwined.

I cant believe my eyes! So the only kind of potable water you know of comes in bottles?? How far has consumerism gone??

[max_power29]

Just like the technology is available to start moving away from massive oil consumption, but we don't. Running out of oil will be a problem, but not as severe as running out of potable water.

What technology is there to move away from oil comsumption? I am afraid they have all been debunked. I concede that you may START to move away from oil consumption. But we don't have the technology or even ideas for the technology in the pipeline or even the amount of resources to replace and grow the entire oil-based infrastructure. Our economy will crash without never ending increasing exponential growth which requires never ending exponential consumption of energy and resources. Earth is finite. It would take approximately four earths for the entire current population of the planet to live the "american dream". ALL resources are going to become increasingly scarce and precious, in fact i'll trump your water and raise you air. You can survive longer without water than air

[max_power29]

Most of the Cost of a bottle of water comes directly from oil. The plastic bottle itself is made from petrochemicals (oil and natural gas), then pumping and/or purification of the bottled water is energy intensive (uses oil directly or by using a substitutable form of energy, which drives up the price of all energy), and finally transporting the bottled water takes a lot of diesel because water is a very heavy/dense compound.....so in the end consuming processed water also consumes oil. It is difficult to say which resource (potable water or light sweet crude) is more important because in reality they are so intertwined.

I cant believe my eyes! So the only kind of potable water you know of comes in bottles?? How far has consumerism gone??

I meant to say bottled water. I was just replying to Oil eater who said a bottle of 20 oz. water is more expensive than oil....and in a lot of locations on this planet already, bottled water IS the only form of potable water

[Aedo]

A shortage of potable water is an issue as significant as PO for a large percentage of the worlds population. However, it is unlikely to be monopolised in the same way as oil due to the wide distribution of non-potable water and the multiple small scale techniques to purify that water (most of these rely on power so PO has it own impact on this issue!)

Two words for you.

Life Straw

http://www.lifestraw.com/en/high/faq.asp

You can even drink sea water with it.

I would to buy several hundred for my survialist needs.

Looks interesting - but the seawater issue is missleading. The test results are on "saline water" with 0.9% NaCl - seawater is four times saltier at around 3.5% NaCl. The device purifies water but does not desalinate it - there is a significant difference.

[mommy22]

I'm not sure if this comment belongs here or elswhere, but it pertains to water nonetheless. How many cities around the world have public water fountains, where people can take bottles to refill them with clean water? When we were in Paris, there are water fountains that continually run and provide fresh water, and they come in handy if you have a thirsty moment! But one can use them for larger amounts, too. I gather they were put in in the 18th century, drawing on springs outside of the city...helpful for the servants, I reckon! Are there any other public water options for people in other cities around the world?
I reckon that if the railroad is set to make a comeback, the public well should be considered, too.

[Doly]

How many cities around the world have public water fountains, where people can take bottles to refill them with clean water?

They are very common in all Spanish cities. I'm pretty sure I've found them in London as well, but not many. There are a few also in Brighton, but most of them aren't running (I wrote a graffiti on top of two of them saying "Where is the water?").

[Raxozanne]

I just finished reading the first part of Plan B by Lester Brown and the sections on fossil aquifer depletion for agricultural use and retreat of glaciers that feed into some of the most important rivers in the world(ganges/yellow river) is very scary. 3 billion people are at risk according to him.

[grabby]

Define enough, if you can get 350 litre's of fresh clean water through a life straw before it ceases to be effective on sea water you would need two per person per year.

Fancy add.

no way can it filter salt out of sea water, it says it filters seawater from parasites.

sea water contains 25 ml of salt per liter, that is 350 x 25 ==
that is 8.75 liters of hard rock salt after you are done.

now how does a straw hold all that salt inside?

two gallons of salt?
in a little straw.

your being sold a gbill of goods.

you cannot filter salt out of sea water that easily, you have to have a high osmotic pressure gradient and a delalinating permeable membrane, you cant suck 1/20th enough pressure to do that with your mouth, the blood corpuscles would come through your cheesk and fill your mouth with blood first.

also you will notice it FILTERS parasites and bacteris but not ALL OF THEM!

charcoal filters do not safely filter all parasites or all bacteris just SOME


I would not buy one.

[rogerhb]

....and in a lot of locations on this planet already, bottled water IS the only form of potable water

I presume it was still potable before it was put in the bottle? How about people stop thinking individual consumerism? What is the problem with water bowsers where you fill your own container?

[KanZenRyu]

I've read that you can survive drinking seawater as long as you consume no more than 100 ml per day. Some French guy did it crossing the Atlantic. I don't plan on trying it...

[aldente]

I just finished reading the first part of Plan B by Lester Brown and the sections on fossil aquifer depletion for agricultural use and retreat of glaciers that feed into some of the most important rivers in the world(ganges/yellow river) is very scary. 3 billion people are at risk according to him.

If you are like me then you never find the time to read the second part of the book since it seems redundant.

Here an interesting article that I just picked up in the German Spiegel news magazine (sorry only in German). They state that with the current water injections in the German wells (yes they have a little bit of oil - in this case gas only- an increase in earthquakes has been reported over the last few years.

I wonder if the earth shakes stronger these days in Saudi Arabia as well...

http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/erde ... 61,00.html

[IslandCrow]

An interesting article by Peter Brabeck-Letmanthe (Chairman of Nestle) stating that water shortages are more pressing than declining fuel supplies:

While the world is rightly moving to address the challenges presented by climate change and depleting supplies of fossil fuels, the same awareness and consensus does not exist when it comes to addressing our usage of water. Yet the harsh fact is that we will probably run out of water long before we run out of fuel.

...
Most people equate water consumption with what they use in their homes and places of work, but the challenge facing the globe goes much, much further than that. The 2030 Water Resources Group...., estimates that global water requirements will grow by over 50% over the next 20 years. Such levels of usage will be 40% greater than what can currently be sustainably supplied.

....
What most consumers might not be aware of is that agriculture accounts for 70% of global water usage today, and how the need to feed the growing population of the world will put an even greater strain on already scarce water resources.
...

The challenge facing governments, businesses and - arguably - all of us, is how to close the gap in supply in a way that is both environmentally sustainable and economically viable. At the moment we are coping by 'borrowing' water supplies from non-replenishable aquifers or from water reserved for environmental needs, an approach which is clearly not a long-term solution.

...
Efficiency lies at the heart of debate, just as with climate change. Yet while great strides have been made around carbon, the track record of water efficiency from both agriculture and industry does not inspire confidence: between 1990 and 2004 the annual rate of efficiency improvement in both sectors was approximately only 1%.

....
There are measures such as no-till farming, improved drainage and utilisation of the best seeds that may even have a positive return for farmers

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8577326.stm.

[hillsidedigger]

More are killed from dirty water than from war:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100322/ap_ ... lean_water