By editorial board • 

Thinking bigger about our water conservation

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Comments

Don Dix

71% of the Earth is covered by water, so the supply is more than adequate, but processing to use for human consumption is the catch.

The Earth contains about 326 million trillion gals. Ice, groundwater, lakes, streams, rivers, reservoirs, and the oceans are the main sources, clouds and water vapor makeup the remainder. Being a closed-loop system, it never escapes, but shows up in the various forms listed above.

There are 17,000 desalination plants around the world, serving 300M people. The Navy has been using desalination since 1962 in the Antarctic base @ McMurdo. This process may be the answer to fresh water shortages, as the technology is old enough (50 years) to have the many hurdles and kinks worked out.

Lulu

My prediction: all of us pull together and conserve water. Then Water & Light will raise their rates to make up for lost revenue.

Don Dix

Great catch, Lulu!

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