May 30 2004, 6:07 pm
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Abra
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I think the reason to conserve is that the water is being lost into the oceans, not just that its getting dirty and needs to be purified after we use it. When all fresh water gets lost into the ocean, its not going to be a matter how much it costs to purify it, just if we can find enough of it to keep everyone alive, which takes ALOT of water. Just a guess tho. Incedentally, my theory makes no sense if you can make salt water fresh, which I think you can right now, its just that its too costly to be practical. does ne one know for sure if that is possible?
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Clean water needs to be conserved. Dirty water is easily attainable but contains many living organisms that can make you sick or even kill you.
Plus, in places like the desert, if you run out of water, you'd best be off finding some more, and quick! ~Kujila | |
Yes, I considered the fact of opportunists and such... Of course if there's more demand than supply, then the prices will go up...
But not if a higher power stepped in (I'm talking government, not spiritual)... If it became a matter of life and death (which is the only situation in which any of this point being discussed would be taking place), then measures would be taken to make it work... They'd have to... Regardless of how bad one thinks our government (or our species as a whole) is, if it came down to it, I believe that we'd step up... The reason communism doesn't work is because we're currently comfortable enough to be lazy... Even in the old Soviet Union... Sure, times were probably very hard for most, but life wasn't threatened (not on a large enough scale)... And so, people were free to slack off with no overly harmful consequences (that they knew of, or that directly affected them)... And the same goes doubly sure for your chosen example... If online games were a matter of life and death, then we wouldn't have "griefers" and the like (at least not as many... sure, there's bound to be some sadists running around) And as for current bottled water prices, they're not set based on lack of supply, they're set based on how much people are willing to pay for convenience... Another sign of comfortability and complacency... We're so secure, that we're willing to waste money just for a more convenient route... But if put in a catastrophic situation, something would be done to fix it... You've gotta have faith in that... And no, I don't believe it will suddenly become completely free... Just that the monetary barriers that are keeping us from desalinating ocean water, or purifying overly poluted water will be broken down or ignored... | |
Yup, salt water can easily be turned into fresh water... We've been doing it for ages...
It's nothing more than evaporating the water, and collecting the steam to recondense it into pure water... The evaporation process leaves behind the salt (and other particles and minerals) and the vapor is pure water... You can check this out for yourself by boiling a pot of salt water for a while, and once the water is gone, you'll see left-behind salt crystals lining the pot... In fact, mother nature does this herself on a constant basis... The clouds that pour rain on us are made mostly of ocean water... The sun evaporates the water into the air, leaving behind the salt, and the pure water then rains down on the land... However, to do this process on a large enough scale to give the average citizens their water supply currently costs too much money for anyone to bother with it... However, it can be done, and I feel that if it ever needed to be done (in the case that we "ran out" of usable water), then it simply wuld be... People would be forced to ignore the costs and just do it for the sake of survival of our people... Or, as they say, "necessity is the mother of invention"... If it came down to it, we'd invent a cheaper method of doing it... | |
Again, my point is that dirty water can always be turned into clean water... We'll never really run out because it will forever be possible for us to keep turning dirty water back into clean water...
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I don't believe we're really coming "dead-even"... We're probably actually falling behind (at least as far as "clean" water is concerned... we're most likely not making as much clean water as we're using)
But if/when the need arises, I believe that we'll simply step up and produce what we need by whatever means necessary... However, in the case of total water on the Earth, then yes, we're completely dead-even (well, there are some small fluctuations, like additions from space ice, losses from early space flights, and right now, there are machines that can break water down into oxygen and hydrogen, which has been going on in a small scale for a little while... but at the same time, there are engines that run on hydrogen that produce water in the exhaust, so that is more or less cancelled out) So in the event that the Earth's population of water-using organisms (not just humans) ends up being too great for our total supply, then we're screwed... But my guess is that there isn't even enough room on the Earth's surface for the populations to get that large...lol | |
I constantly hear people complain about city water, and I've never understood why... It's never bothered me, and I prefer it greatly over any bottled water I've ever had... And no, we've never used a home filtration system...
OF course, everyone's city water probably tastes slightly different, as our respective purification plants probably vary a bit in their methods, cleanliness, chemicals used, and whatnot... And even the age and material of the pipelines in the system are a factor, among numerous other things (temperature, source, distance from purification plant, etc, etc), but regardless, I've got no problems with my city's water supply... I suppose it might be a matter of being accustommed to it, but that doesn't explain your aversion to your own... | |
Truth is, as a nation/world we don't need to conserve water at all. However, we probably should conserve it for our own benefit. Clean water can always be acquired, but it will also always have a cost, so we should conserve only to save ourselves a bit of cash. That is "Why "conserve" water?" - Or at least, the only reason I can think of!
Thank you for a very interesting topic SuperSaiyanGokuX! ~Ease~ | |
Think of how difficult to transport water around the place today. We use big pipelines. That's why most cities are built near rivers. Now, empty all the water from rivers, and put it in the sea. It's purified by a very energy intensive, and slow, process before being piped everywhere. How do you think they'll keep up with demand?
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Exactly... Just because no one is bothering right now to find better methods of desalinating and transporting ocean water (why should they? we've got plenty of fresh water right now), doesn't mean that we can't find plenty of better ways...
And if/when it comes down to it, that's exactly what we'll do... That's what humans have always done... It's our special form of adaptation... | |
SuperSaiyanGokuX wrote:
I constantly hear people complain about city water, and I've never understood why. In my city (well, more of a town in US terms I guess =P ), the tap water is fine. Just as good as bottled water, if not better. However, go a couple of hundred km to the northeast, to Sydney, and the water there is TERRIBLE. We're talking a chlorine concentration roughly equivalent to the water in public pools here. You can't drink it. I mean, technically you CAN, but you'd be mad to do it unless you had to. Everyone living there either has a water purifier built into their plumbing, or keeps a supply of rainwater, or both. It's the largest, oldest, and most polluted city in Australia. (Coincidence? I think not!) There's also the possibility that you're more used to yuck-tasting water, because you haven't drunk water that's any better; "normal water" is entirely subjective after all. Slightly gruesome story about Sydney's water: A few years back, they found a dead dog (or was it several? I forget) in one of the water treatment plants. Most of the city's water had been polluted with its rotting flesh. Not pleasant. | |
No, no, no... I'm not talking about conserving our body's water... I mean conserving the Earth's water... As in "don't waste it by letting the faucet run while you're brushing your teeth" or "take showers instead of baths because they use less water" or "don't water your lawn for too long" etc...
Stuff like you'd hear on Captain Planet or whatever... The same stuff from the same people who tell us to recycle, save the whales, etc... I'm saying that it's not really necessary, because any water we "waste" will always remain water and can always be used again... Of course I realize that you must "conserve" your body's water, but this isn't about that...lol | |
I guess I see your point, water conservation should not be a top priority, but who ever said it was. I haven't seen as many water conservation adds as i have for most other conservation efforts.
Also, You keep saying "We will find a way to survive". well it would be kinda nice if it didnt have to come down to that. If you just conserve a little water, which is easy to do, we will have alot more time before we have to worry about it. SO just stop running your sinks and flushing your toilets all day super saiyan cuz im getting a little TIRED OF IT! = ) | |
It all comes down to money and effort. It's much easier and more efficient for you to just turn off the tap while brushing your teeth than it is for that water to be filtered and reused. Plus you save on your water bill, and I doubt anyone will complain about that. =P
And other thing... are you saying that recycling and not-killing-whales are BAD things? 'Cause it certainly sounds like it. | |
Heh, looks like I had better clarify a few things...lol
For starters, I personally don't waste water (on purpose)... So I'm not trying to make excuses for my own bad actions by arguing this point... I don't leave the water running while brushing my teeth, for instance...lol It just hit me one day after seeing/hearing something spouting about conserving water that it's really a non-issue... I just feel that they shouldn't be preaching about something, and acting like it's so important when it ultimately isn't... And nothing I've ever seen that took on this issue presented it in a light of "Wasting in general is bad, so why do it? Plus, you'll save money, and it makes things easier on everyone..." Nope, it's always given in the sense of "Don't waste water or we're all DOOMED!" (as in we'll run out) lol The same tone as in "Don't chop down trees" and "Don't waste energy (electricity, gas, etc)"... Heck, if they'd take that first explanaton, then I'd be fine with it... I just don't like it that these people are waving their arms and shouting out orders under false pretenses...lol And secondly, I'm definitely for recycling and against whale killing... When I typed those examples, I actually thought of adding the aside of "(actual things we need to worry about)" or something of that nature... I decided against it, which was apparently a mistake...lol I was just using those as other prominent examples of the kind of environmentalist warnings that my water wasting rant is related to... As opposed to the meaning I assumed Kujila had taken in the more personal medical/health issues of "conserving" water... P.S. And don't get me wrong again on the trees and wasting energy examples up there... I'm against rapid deforestation (anything done faster than corresponding replanting), and I don't go turning on all of the lights in the house, or leave the car engine running when it doesn't need to be...lol But anyyways, I used them as examples because they're more akin to the water warnings... They're both given in the vein of "we'll run out of this if you waste it", just as they always come off as saying with water... | |
Water isn't always accessible. For instance, like I said in the desert, if you run out of water, then, yes the water still is there, but water might only come to that village or whatever, like every three months. Now the entire village is in a drought, all the crops die, then all the family pets and old people, and before you know it, everyone looks like a California Raisin! :D
~Kujila | |
Alright, I see what you're getting at...
But it still misses my point... I'm only speaking out against all of the people who tell us that we shouldn't waste water because "we're going to run out"... Of course, if we were in a situation where our access to water was limited, then sure, it would definitely be wise to use only what we need and save the rest... But in reality in most of the "modern", "civilized" world, this isn't the case... Water pretty much comes to us in relatively unlimited supply... And no, we shouldn't be wasting it just because we can take it for granted, but there's no real danger in doing so... Water will always be water (for the most part), no matter if we use every drop, or if we let it run down the drain... It's not like fossil fuels, for instance... If we use those, then they're gone... The supply can be used up (sure, it replenishes itself, but the rate of replenishment is far exceeded by our rate of use, so eventually, it'll run dry... pun not intended), but with water, we can use it all we want, but it'll never go away... It just goes back into the "pool" (pun intended this time...lol) to be used over and over... Even if we waste as much as we can, someone else can still always use what we wasted... Again, much unlike fossil fuels or lumber... | |