Are We Running Out Of Water?

On today’s show we are talking about what in some locations is a scarce resource. The headlines decry shortages of fresh water. Certain water sheds have been abused over the past century. The Colorado River is one example of those powerful rivers that seemed limitless. It flows through 7 states and 2 states in Mexico. So many communities along its path would not exist if it were not for the water supplied by the Colorado River. The Colorado river has been so exploited that it no longer reaches the Pacific Ocean. 

But the truth is that the planet is covered by 70% water. We are not going to run out of water any time soon. I know what you’re thinking. The oceans are salt water and we need fresh water. 

Fresh water is basically ocean water that has been distilled through the process of evaporation and then being deposited in the form of rainfall. Some areas are blessed with more rainfall than others. 

We often hear about problems with wastewater sustainability. 

The fact is, water is incredibly cheap to turn into drinking water. We tend to think of it as expensive. But in truth, it is very inexpensive. Reverse osmosis technology has been around for a long time. What we are really talking about is the amount of energy required to purify the water. 

Let’s put this into the context of a domestic water bill. If you are starting with a fresh water supply and then the city puts the water in reservoirs, purifies and treats the water, distributes it in pipes to all the homes, and then collects all the wastewater and treats the wastewater. 

In the city of NY, this comes to 1.7 cents per gallon to supply the water and then to collect and treat the wastewater.  

The energy required to produce a gallon of water through reverse osmosis is 0.4 cents per gallon. So if we had to treat the water and the wastewater the same as today and then insert a reverse osmosis system to purify sea water, we would be talking about increasing the cost of producing fresh water from 1.7 cents per gallon to 2.1 cents per gallon. This is hardly the crisis of the century that threatens the very existence of the human race. 

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