Thirsty? How 'bout a cool, refreshing cup of seawater?
Thursday, March 29, 2012By: Howard Perlman
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/drinkseawater.html
Summary of Article:
This article is about the desalination of water. First it explains that desalination is the process by which we turn ocean or saline water int fresh drinkable water. Then it explains how in some parts of the US fresh water is hard to get so this method becomes useful. Also this article talks about classifying how salt is in water. If water has a concentration of more than 1000 ppm of dissolved salt then it is technically saline water. This article also talks about how water will continually be harder to get in the US so this technique of getting water will be very useful. Next the author talks about the process of desalinization and how it is an ancient method of getting water.
Opinion:
This article made me realize that if we run out of natural freshwater we won't be totally dead. It also made me realize that we have the ability to mass produce fresh water. We could distribute it to third world countries or places that need water. I'm also glad that this means we probably won't be running out of water for a very long time. Something else I found interesting was that that in ancient times this technique was used to get water.
Questions:
1. Do you think this could solve world thirst problems? If so how?
2. If we ran out of natural fresh water could this method be used to provide all of our fresh water? How?
3. Do you think this will ever be the worlds only way of getting water? Why and if so how soon?
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ReplyDeleteResponse/Opinion
ReplyDeleteThis method is definitely great as a last resort if we ever need one; I think it is very practical. The amount of money of would take to build and put these into use would be a little costly, but I think in the long run, it would save much money and effort. I also think it is funny that and advancement in water purification, is coming from the past. We always seem to think that we always have to move forward, but when you think about it, many great ideas had been made long before the era of smart electronics, that if improved upon could do exceptionally well in the 21st century.
Graphic/Explanation:
This is a coin machine invented by the ancient Greeks. It is a perfect example of an old version of a vending machine that we simply improved upon to fit our faced-paced modern day world. Again, society thinks like a shark moves, always forward, never looking back. When in reality, isn’t learning from your past mistakes and improving on them the basis of success? Now, clearly, between the ancient Greek coin machine and this new virtual supermarket in Korea, we have made a huge leap forward in the means of selling products. The concept of improving on the past is what is important, and that is why I believe these desalinization contraptions are such a good idea.
Virtual Supermarket: http://chelseasairforcelife.blogspot.com/2011/09/this-is-how-i-roll_26.html
Coin Machine: http://itthing.com/8-ancient-inventions-we-still-use-today/coin_machine
Response/ Opinion:
ReplyDeleteIt is good that we are finally learning from the past. As the article said, this technique to convert water has been around for a long time. Some areas like the Middle East that are scarce on water are already using this. Seeing how the large majority of water on Earth is saltwater, this allows us to waste even more resources, which we all know is fun. I'm concerned that since the desalition process requires burning fuel, this will speed up "man-made" global warming. According to Al Gore, we will all die now.
Response to Thoughtful Question:
1) This very well could be the solution to the world thirst problems. Unfortunately, it seems that more developed countries (Yes I consider the Middle East as developed) are the only ones with access to this. Human nature and history has shown that we don't like to share, so while this solution is available, I'm not sure if we are willing to show others the solution. Until then this doesn't solve the world thirst problem, only ours.
Response to Silly Question:
There was no silly question...
Response/Opinion:
ReplyDeleteI find it good that if freshwater is unavailable in the area, it can at least be distilled from saline water. I did, however, with the exception of coolant water, know how distillation works prior to reading this. I did however find a lack of validity in the argument that this would be easily useable in areas with high amounts of saline water. You would need to use freshwater or other distilled water for coolant water, considering certain saline water might be corrosive enough to eat through its housing and slowly stop, destroy, maim, or obliterate the distillation container.
Response to thoughtful question:
1. I don't think this will ever solve thirst problems. So long as there are separate countries, very corrupt leaders, stacked classes, and enforced ignorance amongst homogeneous populations, we will ignore what can be given to those less fortunate and give more to ourselves (Trust me, I'm the first to admit I'm a hypocrite with this). I also believe that people will do hack jobs of setting these up in the third world, and will provide unsafe drinking water. In addition, unless the coolant water can be reused, it is not as easily renewable than the article implies.
Response to silly question:
You think he hasn't?!
Response/Opinion:
ReplyDeleteAlthough this method ensures that we will not be running out of water in the future, it is not that effective. The energy and burned fossil fuels that go into getting fresh water this way is far greater than collecting it naturally. So although we might never run out of water we will run out of fossil fuels. Even though this seems like a solution to finding fresh water, it opens a whole new can of worms for the energy crisis. On another note, I do find it interesting that this method is so old. If we want to make this method efficient, we would have to revert back to the way they did it a long time ago and use the sun's energy to heat the water.
Response to thoughtful question:
I don't think we could ever really do away with thirst in poor countries. As i have said, this method is expensive. Countries where water is not readily available and can not afford to buy it have a huge problem. The idea that we could make safe drinking water through this method and send it over to these countries would take an extreme charitable donation. In the end, it would be easier to pump up some ground water and send it to them.