Drought Watch

[biffvernon]

A short video from the Guardian showing some unhappy Texans connecting climate change and fracking.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... king-video

[kenneal - lagger]

At an average usage of 150 litres per day, using 8,000,000 gallons of water to frack a shale gas well is denying 660 people their yearly usage of water. In the south east, where there is a water shortage already, the thousands of wells required to exploit the shale gas will result in a real problem with water supply, especially if we get another dry year.

The government is consulting on planning regulations at the moment so it might be a good idea if we all write in and suggest that fracking companies should pay a planning premium for the supply of water or suggest that any water that they use should not come from the public water resource, i.e. any place where a water company extracts the public water supply from.

[emordnilap]

"Common sense will tell you, you keep sucking on something, it's gonna finally suck it dry."

Why do I get the feeling he's only thinking of water here?

[kenneal - lagger]

Why do I get the feeling he's only thinking of water here?

Because without water he can't live. In the climate of Texas water is the most important of the three "Staffs of Life", water, food and shelter. In that hot climate going without water for a day or two would see him dead. In other climes a shortage of the other two might be the problem.

Once he has conquered his immediate problem he might start thinking about longer term problems like pollution and climate change.

[emordnilap]

Why do I get the feeling he's only thinking of water here?

Because without water he can't live. In the climate of Texas water is the most important of the three "Staffs of Life", water, food and shelter. In that hot climate going without water for a day or two would see him dead. In other climes a shortage of the other two might be the problem.

Once he has conquered his immediate problem he might start thinking about longer term problems like pollution and climate change.

Yes, I know. What I meant was, it points up the fact that up till now, all they've ever thought about was fossil fuels - never the consequences of digging 'em up. Everything was going to last forever. And now their god is not going to come to the rescue.

Sow/reap etc.

[adam2]

South African drought declared a disaster.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40002770

This is a region prone to drought, but present circumstances are said to be exceptional.
I think that some solar powered desalination plant might be worth considering.
Either solar thermal evaporators, or electric reverse osmosis, with the power produced from PV.

[kenneal - lagger]

South African drought declared a disaster.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40002770

This is a region prone to drought, but present circumstances are said to be exceptional.
I think that some solar powered desalination plant might be worth considering.
Either solar thermal evaporators, or electric reverse osmosis, with the power produced from PV.

That equipment would cost money which could go into the pockets of the ANC. They wouldn't want to waste it.

[adam2]

The drought in Italy is worsening, with plans to ration water in Rome by cutting it off for 8 hours a day.
This may be unavoidable, but could have serious public health consequences.
Even the fountains in the Vatican are to be turned off, this is said to be a first.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40733218

[emordnilap]

We're even hearing reports of possible potable water restrictions in Ireland, following our comparatively dry winter of 2016/2017. Compared with the rest of the world, that's nothing but it highlights the problem generally.

[kenneal - lagger]

There must be a drought if Ireland doesn't have enough water. Or is it just a lack of storage because "it always rains in Ireland!"?

[emordnilap]

There must be a drought if Ireland doesn't have enough water. Or is it just a lack of storage because "it always rains in Ireland!"?

Yes.

Dublin water infrastructure is in dire shape, still using Edwardian tech. The phenomenal growth in its population, plus tourism, has put it under immense pressure.

They've been fighting over plans to pipe water from the Shannon to Dublin for some years. Simply fixing leaks would almost negate any need.

[kenneal - lagger]

Fixing leaks would make a huge difference in the UK too. It would also cut out a lot of traffic congestion once they had fixed the lot.

One of the methods that they can use involves blowing a flexible tube into the existing main then infusing the tube with resin so that it sets hard. They only have to make intermittent holes in the road surface that way.

Not that they are using it locally. We have a couple of ongoing long trenches in our roads on top of the holes that they have dug into the A339 in several places as the old pipe keeps bursting.

We have plans for our own system when TS starts to look like Hitting TF. I was given a couple of electric multi stage high head pumps a few years ago which we will use to pump water from our rainwater collection system to the top of our hill from where we can let it flow down into a sand filter. There will then still be enough head to get it up into a tank in our loft or straight into our taps.

[emordnilap]

We have plans for our own system when TS starts to look like Hitting TF. I was given a couple of electric multi stage high head pumps a few years ago which we will use to pump water from our rainwater collection system to the top of our hill from where we can let it flow down into a sand filter. There will then still be enough head to get it up into a tank in our loft or straight into our taps.

Sounds like a fun project, really, I mean it, the sort of thing I'd love to be involved with.

We've a deep well, a powerful submersible pump and a pressure tank; all fairly simple technology and giving great water pressure but reliant upon that modern technology and the grid, nonetheless.

The water is not perfect by laboratory standards - we're recommended this filter and that - but it tastes excellent and we're not dead after 20 years of drinking it.

[adam2]

The drought in South Africa, and in Capetown in particular, seems to worsening.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42836560

It is said that the day is approaching when all water piped into homes will be cut of, with supplies only available from other sources and carried in containers.
In the next few days the daily allowance is to be cut from 73 litres to 50 litres.

[kenneal - lagger]

We have plans for our own system when TS starts to look like Hitting TF. I was given a couple of electric multi stage high head pumps a few years ago which we will use to pump water from our rainwater collection system to the top of our hill from where we can let it flow down into a sand filter. There will then still be enough head to get it up into a tank in our loft or straight into our taps.

Sounds like a fun project, really, I mean it, the sort of thing I'd love to be involved with.

We've a deep well, a powerful submersible pump and a pressure tank; all fairly simple technology and giving great water pressure but reliant upon that modern technology and the grid, nonetheless.

The water is not perfect by laboratory standards - we're recommended this filter and that - but it tastes excellent and we're not dead after 20 years of drinking it.

I've just seen this post Em and I don't know how I missed it.

One of my first jobs was as a junior engineer on a water filtration plant in east London in the late 1960's. It was sand filters on a massive scale; square kilometres of them to filter Thames water, already seven times inspected and passed by the residents of the Thames Valley before it was piped into London with the addition of a small quantity of Chlorine.

My next contact with a sand filter was at CAT while doing my MSc. All their water is provided from their own reservoir via a sand filter about 1.5 metres cube followed by UV final treatment.

Wonderful things they are with their Schmutzdecke layer of natural bacteria and virtually no moving parts.