Water as a hot commodity in the future? 2

[ziggi]

I've been hearing talk of water scarcity problems developing in the future. Even to the point that water will one day become a very valuable commodity. The fuzz claims that within 10 years, water will be in the same position as oil is now.

Any thoughts on that? Any ideas how it will affect our profession in the coming years?

 

[GregLocock]

Beef is pretty bad, but rice and cotton are right up there as well.

(OK, we don't eat cotton)



Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[Ussuri]

In the UK the average water consumption is 154 litre per person per day (40 US Gallon)

For my water usage, if my water was metered, I would pay 0.8pence per litre (£8 per cubic metre) which if I have done my conversion correctly is $0.053/ US gallon.

It seems we pay more for our water in the UK, as we do for our petrol.

 

[Ashereng]

Yes. Petrol, water, beer, food, etc. are all more expensive in the UK than the US. That is why people in the UK vacation in the US seem to spend money more freely - their euros go farther.

I can see why water is more expensive in the UK - the US has more water available per capita.

I don't know why the oil and beer is more expensive though.

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
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[Ussuri]

I live in Scotland. It rains a lot here so we have plenty of water. I guess this is not so true of Southern England where they have more people and its a lot drier.

On the plus side, we dont have euros yet, still good old fashioned pounds sterling.

I also believe our 'water of life' is cheaper elsewhere in the world even though it's made here. Water of life being Scotch Whisky.

 

[Ashereng]

ussuri,

My bad. The UK is using pounds sterling, not euros.



"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
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[GregLocock]

Ashereng - I paid 9 dollars US for a pint of Guinness in Detroit - is that unreasonable? That is about twice what it costs in the UK or Australia. I really got the impression that beer was expensive in the USA.

Now, admittedly it was twice that, in Shanghai.

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[BiPolarMoment]

I paid 9 dollars US for a pint of Guinness in Detroit - is that unreasonable? That is about twice what it costs in the UK or Australia. I really got the impression that beer was expensive in the USA.

Holy.. I hope it was a British Pint (closer to 20 oz) then! I can't speak for Detroit but most places in Florida aren't going to charge you more than 5 dollars for a (16oz) pint and places where it is actually sold frequently (Irish Pubs mostly) it's usually closer to 4.

 

[Ashereng]

That's a bit steep.

Imports are usually about $7 a pint (16 oz). Domestic about $6 a pint. Taxes included.

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[ewh]

That does sound steep. I was paying $5/pint in Detroit 5 years ago. What kind of establishment do you frequent?

 

[davefitz]

There are new de-salination plants being built in Florida- potable water is becoming scarce there.

More new power plants are considering the use of air cooled condensers in lieu of water cooled condensers with their associated cooling towers - this saves an enormous evaporation loss of water, but hurts heat rate slightly. Noise levels are high as well.

Some large water users are being retired , to allow alternate use of their water . For example , the Mohave power plant in Nevada had used a coal-water slurry pipeline to ship the coal from mine-mouth to plant- its retirement will free up the water used in the slury plus the evap loss at the condenser .

In the long term, there is going to be a lot of teeth- gnashing related to the pollution of deep ground waters by the ongoing practice of injected toxic wastes in deep wells.

 

[GregLocock]

Somewhere near Dearborn, on a big northwards going arterial, up high on the western side. Actually it was prbably $6-7 US, I think I may have remembered the price in oz dollars.

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[ewh]

That sounds more reasonable - still pricey, but not as outrageous.

 

[ziggi]

What's outrageous is that you'd actually buy a Guiness in the US. They're bloody horrible anywhere but Ireland.

 

[ewh]

Be that as it may, Guiness still beats the pants off of many other nameless choices we have here in the states.

 

[ziggi]

Wow American beer must be worse than I thought. Thankfully Canadian beer is much better.

 

[davidbeach]

The mass market beers are ..., well lets just say that Bud is the only one that publicly shows their horses but purports them to have a use in transporting the stuff rather than in its manufacture.

Microbrew beer on the other hand is a worthy drink. The Portland, Oregon, area has more beer choice per capita than anywhere else in the world. One could go out for a different draft beer, brewed within 200 miles, each night around here and probably go on for over a year without having to repeat anything. You'd periodically have to go back to certain places to get all of their seasonal brews. You couldn't do it at home with bottles though, many of the brew pubs don't bottle anything, it is only available on draft. Cheers.

 

[bioengr82]

The mass market beers are ..., well lets just say that Bud is the only one that publicly shows their horses but purports them to have a use in transporting the stuff rather than in its manufacture.

Are you trying to say there are beer companies that show horses and purport to use them in manufacturing?

*cough*beersnob*cough*

LONG LIVE THE KING OF BEERS!

(my view is in no way effected by my previous employment with AB)

 

[ewh]

AB employees get in trouble if they are caught in public drinking a brew from any other producer. They even have to ensure that the label is facing so that the most people can read it! (Ex worked for AB also)

 

[25362]

Although potable water scarcity isn't seen as an immediate casus belli of world magnitude, water suitability for human ingestion may be a present-day predicament in need of imaginative problem-solving by professionals in multiple disciplines.

It certainly is a combination of the chemistry of the solutes and their concentration that determines whether the water is polluted or not.

Even pristine rainwater may contain dissolved gases (on a weight basis): 10 ppm nitrogen, 50 ppm oxygen, 3,400 ppm carbon dioxide picked up from the atmosphere, to name just a few.

On the other hand, chemicals are supplemented on purpose, for example, sodium benzoate is often added as a preservative to canned fruit drinks in the amount of 1000 ppm.

The concentration (ppm) of minerals on samples taken from several French Alps natural spring water sources showed: Ca[→]78, Mg[→]24, Na[→]5, K[→]1.

The (US) Water Act of 1974 established the permissible maximum levels of mineral contaminants in community water systems for safe drinking. Among them, (ppm=mg/L):

As[→]0.05, Ba[→]1.0, Cd[→]0.01, Cr[→]0.05, Pb[→]0.05, Hg[→]0.002, Se[→]0.01, Ag[→]0.05, Na[→]160.

Do you know whether these limits have suffered any changes of late ?

I still remember Perrier's withdrawal of ~70 million bottles from store shelves and restaurants in 1990 because it was found they contained 15 ppb benzene, triple FDA's permitted maximum of 5 ppb. Any comment ?

 

[SomptingGuy]

Guiness in the US:

First and last time I tried that was in a bar in Chicago's north side, watching a five nations game (only five in those days). Dreadfull. Mind you it was about 8 in the morning!