The Value of Water

Had to repost the following.  Water is  indispensable. It's amazing just how thoroughly unappreciated it is...

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Sunday, 14 September 2014

The Value of Water: How We View It (Thanks @thereaIbanksy)

It's rare that on the same day I post the same item on WaterWired and my personal blog Campanastan but since I am reading David Zetland's Living with Water Scarcity now I thought this graphic extremely relvant to drought, scarcity, and how we value (or don't value) water.

 I suspect street artist banksy did not intend this to apply to water but perhaps I am wrong. Either way, it's worth posting and reflecting upon. 





"A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." - Oscar Wilde




 

Matt Damon's Potty Video

Matt Damon is a celebrity I admire.  He uses his fame and influence to make a difference in the lives of people much less fortunate than himself.  There is a whole cabal of good people like Damon in Hollywood.  I'm talking about Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie,  Charlize Theron, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, Leo DeCaprio, and Ryan Gosling, to name a few.  All of these 'A' list personalities distinguish themselves by stepping up and seriously engaging on some of the most difficult challenges of our time.

In Matt Damon's case, he co-founded a group called Water.org.   Matt Damon is a champion for clean water and sanitation.  Matt Damon doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk.


Here is a link to Matt's very clever message about water and sanitation on World Water Day...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Sc2_HFv88&feature=player_embedded

Here is a link to another video about the work of Water.Org...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5hsLsBIzB0&feature=player_embedded

Wind or Sun to Water

A company of young innovators in France was created a splendid new technology. Eole Water, based in Sainte Tulle, France,  has developed a simple, robust, beauitfully rendered technology for sucking evaporated water out of the air, using an especially designed wind turbine.

The principle innovator behind Eole Water is Marc Parent. His vision was to create a stand alone system that could be set up in the world's most remote locations to produce both electricity and water.

The system works using evaporative condensation to collect up to 1,000 liters of water per day, while also generating up to 30 Kw of electricity.

The first commecial iteration of this technology is called the WMS 1000.  It is designed for set up in remote locations, without the use of a crane.   The WMS 1000 is mounted in a way that allows easy lowering of the mast for maintenance.

 

 

More than a billion people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water.  An even greater number do not have access to electricity.   There is an enormous need for Eole Water's technology.  The WMS 1000 is in final testing phaise. The next step is commercialization and distribution around the world. 

Eole Water is now adapting their technology for use with a 30 Kw solar PV array for places where sunlight is more abundant than wind.
 
Here is a link to a very engaging video that presents the Eole Water technology...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhe4jDWfFAY&feature=youtu.be


Bravo to Marc Parent and his colleagues at Eole Water. They have done a great thing for the world.

Here is a link to Eole Water's website...

http://www.eolewater.com/

A New Kind of Pipeline

Ever thought about pipes?  We depend on pipe, millions of miles of buried pipe, in every town and every city to deliver water to the tap, and to conveniently carry our sewage out of sight, out of mind.  We use pipes as conduits throughout buildings to carry  heat and cool air, and to protect electrical and computer wiring. We use pipe to move liquid and gaseous fuels from well head to refinery, then on to distribution centers across the nation.  Pipelines are part of society's crticial infrtastructure.  They are indispensible.

Most sub-surface pipe is made of metal or reinforced concrete.  There are millions of miles of pipeline running underground across America, and in every developed nation on Earth.  A lot of the piping we depend on in the U.S. is aging.  Much of it needs to be replaced.   Because traditional metal and concrete piping is heavy and is fabricated in short sections, it is very labor intensive and expensive to replace.

Now, there is a better and much cheaper way of building or replacing an existing pipeline.

Civil Engineering Professor Mo Ehsani from the University of Arizona has developed a system that allows the fabrication of lightweight piping on site using a combination of honeycombed aerospace plastic  and resin-impregnated, carbon fiber wrap.  Ehsani's new technology - he calls it InfinitiPipe -  can be scaled to produce piping of the size and strength needed to meet different applications. Because the process can go on more or less infinitely,  the joints that cause traditional piping infrstructutre to breakdown are mostly eliminated.

Professor Mo Ehsani with InfinitiPipe

Ehsani invisions mounting the machine that synthesizes the Infiniti pipe on a trailer truck, allowing the piping to be produced right on site, when and where needed.

Truck mounted InfinitPipe synthesis

 The issue now is whether or not the government agencies in charge of ovcerhauling our crumbling sewage and potable water systems will embrace this new technology. The people that make concrete and steel pipe will likely resist such change, despite the cost and safety benefits InfinitiPipe could bring to every community.

Plan B 4.0

I am a huge fan of Lester Brown. He founded the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, DC. Years before he did that, he launched The Worldwatch Institute.

An agronomist by training, Lester Brown is an advocate for nature and the environment, with a broad view across all the science, technology, and governance policy that impacts life on Earth.

For a number of years, Brown and his colleagues at EPI have been publsihing the Plan B. series, a book that explains the  alarming status of global climate change, water resoure depletion, deforestation, food security, militarization;  all the mactro-scale issues and factors that are shaping life on Earth.  Brown and his team deliver a thoughtful, and most important, achieveable pathway to restoration and sustainability.  They call it,, Plan B. The most recent update is Plan B 4.0.

For those who want to educate themselves about the issues: for those looking for a reason to feel optimistic about the future, get a hold of Lester Brown's Plan B 4.0.   You'll find everything you need to know presented very effectively in this one volume. Highest Recommendation.

Here is the link to Plan B. 4.0

http://www.earth-policy.org/books/