Whether we will have enough water in the future is a topic that environmentalists love to raise and they are correct that many places in this world around the major deserts do not have enough water for the burgeoning populations.
We should remember that water does not get used up, there is just as much at the end of a drought as there was in the beginning. There is just as much at the end of the day when you have had multiple showers as there was in the beginning.
The problems with water supply are twofold:
Potability – some water is undrinkable and needs to be purified
Whether we will have enough water in the future is a topic that environmentalists love to raise and they are correct that many places in this world around the major deserts do not have enough water for the burgeoning populations.
First, we should remember that water does not get used up, there is just as much at the end of a drought as there was in the beginning. There is just as much at the end of the day when you have had multiple showers as there was in the beginning. Moreover, if I forgo my shower one morning the thirsty in the Sudan don’t get an extra drink.
The problems with water supply are twofold:
Potability – some water is undrinkable and it needs to be purified
However, the purification issue is not really an issue. Salt water can be converted to potable water through the use of energy. The desalination plant at the Soviet Fort Chevchenko (now in Khazakstan) worked admirably for twenty-five years or more in converting the heavily saline water of the Caspian Sea into drinking water.
Similar plants can be placed at coasts to do exactly the same for seawater and they can provide needed electrical energy at the same time. Nuclear plants are available for the job similar to the Fast Reactor at Chevchenko.
Distribution some areas of the world do not have enough water while others have too much
This problem is another matter because its solution is political and politicians aren’t as logical or reliable or stable as an engineering solution.
Either water has to be brought to populations who don’t have it or populations need to be relocated. Can you imagine anyone working to relocate the population of the Sudan perhaps to Maine? I am sure the population of Maine would find a reason to get rid of any politician who dared suggest it.
Therefore, the solution must be population control. Can you think of another? Curiously population control is working. If there is no water, population growth is automatically curtailed because more old people and young people die. This may not be an acceptable solution if you are a politician seeking reelection but it is a fact in this world of ours.
