FLORIDA'S WATER CRISIS -- Salt and rain

The Orlando Sentinel ^ | August 11, 2002 | Debbie Salamone

[Willie Green]

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

Desalted seawater will pour into thousands of drinking cups in the Tampa area by next year.

And with those first sips, Florida will harness a new water source that will help clear the way for future decades of growth -- building booms that might otherwise be stifled by water scarcity.

Making oceans and other surface waters drinkable are responses to the relentless strain that population growth has put on Florida's fresh, underground water supply. The Tampa Bay desalting operation is the first large-scale plant in Florida, and it heralds a future with a drought-proof, eternal source of water.

Continued

[Willie Green]

Desalination is increasingly being considered as a source of fresh water in our coastal states due to pressures stemming from drought and population growth. While such processes are becoming more economical, they are also reliant on availability of electrical energy. For this reason, nuclear desalination should be considered as an option.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

"We are getting into an area of technological quick fixes to try to get past the natural limits to growth," said Charles Lee, senior vice president of Audubon of Florida.

Hal Lindsey ("The Late, Great Planet Earth") was saying the same thing in the '60's. None of his predictions came true.

[Willie Green]

It would be foolish to use that to infer that Florida's fresh water resources aren't being strained. Florida has experienced tremendous economic and population growth over the last few decades. Vital infrastructure such as fresh water supply, waste treatment, electric power and transportation need to be addressed.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

It would be foolish to use that to infer that Florida's fresh water resources aren't being strained.

Who inferred that? The inferrence was that desalination technology could not possibly solve the problem. Same sort of thing old "Wrong Way" Hal was saying back in the psychadelic '60s.

[alloysteel]

The ability to think up, harness, and put into place the "technological fixes" was one of the God-given gifts that mankind has enjoyed down through the ages. What are supposed to do to counter this argument? Uninvent fire, maybe?

Too late. We can't put that genie back in the bottle. There are a few technological tweaks we can put into place to mitigate potential environmental damage, such as pumping the more concentrated brine out into the Gulf several miles, where the normally circulating currents whisk it away and dilute it sufficiently so no discernable damage to the environment occurs.

We could also haul in drifting icebergs to harbors, and collect the icemelt as fresh water, which would have a two-fold function - the 'bergs would be removed from shipping lanes as well. May have to wrap a polyethylene sheet around the 'berg, to keep melting down to acceptable levels, and to provide for an accelerated tow, but this is an engineering problem, using techniques we are already acquainted with.

In life, there are no wrong answers, only wrong questions.

[Willie Green]

My apologies, I misunderstood your comment.

[Physicist]

I've long been an advocate of desalination. I wonder why it isn't being considered for the western U.S., which suffers from chronically insufficient water supplies (even when there isn't a drought).

[Willie Green]

Florida seems to be the most active source of U.S. desalination news recently, although I have posted some news from Delaware and Texas as well. It's been a few months but there is also some talk about it in Kalifornia: Lawmakers trying to secure money for California water projects

[meyer]

I've long been an advocate of desalination. I wonder why it isn't being considered for the western U.S., which suffers from chronically insufficient water supplies (even when there isn't a drought).

West coast = leftists
Florida = moderates and rightists

The leftists need an issue; the rightists and most moderates seek a solution.

[Nik Naym]

Because the problem is primarily felt in California. And if you build a desalinization plant, you build it near the ocean. And the the ocean is near California. And California won't let anybody build anything. Nope. It is easier to just take the water from states to the east, and in the process impact THEIR environment. To boil it down (pun intended): California is controled by leftists. Leftists are inherently self centered and selfish. So, they would rather screw with some other state than have an "unsightly" plant in their own state.

[Willie Green]

The leftists need an issue; the rightists and most moderates seek a solution.

I think that's true.

In my own little way, I've been trying to kill 10 birds with 3 stones (so to speak) by advocating various infrastructure projects that we, as a nation should be addressing. These 3 are: water supply/desalination plants, electrical energy (clean coal and nuclear) and electricly powered mass-transportation. The desalination helps alleviate water shortages in coastal states suffering from drought and/or population growth. However, it also requires significant energy consumption, making it ideal to locate in tandem with a power plant (preferably nuke, IMHO) The electricly powered mass-transit (local light rail, regional high-speed rail or maglev) would also utilize this new electric generating capacity and reduce our dependence on imported oil.

I've nothing against solar and/or windmills, except they're nowhere near sufficiently economical to produce the vast quantities of energy we'll be needing in future years. But in certain special situations, like the island economy of Puerto Rico, I can get behind a mix of solar/wind and nuclear, just to get the entire island away from fossil generated electricity.

Oh, I also favor construction of dams and reservoirs for flood control and electric generation, and upgrade of the locks/dams that make our rivers navigable.

Many good infrastructure projects that deliver real, long-term benefit to the taxpayers. And stimulate our economy with value-added jobs!

[summer]

Fascinating post, Willie. Where's my ping? :)

[summer]

FYI. An interesting article here.

[summer]

A very interesting article from the Orlando Sentinel's series about FL's water problems.

[summer]

FYI.

[FITZ]

The US desert SW is facing critical water shortages because extremely high immigration is bringing millions into areas that are very dry ---the aquifiers are almost empty in many places. Recycling sewage water into drinking water is already being done but isn't very appealing.

[LarryLied]

Alligators are the problem. They are drinking all the water. The population has increased 400% in 30 years. Over a million of them in the state now.

[nunya bidness]

Thanks.

Unfortunately the Sentinel filled the article with remarks from environmentalists and academics who cast the typical doom and gloom.

Desal works and it is affordable. I'll see if I can find my water bill.

[Joe Brower]

What I and many other long-time Floridians fail to understand is why we continue to hear, over and over, the wailings of "not enough water", yet at the same time thousands and thousands of new houses & condos continue to be built, as well as golf course after golf course, which consume incredible amounts of the water we're supposedly running out of.

Perhaps someone can explain it to us.

[Willie Green]

Sounds like, rather than placing restricitions on growth and water consumption, they're trying to develop additional water supply. It makes sense to do this before shortages and rationioning occur.