Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Water News Flash!

Todd and I have been asking a very important questions lately since the Water Worry Warts (WWWs) are starting up their drum beat again. Simply put, "When will the water run out?" Not how much water is there, or how much water is being used, or how quickly the water table maybe falling or rising. Just a simply question. When will it run out?

After doing about 10 seconds of intense Google searching, I came across GE's web site:

After another 10 seconds of reading, I finally found the answer to the question - NEVER. The water will never run out.

For those of you that might be unaware, 2/3 of our Earth is covered with well....WATER! Isn't that just great. However, it also turns out that 97% of this water is ocean water / salt water.

The very smart folks at GE are coming out with new desalination plants that can help us along. Here is a quick overview:

Seawater Desalination
Oceans make up 97% of the world’s supply of water. Desalination using seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membrane technology has become a viable option for the development of new regional water supplies.

GE Water & Process Technologies is the world leader in the supply of reliable seawater SWRO membrane desalination systems. GE's desalination projects range in size from small 2,000 cubic meter/day (370 gpm) plants -- providing potable water to hotels and resort complexes -- all the way up to projects like the 200,000 cubic meter/day (53 MGD) Hamma Desalination Plant, the largest of its kind in Africa. Hamma supplies desperately-needed drinking water to over 20% of the population of Algeria’s capital city.


So, you mean to tell me that a poor African nation can supply 20% of its drinking water with one of these systems? YEP! I guess there is hope after all!

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