Water Shortage

Water Shortage

Throughout many parts of the USA, there is, and has been, a severe water shortage. Shrinking water tables, falling water levels in fresh water lakes & rivers, low snow mass, etc., are all signs of trouble.

This of course is a FRESH water, or drinking water shortage. As a result, residential usage has been limited in many areas, and in some areas, even commercial usage has been limited.

This will not get better, according to experts.

Uncontrolled growth in some states, changing weather patterns, and the lack of understanding the need to change our water usage habits all contribute to the problem.

Does this affect housing? You bet it does!

In many areas, the problem has gotten so bad that moratoriums have been suggested, and even implemented, to stop development.

Bleak? I thought so until I started thinking about science. Why is there not enough water? Where did it go? Then, I remembered from science courses that all the water that ever existed still exists! It’ just been moved. Where? To the oceans!

Aha! I started looking around to see if anybody was trying to reclaim any of this excess water in the oceans through desalination. After all, the US has many, many miles of coast line and many smart people.

Here’s what I found:

Tampa, Florida has a fresh water problem. Who would have thought Florida would have such a problem, but they do.

Here’s what Tampa DID, after solving many problems. They built a desalination plant!




If Tampa, Florida can build a desalination plant, so can others.

Tampa’s efforts can produce pristine drinking water at the rate of 25 million gallons a day. That’s 9.125 Billion (9,125,000,000) gallons per year.

From: The Tampa Tribune:

Published: December 22, 2007

"Tampa Bay Water's desalination plant is finally up and running, four years late.
Nothing seemed to go right on the project, watched by water-restricted communities around the world.
Bankruptcies, lawsuits, even exotic snails that clogged filters plagued the venture.

But the plant now is operating without interruption, transforming Tampa Bay's brackish water into pristine drinking water at the rate of 25 million gallons a day.
The desalination plant's production represents 10 percent of the region's water supply. Most importantly, it's drought-proof water that allows the utility to pump less groundwater and take less water from local rivers.

The plant, the largest currently operating in the nation, can be expanded to produce 35 million gallons of water a day.

No question, Tampa Bay Water made some blunders along the way, particularly in choosing its original partners and failing to recognize the importance of the pretreatment system. Project costs gushed from $110 million to $158 million.

But Tampa Bay Water's governing board deserves credit for sticking with the plan, sorting through the problems and making sure this alternative water resource became a success.

Thanks to the board's perseverance, the region has a water source that, regardless of rainfall, will help meet growing water needs without compromising natural resources. Better late than never."

We’re not running out of water, we just need more solution minded citizenry.

I’ll drink to that (water, of course),

Carl