Gestalt #106 – Water

Personal needs

We need between 2 – 4 liters of water each day to survive. Dehydration is one of the quickest killers. Further, we need clean water, something we may not always be able to assume is available. Fun fact. The Bronte sisters, authors of such classics as “Jane Eyre” and “Wuthering Heights” died early, likely because they drank water contaminated by runoff from very public outhouses and the exudates of a nearby graveyard.

There are different ways to secure water. One is to be hooked up to a municipal system which assures you that the water is clean. These assurances are not always accurate. What happens if the power goes out in your area? No water. What happens if there is a problem at the local water sanitation center? Boil orders are becoming increasingly common. What about if your water system is hacked and poisons are added to it? This has actually already happened.

Alternatives to depending on city water include having your own well or cistern. Many people in rural areas depend on wells. If you go this route make sure you get your well water tested regularly. Also probably helpful to have a reverse osmosis system to purify your water. You can get specific filters that will be designed to remove specific contaminates identified in your water. In dry areas, cisterns are an option. I know of one fellow who bought an old milk truck, cleaned the inside thoroughly, dug a trench, buried the container, ran a pipe from his roof water catchment center to the now underground container, had a pump to bring the water to his house and cleaned the water with a reverse osmosis system. He claimed he could collect enough water in one day to last him and his wife one year. He would make sure that he collected the water before the crop dusters were active so that the water be as clean as possible. If you are handy, and have a strong back, look into Earthships. These are homes that can be made with dirt and old tires. They have been designed to use water sparingly. You can find them in New Mexico, not far from Taos.

In an emergency, you may need to depend on surface water. Know where the closest, available to you, surface water is located. Have a plan to clean it. Boiling is a tried and true approach to killing biological contaminants. If you Google “water filters”, a number of options will appear. Do some research and decide which one will work best for you.

National and International needs

Wars in the future may occur due to water shortages. This is completely unnecessary. We live on a water planet. There is plenty of water. We just need to be smart about obtaining and cleaning it.

Parts of Africa experience famines because there is not enough available water for agriculture. There are huge aquifers of water in Africa which could be tapped and would provide plenty of water for agriculture. Failure to develop these resources is a disgrace.

The United States is largely desert. Most of our population is in the non-desert areas.
Los Angeles would be a desert if water wasn’t pumped in from the outside. Watch “Chinatown” for a lesson in what happens to people who ask too many questions about where that water comes from. The Colorado River is being drained dry to provide water to American cities it passes near. Watch the Mexican movie “Sleep Dealer” to see the effects of the various American Colorado River projects on Mexican agriculture.

Fortunately, the North American desert is right next to a huge source of water, the Pacific Ocean. We know how to desalinate ocean water and make it fit for drinking and agriculture. Unfortunately, there are complete idiots stopping this from happening (Poseidon desalination project is rejected, Los Angeles Times, May 12, 2022). Los Angeles is going to dry up and blow away if they don’t get their act together. I know I shouldn’t ask why. “Forget it, Monotreme. It’s Chinatown”, right?

Australia is sensibly building desalination plants. They have to, or they are toast (with or without vegemite).

You know, it would be possible to build really big desalination plants and create really big water pipelines to make many of the world’s desserts bloom. We have the technology. We need the energy. Solar can help and is appropriate. However, to do the really, really big projects I’m thinking of, we need nuclear power, best of all would be fusion power. I’ll write about Energy in a future blog.

Interplanetary water needs

Just for fun.