A recent article in the San Diego Union-Tribune was shocking. It stated that homeowners in the San Diego region will soon experience $400.00 monthly water bills for watering their lawns. Shame on us for continually trying to change the Mohave to Maui one homesite at a time, but it highlights how close we are to water costs first equaling and then passing electricity and natural gas costs not only in San Diego but in the arid US Southwest.
No, we are not running out of water. The supply has remained constant since the beginning of time. What we are short of is water with a potability level to satisfy consumers as well as government regulators. This situation has been made even worse by a population shift to more arid areas and simultaneously a climate shift that promises long-term drought conditions in the very same areas.
It appears that the US will continue to have cold areas with excess water and a declining population sharing the continent with hot, water-scarce areas of population growth. Perhaps technology could be developed that could transport water from a cold area to a warm, sunny area and then utilize solar heat on a portion of it ultimately returning it as steam to the source thus treading water for essentially free energy. Recently, a TIME Magazine writer, while expressing that the climate shift is all global warming caused, ventured that the cure in part could be dramatically downsizing our military and by extension, others also. Could be, but a rather circuitous path for an immediate problem.
Until technology or a radical idea persevere, we must rely on an informed, caring population upping their conservation efforts. One area of water conservation that is overlooked by consumers, businesses, and industries is water wasted by treatment processes such as water softeners and filters. Daily, hundreds of millions of gallons of treatment-process polluted water waste are needlessly dumped down drains to be treated by sewer districts or nature for eventual reuse. Needlessly because too few people are aware of multiple, time-proven technologies for treating water with little or no wasted water. Before purchasing new or renovating older drinking water systems, take the time to talk with an engineer in the water treatment industry and ask for no waste alternatives.
According to a report titled Zero Liquid Discharge System Market Research Report, many major multi-national corporations are embracing the policy of severely minimizing liquid (water) discharge from their facilities. The last reporting year was 2020 when $190.2 million was spent on equipment to minimize discharge. It is reported that in 2026 $10.23 billion will be spent on the effort. The full report is available at www.researchmarkets.com. Conservation certainly will be a significant growth market for water treatment equipment providers who position themselves with contemporary products.
