California Drought

[jb92563]

Something I've never seen mentioned in CA or other coastal places is the use of a parallel water system for salt water or non-potable water for toilets, etc. in which quality wouldn't matter much, if any.

Use potable fresh water only where needed.

Bruce

I work for a SOCAL water utility and we do have a recycled water available in a parallel system.
Those recycled water customers are for agriculture, golf courses, water parks and some industrial.

It would be cost prohibitive to create a parallel system to service a half million households with recycled water, especially since our revenues from new housing is down.
We will have a hard enough time keeping up with the future water needs if all the open spaces here get subdivisions.

60% of our water comes from the California Aquiduct which is our supply from Northern California, the remainder comes from wells, some of which are very salty due to disolved minerals.

Seems like Ocean water filtration might start looking good if our water costs from the aquaduct keep rising.

Also I noticed a competition for an X-prize on HeroX.com to produce water captured from the air, which may produce some promising technologies.

 

[turnkey4099]

I work for a SOCAL water utility and we do have a recycled water available in a parallel system.
Those recycled water customers are for agriculture, golf courses, water parks and some industrial.

It would be cost prohibitive to create a parallel system to service a half million households with recycled water, especially since our revenues from new housing is down.
We will have a hard enough time keeping up with the future water needs if all the open spaces here get subdivisions.

60% of our water comes from the California Aquiduct which is our supply from Northern California, the remainder comes from wells, some of which are very salty due to disolved minerals.

Seems like Ocean water filtration might start looking good if our water costs from the aquaduct keep rising.

Also I noticed a competition for an X-prize on HeroX.com to produce water captured from the air, which may produce some promising technologies.

Water from air? Seems that is stealing moisture that would hit the ground somewhere downstream, like severa hundred miles or so.

California has to wake up and admit they already have more population than the water supply can handle.

 

[bigdeano]

California has to wake up and admit they already have more population than the water supply can handle.

That's what the wall is for, but I suppose the Cal government doesn't want it.

 

[California]

Wall? At the airport?

"most (53%) of those arriving between 2011 and 2015 came from Asia; only 22% came from Latin America"

Article - origins of California immigrants.

I went looking for numbers on domestic - state to state - immigration but didn't see anything recent.

 

[kloudbuster]

I think he was referring to illegals

 

[California]

I think he was referring to illegals

According to that article a quarter of immigrants already here are undocumented. But the chart above shows Hispanic immigration - both legal and undocumented - has fallen from the large numbers of several years ago. So a wall against Hispanics isn't going to have much effect on demands for water. What we need to solve the water shortage is more people moving from California to other states where the water is. I'm all for that, it's too crowded here.

 

[bcp]

There is no water shortage, there is a people excess.

Bruce

 

[noller9]

Feast or Famine. I noticed more green in the photos on the news of California and the rain. Hopefully you get a break

 

[RedNeckGeek]

It's ridiculous to even hint that the water problems in CA are linked to population. Yes, cities are growing because the climate is still good and the systems can still be gamed if you need support. But the elephant in the room is that the majority of water gets flushed out to sea to keep the snail darter happy and the SF delta at the right salinity, and what goes to the cities is just a drop in the bucket. Then throw in the healthy dose of what agriculture needs to feed the world, and you'll have a much clearer picture of the impossible balancing act that's being attempted.

The bigotry and prejudice being displayed in this thread is shameful. :thumbdown:

 

[dragoneggs]

It's ridiculous to even hint that the water problems in CA are linked to population. Yes, cities are growing because the climate is still good and the systems can still be gamed if you need support. But the elephant in the room is that the majority of water gets flushed out to sea to keep the snail darter happy and the SF delta at the right salinity, and what goes to the cities is just a drop in the bucket. Then throw in the healthy dose of what agriculture needs to feed the world, and you'll have a much clearer picture of the impossible balancing act that's being attempted.

The bigotry and prejudice being displayed in this thread is shameful. :thumbdown:

I'm not disputing your claim but some facts to back up your argument would go a long way in combating the prejudice.