Water: The Unseen Cost
Saturday, April 19th, 2008
Water is heavily utilized in all forms of electricity generation. In fact the cooling needs of nuclear plants use much more water than even a hydro-electric dam. When you conserve energy you save $$, carbon emissions, and water. Win, win, win…. I like it.
Check out a great article on CNet here.
Posted in Energy, Water | Permalink
Oceans Becoming More Acidic
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
By now you’ve probably heard most of the doomsday scenarios regarding global warming. Temperatures and sea levels are rising, glaciers and ice caps are melting, and shifting weather patterns are wreaking havoc with ways of life that have otherwise changed little for centuries. Climate change has been connected with everything from water-rights squabbles to failing crops to an increasing prevalence of malaria and dengue fever. Some scientists have speculated that these scenarios may be avoided by sequestering greenhouse gases in large bodies of water, but this short-sighted approach begs the question: what exactly are these emissions doing to our oceans?
“Ocean acidification” was a hot topic at the recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). According to researchers, our oceans have lower pH levels now than at any point in the last 40 million years, and at the present rate these levels will drop by another .3 units by the end of the century. This is due to the chemical reactions that result when carbon dioxide is dissolved in water, forming carbonic acid. Over the long term, this process could affect the food chain in significant ways. First, many organisms will not grow as large or will produce fewer offspring, as increased levels of CO2 render respiration and other physiological processes less efficient. Also, the absorption of greenhouse gases is likely to create dead-zones at some depths where the CO2-oxygen ratios are too low to support life. This is apparently already happening and is somewhat similar to the poisonous volcanic crater lakes that exist in central Africa, where high levels of CO2 and other gases are kept at the lake bottom due to water pressure — until something stirs up the water, leading to the release of noxious plumes that can have lethal, large-scale consequences, such as the 1700 people killed in Cameroon in 1986.
It is unlikely that the presence of such dead-zones in the oceans will present any significant danger to human populations, except in that such zones will lower the productivity of the ecosystem, affecting subsistence fishermen and others who rely on the sea for their sustenance and livelihood. But there is one more way in which ocean acidification could have serious consequences. Shellfish, coral and echinoderms may not be able to form their exoskeletons, as the calcium carbonate on which they depend dissolves during carbonic acid formation. One researcher referred to the massive volcanic explosions at the end of the Permian period 250 million years ago which caused oceanic pH levels to change suddenly, leading to the extinction of 90% of oceanic species, particularly those that make shells from calcium carbonate. Another researcher, looking into the combined effects of acidification and temperature increase, conducted experiments on purple sea urchins that replicated the ecological conditions that will exist in 2100 if emissions levels continue unabated. Her results indicated that the urchins had to work up to three times harder to create their shells, and that these shells were often deformed.
All this goes to show that you can’t simply shrug off greenhouse gases by pumping them underwater.
Posted in Art, Global Warming, Technology, Waste, Water | Permalink
Thirsty Biofuels
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Water, which is already in trouble for droughts around the country, has been shown to be a huge ingredient in the production of biofuels. In a recent study by scientist Michael Webber at University of Texas, he found biofuels to use from 40 to 130 times more water per gallon than gasoline, mostly from the water needed for irrigation. It’s just another of the many complicated factors as we try to improve our energy portfolio and make it safer for future generations.
From Treehugger
Posted in Biofuel, Water | Permalink
Heading For Cleaner Waters
Friday, February 1st, 2008 Though the vote on the electronics recycling bill was pushed back by another week or two, the City Council did manage to pass another important piece of environmental legislation this week. Intro 630 calls for “developing and implementing a sustainable stormwater management plan.” Here’s one relevant part:Source control strategies that decrease the amount of stormwater entering the wastewater treatment system are valuable tools to reduce the occurrence and volume of CSOs and other stormwater discharges. Effective source control strategies also provide other benefits, such as decreased energy consumption and economic benefits associated with supporting local markets for source control strategies. The Council finds that the development and implementation of a sustainable stormwater management plan is vital to improve water quality in the City and thereby better protect the public health through the restoration and protection of the ecological health of the City’s waterbodies and to the enhanced use and enjoyment of the City’s waterbodies for recreational activities.
Among the strategies to be considered in drawing up the plans are green roofs, permeable pavement, cisterns and rain barrels, and tree/vegetative cover. This is all great news for the city and its waterways, which currently absorb up to 27 billion gallons of untreated waste water each year via CSOs. It’s also great news for beaches and other water-based recreational opportunities as part of the plan will include a more comprehensive system of warnings to protect public health when CSOs do happen.
Of course, legislation like this doesn’t happen without the hard work of a lot of dedicated people, in this case the folks at the S.W.I.M. coalition. Congratulations to them for everything they did to get this legislation passed.
For more information on water resources, check out our East River resource page. And if you haven’t already, take a look at our plans for Solar 2, which will include many water-saving and recycling techniques.
Posted in East River, Legislation, Pollution, Water | Permalink
Gateway National Park Thinking About a Redesign
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008
Gateway National Park… Ever been there? It’s one of the largest urban national parks, but a full half of New Yorkers don’t even know it’s there. It stretches around much of Queens and Brooklyn along the waterfront, as well as parts of Staten Island. Chronically underfunded, but culturally significant, Gateway is headed for a redesign. The National Parks Conservation Association is showcasing five of the competing design ideas and asking you to vote on them and submit comments. All the comments will then be given to the National Parks Service on January 31. Some of the designs have new ideas about water, some, new ideas about land. All take an advanced approach to materials used, native plants, and the usual.
Posted in Native Plants, New York City, Water | Permalink
A waterless urinal for the holidays
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007
Prod your boss to get the office a present this holiday: a waterless urinal. (I know, I know…ewww! But hold on one second,) Waterless urinals eliminate the most unsanitary part of the bathroom–standing water. By utilizing the fact that oil always floats on water, and they never mix, the devices use sanitary, clean smelling oils to push urine down the drain and keep the room smelling fresh. Far from dirty-hippy toilets, waterless urinals and low-water, high pressure toilets are clean modern products, and evidence suggests that they help stop the spread of bacteria.
Posted in Products, Water | Permalink
Closing the loop on wastewater
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 Though recent rains may have provided some drought relief in the Southeast, parched conditions still exist in Southern California and the conditions there may get worse as the combination of weather and growing populations put the squeeze on already tight water supplies. For those reasons, and others, Orange County is about the embark on a quest to purify sewer water to the tune of 70 million gallons per day in an attempt to replenish aquifers and “form a barrier against seawater intruding on groundwater sources.”Though state law prevents the treated waste water from flowing directly into the taps of Southern California homes, the hope is that the replenished groundwater will be able to accommodate current needs and the needs of the projected 500,000 additional people who will live in the county by 2020. And while the treatment process leaves the resulting liquid “as pure as distilled water,” there are those who question how clean the processes can really make the water. Never mind that testing it seems like it would be a very simple way to find out just how clean it is, or that the same people skeptical of the science involved might never bother to question other contaminants that they come into contact with every day like the pesticides used to grow the food that we eat.
Part of the water filtration process used in the system
At any rate, it’s nice to see communities taking actions like these, even if dire circumstances are the main instigation for doing so. If this venture succeeds, we hope it will lead to more proactive efforts to manage wastewater in other areas like, say, New York City.
For more details, check out the Groundwater Replenishment System website.
Posted in Pollution, Water | Permalink
100 year drought menaces Southeast
Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
Blame it on global warming.
It’s the obvious modern liberal thing to do, and one never wants to jump to unresearched conclusions, but the more once-in-a-lifetime disasters we have bunched together right when the scientists say they will happen, the harder it is to ignore the urgency to take pressing measures to mitigate climate change.
At the current rate Atlanta will run out of water in 90-120 days. The entire Southeast has a drought unmatched in scale by any region in American history. The NYTimes reports on the gravity of the situation and the passionate pleas that public officials are making to get residents to conserve water.
Posted in Global Warming, Sustainability, Water | Permalink
