Coastal California City Turns to Desalination to Quench its Thirst
Larry Greenemeier
Scientific American
April 7, 2010
Summary:
A new desalination plant was installed a few years
ago in California to open the Pacific Ocean as a new source of water for them
to drink. Thankfully, the water that it draws from is only “brackish” which
means it is not quite as salty as sea water. The plant uses four wells (but
only two at a time) and first runs the water through a sand aquifer to purify
it. Then, the water is boiled so that the water evaporates and leaves the salt
behind. This process is called reverse osmosis. Although parts of this process
are controversial, it is generally helping the people of California attain
their fresh water needs.
(Graphic
shows reverse osmosis)
Opinion:
I think this news is great, but at the same time,
rather startling. It’s wonderful that we know how to convert salt water to
fresh water, because this process could save lives, but at the same time, it’s
actually really scary that as Americans (who are usually so focused on saving
money), we need to put so much of our time and money into finding clean water.
If this is such a big priority, it could mean that our fresh water levels are
decreasing rapidly. In class, we tried to desalinate water in a lab, and although
I know it was relatively easy for most people, my partner and I were having
some trouble with it. I could never imagine using that process as the only way
to obtain fresh water, since every other source is unusable.
Questions:
1. If the situation ever became
bad enough, do you think desalination could produce enough water for the entire
population of the earth?
2. Instead of the entire
planet, do you think desalination is a good choice for smaller areas, such as
towns or states? Why?
3. Thinking back to the fresh
water lab we did in class, do you think desalination is a very effective way to
obtain fresh water? Why or why not? Would it be more effective if you were
using a greater volume of water?
Answer Questions:
ReplyDelete1. If the situation ever became bad enough, do you think desalination could produce enough water for the entire population of the earth?
There definitely is enough salt water to support the entire earth, but I don’t think desalination would be quick enough for every drop of water we use to come from a desalination source. Also, many countries can’t afford to desalinate all of the salt water. Desalination would not produce enough freshwater quick enough for it to be the sole source of ALL of our water.
2. Instead of the entire planet, do you think desalination is a good choice for smaller areas, such as towns or states? Why?
I definitely think this is a good idea for towns or states. Especially states on the east or west coast with miles and miles of shorelines. Even if some towns used only a small percent of desalinated water every day it would help towards conserving fresh water. Also, specific towns or states would be able to see the impact of the desalination on a closer scale, so they would see the good impacts it has.
3. Thinking back to the fresh water lab we did in class, do you think desalination is a very effective way to obtain fresh water? Why or why not? Would it be more effective if you were using a greater volume of water?
It was definitely a tedious process, even though it was effective. However, there were such wide areas for mistakes and things to go wrong and the water may not have come out 100% pure. I believe it would be much more effective on a larger scale and it would most likely not be man operated. The equipment they might use in desalination plants is probably a lot more high tech than a test tube and a bunson burner! A greater volume of water would probably represent any results better and be overall more effective.
Expand with a New Link:
ReplyDeletehttp://featured.matternetwork.com/2009/3/california-water-problems-reflect-global.cfm
This article relates to the above article because it talks about lack of clean water in California and all over the world. This lack of clean water is affecting millions of civilians all over the world, whether it be in everyday life or in battles or wars overseas. It affects everyone, because clean water is necessary for survival. With this problem of lack of clean water, many intelligent minds are trying to find plausible solutions. We need solutions to this problem because as the climate gradually increases due to global warming, the ocean waters will rise and eventually flow into clean lakes or rivers. Then, if that were to happen the only way to make it clean would be expensive, like the article above, it would be desalination. But, some solutions as of now include filtration systems.
Opinion:
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea. We don't have much drinking water, so this is great that they are making drinkable water out of salt water. I think more places around the world should build places like this that can create more drinking water for people. The only problem that I could see with this plan is that it may take a lot of energy to do. If it does not take that much energy, then it would be brilliant to take this idea and make places all over the place that do this.
Questions:
1. Do you think they will build other plants that make drinking water?
2. Do you think this would be efficient or a waste of time and resources? Explain.
3. It seems like this would take a long time, do you agree?
I sent an email to Mrs. Liz Heinecke. Mrs. Heinecke is an Earth Ambassador for NASA and works with the Science Museum of Minnesota to educate the public about climate change. She also has a website, http://kitchenpantryscientist.com, and on there posts different science experiments, some of which we have done in class (elodea with photosynthesis and respiration). She is an active poster and seems extremely committed to her website and happy with what she does. I wrote this to her when I invited Mrs. Heinecke to visit our blog:
ReplyDeleteDear Mrs. Keinecke,
My name is Madison Dall, and I am a ninth grade student taking Environmental Science right now at a high school in Pennsylvania. As of now we are learning about the hydrosphere. Myself and a few other classmates have set up a blog in which we share articles and questions relating to what we are studying and learning about in class. Being a science expert yourself, it would mean so much to me if you commented or shared your thoughts on our current post about a California city using a desalination plant for their water at our science blog, Brainy Bloggers 101. I visited your website, which I find so admirable being that you put so much time and thought into it. I enjoyed reading your posts and science experiments (we have done a few of the science experiments you posted too!) and hope you will be able to analyze, comment, and give your scientific advice on the latest blog post on my classmate’s blog and mine, even if it means taking a minute out of your day. You can comment on the blog at http://brainybloggers101.blogspot.com/2013/04/coastal-california-city-turns-to.html#comment-form. Thank you so much for your time and I hope to be able to read your thoughts in the near future.
All the best,
Madison
Desalination has potential to help with the fresh water shortages we are currently experimenting and those that lie ahead. The problem with having to boil the water lies in the fact that you have to burn fossil fuels to heat water, and that burning fossil fuels contributes to climate change. Climate change itself may be a contributing factor in drought throughout the world, so desalination by boiling may be exacerbating the fresh water supply problem.
ReplyDelete