Desalination of Ocean Water

Desalination: Drink a Cup of Seawater? By: Howard Perlman 3/9/12

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/drinkseawater.html

Picture:

This picture shows the process of desalination. This what goes on to make seawater drinkable. There are many of desalination plants in the world.

Summary:

Humans are only able to drink fresh water. However, out of the water in the world only 3% of it is fresh water. Soon there will be no longer any fresh water in the world and there needs to be another source of water we can drink. This issue will affect our population and world stability. Fortunately, there is a solution which is making salt water drinkable for humans. This process is called desalination. 

97% of the world is made up of salt water and that is plenty of water to last a very long time. To be exact the ocean water contains 35,000 ppm (parts per million) of salt. It may seem like desalination is a new process but it was actually used long ago when people would travel using ships. We just upgraded their way of doing it. Now we have factories for it. The factories actually use a similar version of the hydrologic cycle. Water evaporates from lakes, rivers, streams, and other surface water from the sun and is turned into water vapor where it interacts with cool air. This makes it re-condense and make rain. That is what is tried to be duplicated in factories. In 2002 there were 12,500 desalination plants in the world. This shows that we've taken some action to try to prevent from having no fresh water to drink. There places in the world that are considered major users of desalination which are the Middle East and North Africa. The Middle East has 70% of the worlds population and North Africa has 6%. With more than 76% of the world using desalinated water, it should not be long before more starts to use it.

Opinion/Reflection:

I did not know that there was more than 76% of the world using desalinated water. I honestly didn't realize how severe of a problem this was. It would be scary if there was no more fresh water in the world and I hope that day never comes. I also didn't know that there is desalination in the hydrologic cycle. A lot of this information is new to me and gives me a new insight on the availability of our drinking water. I hope that desalination doesn't lead to any problems. If this is what we need to have fresh water I am all for it. 

Questions:

1. Do you think desalination could lead to any future issues? Explain.

2. What do you think would happen if there was no longer any fresh water?

3. How much of a problem is the availability of fresh water to you? Explain.

4. Do you feel this is a waste of money? Why?

Unsafe school water

School Drinking Water Unsafe

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-204_162-5338720.html

 

Picture:  To the left the picture is taken in Cauchero of 2 bowls of water.  The bowl to the left is the school water and the water to the right is bottles water.  You can see how the bottled water is much clearer then the school water. 

Summary:  In the last decade, the drinking waters at many schools across the country have had unsafe levels of lead, pesticides and dozens of other toxins.  An Associates Press investigated both private and public schools in every state in the U.S. and found that contaminants have surfaced in small towns and inner cities alike.  Most of the appearances of contaminants occur at schools that have their own water wells but this is 8 to 11 percent of schools all around the nation.  About every 1 and 5 schools with their own drinking water have violated the Safe Drinking Water Act in the past decade, according to the data from the Environmental Protection Agency analyzed by the AP.  Some schools in California with their own wells have such contaminated water from pesticides that children stuff their backpacks with water bottles so they don’t have to drink from the water fountains from fear of getting sick.  But not only schools with wells have contaminants, but schools that draw water from public utilities, in schools with lead-soldered pipes, and schools that get water from local utilities.  All of these can also be very hazardous and can contaminate the water.   This also affects children much more than it would to adults.  The contaminants found in the water is especially dangerous to the children because children need more water per pound than adults and they are much more vulnerable to the substances and the substances will have a much more hazardous effect on them.  The water in 100 school districts and 2,250 schools breached the federal safety standards.

Opinion/Reflection:  After reading this article it really shocked me.  I never knew that there could be so much contaminants in the water I drink every day and that is very concerning.  To know that the water in our schools might not be safe for us is scary.  When learning that they have conducted research is all 50 states and finding contaminants in the waters for each state is very awful and something needs to be done about it.  This is a very personal topic for me and I can really relate to it because I go to school every day and drink the water there and never thought twice about it.  But now after reading this article it made me much more cautious to drink the water and now I will be much more hesitant to drink it.  I hope soon they will eradicate this problem so that parents and children won’t have to worry about getting sick from the water.

Questions:

1.        Do you think this problem will ever be fixed?  Why?

2.       Do you think there is enough being done to prevent the contaminants getting in the water?

3.       After reading this article has it made you more hesitant to drink the water in your school?  Why?

4.       Why do you think this problem hasn’t been taken care of before?



Contaminated Water-Corey Milewski

1.8 billion people still drinking contaminated water
By: ANI
Published On: March 24, 2012
URL for article: http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2012/03/24/319-1-8-bln-people-still-drinking-contaminated-water.html

Picture: This is a picture of a person that is drinking contaminated water. 

Summary: At the University of North Carolina they have done research on peoples drinking water. They believe that more people are drinking contaminated water then headlines suggests. A goal was launched to improve drinking water but UNC's study has estimated that about 1.8 billion people still consume contaminated water. This number is over 1 billion more people that headlines mentions. People think that if water is coming from an improved source it is clean, but by the time they drink that water it will be contaminated. Out of 5.8 people that have water from pipes UNC's study estimates that 1 billion people are still receiving contaminated water. A lot of water sources have been improved but a lot more has to be done. 

Opinion: I have never thought about what is in the water I am drinking. After reading this I am shocked to see how many people are consuming contaminated water. I always walk to my sink and get a glass of water but I never stop and think if its clean. This article made me think if my tap water is clean. I think it is good that people are trying to improve water sources and I hope to see that number go down. This article opened my mind to a different issue in the United States. 

Questions: 

1. Do you think this issue needs to be taken care of soon? why? 

2. Have you ever asked yourself about the water you are drinking? what were your thoughts? 

3. What do you think drinking contaminated water can do to you in the future? explain. 

Clean Drinking Water-Jen Cader

http://allafrica.com/stories/201203211311.html

Picture: This is a picture of two boys from Africa drinking the only clean water that is available to them.

Summary: There are more than 800 million people worldwide that do not have access to clean drinking water. Over 200 million women have wasted hours upon hours each day collecting as much clean drinking water they can. Both the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and The Coca-Cola Company are trying their hardest to find new ways to supply clean drinking water to the millions that lack it each day. Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are improving the way less fortunate live by investing in clean water and sanitation. This leads the improvements in health, school attendance, productivity and entrepreneurship for children in Africa and other third-world countries. $793 million has been invested into WASH projects by the MCC in nine countries. This investment obviously demonstrates the demand for clean drinking water if they are spending that much money on it. MCC CEO, Daniel Yohannes says, “There is a link between MCC’s mission to reduce poverty through economic growth and our commitment to expand access to water and sanitation for the world’s poor. The bottom line is that improved access to clean water and reliable sanitation improves lives. We can’t afford not to invest in water and sanitation. True to the MCC principle of country-owned, led-, designed-, and implemented development solutions, more and more of our partners worldwide are seeking investments in water and sanitation.”

Opinion/Reflection: I think the fact that there are more than 800 million people in the world that do not have access to clean drinking water is a very appalling statistic. To think that someone could go through their day without a drink of clean water is very sad. Many Americans do not live like this, and I am grateful, but it is awful that people have to live like that. Although people do live like this, there are always people willing to help. What MCC and The Coca-Cola Company did to help these people was very kind. It is crazy to think that MCC spent $793 million on investments into the WASH project. This really goes to show the need for clean water in other areas of the world.

Questions:

1. Do you think you would put all of your time and effort into helping people who lack clean drinking water?

2. Why aren’t we informed about this in the media very often because it is clearly a big issue?

3. What are some ways you can help people who lack clean drinking water?

4. Do you think this could happen to America soon?  Why or why not?

Mercury In Water

 

Mercury Found in Fish From San Francisco water Supply

By: Kelly Zito

July 7th 2010

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/06/MNU41E4CR4.DTL

Summary: At Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir in San Francisco, the dangerous toxic was found in a fish that they were testing. This is very dangerous because this reservoir supplies drinking water to citizens. Mercury can cause development issues and brain, lung and kidney problems. They tested 300 fishing lakes in California and 21% of the lakes contained at least one fish with mercury inside it's body. Many of the lakes in California, such as Almaden Lake, have fish with mercury in their body and it is very dangerous for people to eat the fish they catch. Some people believe that the mercury is coming from the coal-fired plants in China. These are major sources of mercury pollution. Scientists are doing their best to reduce the mercury levels in these waterways. 

Reflection: This article surprised me very much. I think scientists should have already known about the harmful toxin because it is very dangerous and is harming many citizens. The one think that really stood out to me was that China is producing this mercury. They need to be more careful about what they are doing because it is getting into public waterways. Also, it surprised me that 21% of the lakes contained mercury. I really hope that the mercury in the water begins to reduce so we don't have to worry about it anymore.

1. Do you think it is all China's fault that there is mercury in the water? Why?

2. Do you think the scientists are doing enough to stop this? 

3. What can people do to try and reduce the mercury in lakes?

Extinction

Study: Oysters becoming extinct worldwide

http://www.naturalnews.com/031506_oysters_extinction.html

Picture:

This picture shows how many oysters are being caught and harvested.  But this is happening all over the world driving oysters to extinction.

Summary:
Oyster habitats all around the world are disappearing at a rapid rate.  The reason they are dying is because of overharvesting and the spread of diseases.  Oysters population use to be 70% in bays and 63% in ecoregions but now oyster reefs are at less than ten percent of their prior abundance.  A research team studied 144 areas around the world where oysters were predominantly found.  Not only did they find that the oyster populations were decreasing at a horrific rate but the reefs where they lived were damaged or destroyed.  According to Dr. Michael Beck from UCSC, if something is not done to stop the overharvesting of oysters, then they could become completely extinct within a generation.  Oysters are keystone species in their ecosystems.  They scavenge pollution and other contaminants from water and without oysters, aquatic ecosystems everywhere will be compromised and could possibly be permanently altered.  But not only are the beneficial for their ecosystems but to us as well.  They are a food source for us and a source of employment for people who live near the oyster reefs.  Oysters are a vital part to our environment so they must be saved!

Opinion/Reflection:  

I was very surprised about how great the importance of oysters is.  Without oysters many ecosystems around the world could collapse.  But something really needs to be done about this.  Not only do we need to save the oysters but look at the bigger picture.  Obviously we are doing something wrong because many species around the world are going extinct because of our greediness.  We need to become more aware of our environment because by the looks of everything, we are not doing a very good job preserving them.  We need to stop being so self centered and start trying to help the environment and save it.  If we don’t change our actions soon all of our environments will be destroyed.

Questions:

      1.       Why do you think people continue to harm the environment even though they know the consequences?

2.       Why don’t we hear about extinction of animals in the news?

3.       If oysters go extinct, what could happen to ecosystems and people?

Extinction

Humans driving extinction faster than species can evolve, say experts by Juliette Jowit guardian.co.uk Sunday 7 March 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/mar/07/extinction-species-evolve

                                                                                                                                           

Picture: This animal is just one of a few animals who are becoming extinct. The animal in this picture is a kouprey and is threaten of becoming extinct because of hunting, diease, its habit was taken over and other factors. This shows how humans are impacting the chances of species becoming extinct.

Summary: Humans have taken over the world and in the process of doin so they have impacted the different species that live on this earth. Humans are taking species' land, hunting species, and not caring about them. If this continues the world will become close to the "sixth great extinction" of species. Studies have shown that the rate of species becoming extinct is greater than species evolving. This is happening all over the world and needs to stop. Luckily there are new species that are evolved every year that are unknown. Extinction is part of life but it is starting to become a problem.

Reflection: I never realized how big of an impact humans have on species. I hope we find a way to prevent anymore animals from becoming extinct. I personally don't hear that much about animals becoming extinct and this article helped me to realize importance of this topic and that things need to change. I am disappointed to hear that extinction is becoming more common and I definitely hope it comes to an end.

Questions: 

Do you think that humans will ever find a way to come together and prevent extinction?

Do you feel it is right taking species' land to benefit us humans?

What are some things humans can do to prevent extinction?

Do humans need animals or do animals need humans? Why?

Are Humans the main cause of extinction? If not what is?