620 Policy Paper
4/28/2013
Seawater Desalination
Drought is no stranger to the state of California especially is the southern part of the state. California has been a technological creation since the first American settlers starting migrating from the east. It naturally has a semi-arid climate. It was inevitable that prolonged severe drought would occur in such a climatic region from time to time. California has depended on redirecting natural waterways and investing an incredible amount of money into pumping water to Southern California. This is not only a California debacle but a global one as well. According to the World health Organization, 1 billion people do not have access to clean, piped water. A world Resources Institute analysis adds that 2.3 billion people, 41% of Earth’s population, live in water-stressed areas, a number expected to climb to 3.5 billion by 2025. To make matters worse, global population is rising by 80 million a year, and with it the demand for new sources of fresh water (7 pg. 1). Water affects everyone and everything including the economies of both developing and industrialized nations. “The current situation has heightened the need for reliable sources of water, especially in these type of times when there is rationing across the state, “said Paul Shoenberger, assistant general manager with the West Basin Municipal Water District in Carson and chair of a desalination subcommittee for the Association of California Water Agencies. “ Desalination is more available and isn’t linked to rain or snow pack.” The only methods to increase water supply beyond what is available from the hydrological cycle are desalination and water reuse (8).
Ocean-water desalination is the process of removing salt, other ...
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... of films on liquids” (12). What things are larger than 1 Angstrom? A few are bacteria, viruses, organic matters and small planktonic organisms but we will get into this later (1). When the membranes separate two water types, water molecules pass from the less concentrated zone into the more concentrated zone in order to balance ionic forces. To reverse the natural flow of water through the membrane, pressure greater than osmotic pressure has to be applied on the concentrated solution. Providing pressures from 70 to 84 bars, 40 to 60% of seawater or brackish water is converted into fresh water by reverse osmosis. The influent saline solution is divided into two phases. Permeate is the first which is the fresh water free of particulates and dissolved impurities and the second is the concentrate stream which is brine enriched with suspended and dissolved solids (1).
The California water drought has been declared a crisis by the governor of California. 2013 was the driest year on record, and California could be running out of water. Californians should be water wise, and their use, or no use, of water will have an enormous impact on this drought. They can use the techniques published in a recent Time article called, 5 Ways to Bust California’s Drought, to reduce their water use. Landscape techniques, alternate water sources, and the personal conservation of water can reduce the use of water, and can have a positive change on this water crisis.
Before running the test, the depth of the overlaying water inside each core was adjusted to 12.7 cm (5 in). The grid was also adjusted such that the lower surface was 5.08 cm (2 in) above the sediment surface (the grid oscillated between 5.08 and 7.62 cm above the interface).
On the heart (center) of California is a flat area with miles and miles of farms and up to 230 different crops. The central valley agriculture is essential to the United States; it not only delivers almost half of the produce but also helps the economy by also giving more job opportunities (California Department of food and agriculture, 2014). Many families depend on the central valley agriculture to survive economically in the United States. It is a well-known fact that rain and snows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains are a very important element in the central valley. No rain in the central valley can cause many devastating issues to occur quickly. Recently in the year of 2013 California received less rainfall than years before. The small amount of water the central valley is receiving is harming not only to the land but humans and animals as well. It’s destroying the habitats of animals with forest fires caused from the dry spells occurring. The central valley is going through a drought, so much that around this time of year the central valley usually accumulates enough rain for the necessities in the valley, agriculture for example. This year, however, has been different, the central valley hasn’t received enough water and this has caused a drought in the valley. Water is an important element in this world for not only human life, but for the environment in general, a shortage of water supply can bring issues to the environment and those living in it. The central valley holds the largest percent of class one soil, not only that, the valley grows a third of all the produce being grown in the United States, that’s more than 230 crops that are being grown in the central valley. However, this drought isn’t only affecting the resident...
Water is the foundational basis of life on Earth. Ecosystems, society and humans are completely dependent on it, and as the world population continues to grow, there will be more mouths to feed, and those people will need water to continue their daily lives. However, shortages and poor management leads to the destruction of natural habitats and human suffering. Desertification of land in China is ever-increasing, turning green, lush land into desert. However, this is due mainly in part, because of human activity, and global warming (Wang, Yang, Dong, & Zhang, 2009). The United States could experience a crisis similarly to China’s, but for now they have averted such a catastrophe, because of heavy regulation of water. Though there are water shortages in many parts of the world, it is unwise to export water from the Great Lakes to those regions. Two major reasons why diverting the Great Lakes is a terrible idea, one: it allows for waters wars to start on the basis of who is allowed to access it and for commodification purposes. Two, diverting water on such large scales could have cataclysmic effects on the local residents as well as the environment.
“Don’t waste that water! Kids in Africa don’t even have water to drink!” Almost every American has heard this saying before. We have heard this because there are water shortages in third world countries like Africa, as seen in the movie “Blue Gold”. But why have we developed this notion that there are only water shortages in third world countries? When in reality, there is a shortage of water right here in our home country. The Colorado River’s water is high in demand as it serves millions of people, powers industries, and is home to all different kinds of wildlife. The Colorado River will not be able to keep up with the increasing demand of water and soon enough the river will go dry. Organizations like the Colorado River Water Users Association are trying to change the way that the water is used and adjust how it is managed. The Colorado River is drying up and the western states are running out of water, however, public policy is trying to regulate and preserve the Colorado River to make it more sustainable in the future.
California is going through a water crisis. Some of the main problems that led to the water crisis
For about five years California has experienced above average temperatures and a lack of rain. This lack of rain and snowfall has caused California to become increasingly dry, starting arguments over whose right to water is more important and who needs to be more mindful with their use of water. Farming in California truly began during the gold rush when water was redirected to land where food was grown for those looking for gold (Siegler, 2015). The farmers that have stayed on that land now have senior water rights (“Water wars”, 2015). Farmers that settled their land before 1914 are those with senior water rights (Terrell, 2015). Governor Jerry Brown has called for a cut in water use by one-quarter percent to people living
Osmosis Introduction Osmosis is the passage of water from a region of high water concentration through a semi-permeable membrane to a region of low water concentration. The aim of the investigation is to find the variables that affect the rate of osmosis and how they affect the rate of reaction. The variables that affect the rate of reaction of osmosis are, · The surface area of the object, · The concentration of the solution, · Temperature of the experiment Surface area If the surface area of the object is larger then more molecules can pass through the semi-permeable membrane. This will ultimately increase the rate of reaction. [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE][IMAGE] Small surface area Large surface area Concentration
- The nurse’s mistake will increase the saltiness due to the double amount of saline in the bag.
The drought in California as it stands doesn’t seem likely for it to be going away anytime soon and with the chance that it could last so long that it could turn into a what is categorized as a mega drought the citizens of California are going to need to start taking steps to help lighten the blow of the drought. There are many ways to help prevent the drought from having as devastating of an impact on the state of California. Some of the really simple things the people of California can do to help preserve the water supply are to
Trickling Filters and Membrane Bioreactors are focused on in this paper. Trickling Filters: Trickling Filter (TF) reactors consist of a vertical column packed with biofilm supporting media.
Politics has always been about image. A good image leads to power, it's that simple. Sometimes it is hard to draw the line between a leader who is genuinely interested in improving the lives of his people and one that is interested in filling a few more pages of the already crowded History book. A good example of this is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its transition time between 1953 and 1964. The tyrannical rule of Joseph Stalin in the USSR was finally over, and the nation sought a new leader; after nearly a decade, one man, Nikita Khrushchev, rose up from the ranks with new ideas for the nation, and an extreme anti-Stalin campaign. But was he truly enraged at the way Stalin ruled or was he using this image in an attempt to capture the same power as his predecessor? The link between the two leaders goes back many years, to nearly the beginning of the communist annexation of Russia. Even today, we find ourselves asking if the politicians we vote for say they will make a reform to actually help the people, or if they say it as an empty promise in a ploy to get elected or to gain power. Was Nikita Khrushchev a man for the people, or was he simply a puppet with motives unseen to the people that pulled his strings?
The average human can not live any longer than three days without water. Many of the world’s fresh water sources are running dry or are being contaminated, particularly in developing nations, leaving many without safe water to drink. Only two and a half percent of the Earth’s water is freshwater, and less than one percent is accessible by humans (not tied up in ice caps). This one percent of the Earth’s water supply is expected to sustain a population of over 7 billion people, each needing 2.6 liters a day to remain fully healthy, plus all of the water required for agriculture and industry. These scenarios will only become more and more prevalent as time moves on and we consume more water. The United Nations has classified our planet as being in the midst of a global “water crisis.” Global water supply and shortages are becoming an incredibly real and serious issue, and planning for the future is key to preventing population decline due to a lack of safe drinking water. Shortages of drinking water lead to wars and serious international conflict for basic human survival needs. One of the most popularly and commonly proposed solutions to this problem is to create seawater desalination plants to remove salt from ocean water to make it safe to drink. These water desalination plants, however, are not a viable option to carry us in to the future due to their potentially harmful impacts and expenses.
Water is essential to all life forms and, without it, there would be no life on Earth. Fresh water is precious and limited. People, animals, and crops would die for lack of fresh water. The oceans support many species of plants and animal although we cannot use it without desalination. Studies show that the average American uses 176 gallons of water each day while the average African family uses only four gallons of water ("Water Facts | The Water Information Program"). If we do not limit our water consumption, we will eventually deplete our supply. The earth is seventy percent covered in water, but less than one percent of the world’s existing water source is safe for human consumption. In Southern California, Governor Brown ordered a twenty
Every individual should have access to free potable water; sadly it isn’t true for many. California suffered its worst drought in 1200 plus years in 2013, the mega food corporation was operating plants in the state and harvesting water during the driest year in California’s