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While I dont think it will be a non-issue I suspect it will not be that bad, especially for countries with money. There can be better infrastructure build over

While I dont think it will be a non-issue I suspect it will not be that bad, especially for countries with money. There can be better infrastructure build over the medium term, population growth is reducing and politically there seems like immigration reduction. Also countries that haven't in the past like my home of Australia can make big improvements in managing water from those that needed to earlier, half flush toilets, grey water tanks etc. The other big one is agriculture where better market pricing of water can create better allocation and farm location in that way. But maybe with cheap solar we'll see more atmospheric extraction or other modern tech solutions. Definitely dont think its a non-issue but in the scheme of things if feels well within solvable bounds for wealth human innovation. I suspect the biggest issue will be cross boarder water rights where one country is holding/using water before it reaches the next. Good luck with this one....

bobthepanda 6y ago
Water efficiency is one of those things like power efficiency in that it hs come quite a long way and can probably still go further. Some places actually are too efficient with water; sewer systems are often designed to work assuming some sort of minimum flow, and the spread of low flow appliances has started to cause these systems to block up from lack of flow.
- gfxgirl 6y ago
  Sounds like a YC startup idea to me. Small bots that carry waste through the dry sewers. I'm both joking (haha), and I'm not joking (maybe there are tech solutions)
  - bobthepanda 6y ago
    I believe these days a lot of sewer monitoring is robotic, because it's cheaper than sending down humans, they fit in smaller pipes, and it's easier than digging up all the pipes to install cameras that would have to be resistant to sewer conditions. Or at least there seems to be a push for robotics in this general direction: https://phys.org/news/2018-11-robots-sewers-society-millions.html https://phys.org/news/2018-11-robots-sewers-society-millions... I don't know that the solution to the blockages themselves is going to be high-tech (other than attachments to said robots); the current solutions to clear blockages look more or less like poking the blockage with a stick (similar to using a cotton swab for earwax) or hosing it down.
pjc50 6y ago
> politically there seems like immigration reduction This depends entirely on how the water issues are handled between countries. When country X runs out of water, there are going to be millions of refugees to country Y. Look at Yemen for an example.

bobthepanda 6y ago

Water efficiency is one of those things like power efficiency in that it hs come quite a long way and can probably still go further. Some places actually are too efficient with water; sewer systems are often designed to work assuming some sort of minimum flow, and the spread of low flow appliances has started to cause these systems to block up from lack of flow.

gfxgirl 6y ago
Sounds like a YC startup idea to me. Small bots that carry waste through the dry sewers. I'm both joking (haha), and I'm not joking (maybe there are tech solutions)
- bobthepanda 6y ago
  I believe these days a lot of sewer monitoring is robotic, because it's cheaper than sending down humans, they fit in smaller pipes, and it's easier than digging up all the pipes to install cameras that would have to be resistant to sewer conditions. Or at least there seems to be a push for robotics in this general direction: https://phys.org/news/2018-11-robots-sewers-society-millions.html https://phys.org/news/2018-11-robots-sewers-society-millions... I don't know that the solution to the blockages themselves is going to be high-tech (other than attachments to said robots); the current solutions to clear blockages look more or less like poking the blockage with a stick (similar to using a cotton swab for earwax) or hosing it down.

pjc50 6y ago

> politically there seems like immigration reduction This depends entirely on how the water issues are handled between countries. When country X runs out of water, there are going to be millions of refugees to country Y. Look at Yemen for an example.