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Another idea is desalination plants. There's plenty of water in the world, but most of it is salt water from the oceans, so if we can desalinate it that will g
by pmoriarty 5y ago
Another idea is desalination plants.
There's plenty of water in the world, but most of it is salt water from the oceans, so if we can desalinate it that will go a long way towards solving the water crisis -- particularly in areas near the shore.
It would be interesting to hear what a per-capita price of a gallon of desalinated water would cost, especially when the cost is brought down by having lots of desalination plants all around the world.
- throwaway984393 5y agoRight now desalination is too expensive. I think that we will eventually reach the point where it's necessary regardless of the cost. But I also think we shouldn't bet on them entirely; we should have a much larger water management plan where desalination merely fills gaps rather than provides the bulk of our water. Even if you got desalination cheap enough for local production, transportation would make it even less affordable, so we really need to max out the efficiency of existing watersheds, water tables, and snow melts. And we could further increase efficiency by redirecting water from other parts of the country, the way we (sort of?) do with energy.