7 ms·
Clean drinking water in cities isn't the default state of affairs. We're all used to it, but we would do well to remember the open sewers and water carrying fro
by acyou 4y ago
Clean drinking water in cities isn't the default state of affairs. We're all used to it, but we would do well to remember the open sewers and water carrying from wells and drinking from lakes, streams and rivers that have prevailed in human history.
Formerly, we wouldn't live in a desert if there wasn't any water. So we drilled deeper wells where the heavy metals are. We also put a lot of heavy metals into watersheds at the surface. As the watershed levels are dropping from drought or heavy draw, that becomes more of an issue.
Water is heavy and expensive to transport, treat and distribute. I don't think it's a simple problem to solve. It's a political issue to be sure, but it wouldn't be a political issue if it wasn't also an extremely difficult logistical issue at its core.
In the long run, it would probably be better for people to live where clean drinking water is readily and easily available. To be clear, that doesn't mean trucking in, treating and desalinization, it means people moving to areas with more rainfall.
- MonkeyMalarky 4y agoA: It feels like society is declining, am I alone in seeing it? Tons of replies: No, we see it too in X, Y, Z ways as well. B: <Specific example highlighting said decline> C: The decline isn't real, people abdicating their responsibilities totally isn't a problem, life has always been shite so quit complaining Sorry, that's just what I see when you reply with: >Clean drinking water in cities isn't the default state of affairs Honestly, I'd say you are gaslighting here because you're trying to convince people that regressing from forward progress isn't a loss. Also, cities and civilization aren't the default state of affairs. There's millennia more of prehistoric time where humans lived in the unforgiving wilderness. Are you suggesting that we are not allowed complain until we're back to living nomadic lives, hunting wild game on the steppes? Like you said, anything better than that isn't the default state of affairs.
- acyou 4y agoDepends on your definition of regression and forward progress. Water in cities isn't basic, it's a difficult problem to solve. It can be so easy to point the finger and say people are abdicating their responsibilities, while offering zero solutions. If you define exponential population growth as forward progress, for instance. Or the status quo of watershed draw and depletion as "forward progress". It has worked well for decades and isn't working anymore. Just because the aquifers are running low does not mean anyone is particularly to blame, or that we have "regressed".