5 ms·

Discharging >40% of the freshwater usage in a country to the open ocean is not a 'small' anecdote.

by sidewndr46 3y ago

Vvector 3y ago
Instead of discharging into the ocean, could it be used for drinking water?
- sidewndr46 3y ago
  That was proposed but rejected by the government.
  - rootusrootus 3y ago
    It looks to be a fairly long ways from major cities, is that why?
    - below43 3y ago
      That is correct. It's located in one of the most remote areas of New Zealand, and a very long way from cities with a decent population.
- treis 3y ago
  Can't do that and generate power. You'd spent all (or at least a lot) of the generated energy pumping the water where it needs to go.
rdlw 3y ago
It's a large amount of water but the anecdote itself is only ~32cm² on my screen :)
- codetrotter 3y ago
  > the anecdote itself is only ~32cm² on my screen This comment reminded me of a cute tool I used to have installed back in the WinXP days called "Screen Calipers". It was a super sweet tool. 100% skeumorphic :D http://www.iconico.com/caliper/ http://www.iconico.com/caliper/
ComputerGuru 3y ago
What percentage of a non-negligible amount of fresh water pumped/dumped into the ocean is returned to the freshwater ecosystem/loop given, say, 10 years?
- colechristensen 3y ago
  Plenty of places can do this with essentially zero environmental impact. If it rains a lot and the rain came from ocean evaporation and the natural water route was a big river quickly back to the ocean, you can pretty harmlessly divert a portion through hydroelectric. Not everywhere is the American west where it doesn’t rain a lot and water sources are being used way past their capacity.
phire 3y ago
The lake is in a reasonably remote part of the country, in an area with exceptional high rainfall. Plenty of other sources of water. Most of that fresh water was going to flow out into the ocean anyway, this just sends it via a more direct route. The longer route (which actually flows next to the farm my mum grew up on) doesn't even go near a major population centre. The largest town (Tuatapere) has a population of 500 people.

Discharging >40% of the freshwater usage in a country to the open ocean is not a 'small' anecdote.

Vvector 3y ago

Instead of discharging into the ocean, could it be used for drinking water?

sidewndr46 3y ago
That was proposed but rejected by the government.
- rootusrootus 3y ago
  It looks to be a fairly long ways from major cities, is that why?
  - below43 3y ago
    That is correct. It's located in one of the most remote areas of New Zealand, and a very long way from cities with a decent population.
treis 3y ago
Can't do that and generate power. You'd spent all (or at least a lot) of the generated energy pumping the water where it needs to go.

rdlw 3y ago

It's a large amount of water but the anecdote itself is only ~32cm² on my screen :)

codetrotter 3y ago
> the anecdote itself is only ~32cm² on my screen This comment reminded me of a cute tool I used to have installed back in the WinXP days called "Screen Calipers". It was a super sweet tool. 100% skeumorphic :D http://www.iconico.com/caliper/ http://www.iconico.com/caliper/

ComputerGuru 3y ago

What percentage of a non-negligible amount of fresh water pumped/dumped into the ocean is returned to the freshwater ecosystem/loop given, say, 10 years?

colechristensen 3y ago
Plenty of places can do this with essentially zero environmental impact. If it rains a lot and the rain came from ocean evaporation and the natural water route was a big river quickly back to the ocean, you can pretty harmlessly divert a portion through hydroelectric. Not everywhere is the American west where it doesn’t rain a lot and water sources are being used way past their capacity.

phire 3y ago

The lake is in a reasonably remote part of the country, in an area with exceptional high rainfall. Plenty of other sources of water. Most of that fresh water was going to flow out into the ocean anyway, this just sends it via a more direct route. The longer route (which actually flows next to the farm my mum grew up on) doesn't even go near a major population centre. The largest town (Tuatapere) has a population of 500 people.