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If methane makes it into all of our water, can we defend against that? Can we filter it out? I imagine even if we could, other animals will still go extinct, wh

by jfoster 12y ago

If methane makes it into all of our water, can we defend against that? Can we filter it out? I imagine even if we could, other animals will still go extinct, which would disrupt our food chain.

Terr_ 12y ago
> If methane makes it into all of our water It won't, methane doesn't "want" to mix with water anyway, at normal pressures and temperatures any dissolved methane will start to bubble out and float away. > Can we filter it out? It leaves on its own. Most of the time when you're concerned about methane in the water, it's because the water is being pumped up from underground where they were trapped together. The main risk there is explosions or fires if your equipment doesn't bleed off the methane safely. > I imagine even if we could, other animals will still go extinct, which would disrupt our food chain. Whoah, no, no no... you're thinking of something very different from methane, like perhaps heavy-metal contamination. Methane isn't toxic unless there's a ridiculous amount pumped into a room. [Corrected: Odorless] Most animals generate some methane when digesting things. TLDR: Nope, the issues with methane are going to be the climate and ozone-layer, not water-supplies.
- nitrogen 12y ago
  Methane is actually odorless, but it is non toxic (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane#Safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane#Safety ). The main risk is combustion.
  - unepipe 12y ago
    Additionally, a potentially bigger risk is if there is a massive methane release event, it could drastically accelerate global warming. Methane traps up to 100x more heat in the atmosphere than an equivalent amount of CO2 (over a 5 year period) and 72x more heat over a 20 year period Source: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/methane-vs-carbon-dioxide-a-greenhouse-gas-showdown/ http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/methane-vs-ca...
hurin 12y ago
Anaerobic bacteria for treating waste-water will actually produce methane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic_digestion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic_digestion) - this can be harnessed and used as a low-cost energy source. For drinking water aeration is probably sufficient to deal with methane content (but I don't think it's necessary very often). Methane derivatives on the other-hand are known to be dangerous and can form as by products of disinfection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trihalomethane http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trihalomethane.

by jfoster 12y ago

If methane makes it into all of our water, can we defend against that? Can we filter it out? I imagine even if we could, other animals will still go extinct, which would disrupt our food chain.

Terr_ 12y ago

> If methane makes it into all of our water It won't, methane doesn't "want" to mix with water anyway, at normal pressures and temperatures any dissolved methane will start to bubble out and float away. > Can we filter it out? It leaves on its own. Most of the time when you're concerned about methane in the water, it's because the water is being pumped up from underground where they were trapped together. The main risk there is explosions or fires if your equipment doesn't bleed off the methane safely. > I imagine even if we could, other animals will still go extinct, which would disrupt our food chain. Whoah, no, no no... you're thinking of something very different from methane, like perhaps heavy-metal contamination. Methane isn't toxic unless there's a ridiculous amount pumped into a room. [Corrected: Odorless] Most animals generate some methane when digesting things. TLDR: Nope, the issues with methane are going to be the climate and ozone-layer, not water-supplies.

nitrogen 12y ago
Methane is actually odorless, but it is non toxic (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane#Safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane#Safety ). The main risk is combustion.
- unepipe 12y ago
  Additionally, a potentially bigger risk is if there is a massive methane release event, it could drastically accelerate global warming. Methane traps up to 100x more heat in the atmosphere than an equivalent amount of CO2 (over a 5 year period) and 72x more heat over a 20 year period Source: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/methane-vs-carbon-dioxide-a-greenhouse-gas-showdown/ http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/methane-vs-ca...

hurin 12y ago

Anaerobic bacteria for treating waste-water will actually produce methane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic_digestion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic_digestion) - this can be harnessed and used as a low-cost energy source. For drinking water aeration is probably sufficient to deal with methane content (but I don't think it's necessary very often). Methane derivatives on the other-hand are known to be dangerous and can form as by products of disinfection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trihalomethane http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trihalomethane.