Water, Water, Everywhere

I’ve put off writing this post for a week now. I’m afraid it will expose me as an environmental nutcase.

Cousin Kyle posed the question, “Does water get worn out and is not replaced? Does it disappear completely or only temporarily?

Little did he know that he was setting me off on a rant about water.

I had a hunch that the earth has a finite amount of water and it proved to be correct. In other words, no new water is being created. Our water is constantly being recycled. [1}

Water is becoming scarcer, principally because human beings are using it in so many ways. This is due to the sheer number of people in the world – seven billion and counting. We use water not only domestically, but also agriculturally, and industrially, leaving an enormous amount of water unusable in the future. Think of the wastewater from fracking, which is so contaminated it must be treated and the remains pumped deep underground. [2] Think of agricultural runoff water laced with pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer that contaminate our streams, rivers, and lakes. Monsanto’s herbicide is showing up in human breast milk. [3] All of these uses threaten our drinking water. [3]

And don't get me started on bottled water! The manufacture of the plastic containers for this water require as much as three liters of water per half-liter bottle, far more water than the bottle can contain. [5]

I’ve tried to be dispassionate and rational here.  I’ve been called “a nut” before, so it won’t hurt my feelings if this post prompts another backlash. But, I’m tellin’ ya, we better get our act together on water. All life on earth depends on it.

[1} Is there a way water is created or does the Earth have a finite amount?

http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=1378

[2] Fracking practiced by the oil industry use tremendous amounts of water, which flows back out of the well bearing toxic contaminants.

http://www.waterworld.com/articles/wwi/print/volume-28/issue-5/regional-spotlight-us-caribbean/fracking-wastewater-management.html

[3] Threats to drinking water.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/07/opinion/the-threats-to-our-drinking-water.html?emc=edit_ty_20140807&nl=opinion&nlid=14608769&_r=0

[4] Components of Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup has turned up in human breast milk.

http://saferchemicals.org/2014/05/21/roundup-chemical-found-in-breast-milk/

[5] How much water does it take to produce one plastic bottle of water?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/10/28/241419373/how-much-water-actually-goes-into-making-a-bottle-of-water 

Copyright 2014 by Shirley Domer