On Tue, Jul 03, 2007 at 12:35:30PM -0700, Gar Lipow wrote:
> On 7/3/07, Gar Lipow <the.typo.boy at gmail.com> wrote:
> > But I take your point: there are lot of industrial products that can
> > be made from salt. Don't know how the demand would match to the
> > amount of byproduct of really massive desalinization.
> >
>
> And having done some quick math -- if we produced a high percentage of
> U.s. water supply from desalinization, waste salt would be hundreds of
> time all current salt consumption including industrial uses. If for
> example one quarter of our current water consumption was produced from
> desalinization, about 2.5 percent of the salt produced as a by-product
> would supply 100% of U.S. consumption. And the affect on sea life in
> withdrawing huge amounts of water is not trivial either. I'm not
> saying either the withdrawal or salt disposal are insoluable. I'm just
> saying that if desalinization were to supply a non-trivial fraction of
> our water both are real problems that would have to be dealt, and
> dealing with them properly would add to the cost. Desalinization costs
> are now down to 600-800 per acre foot. But both both uptake and salt
> disposal at that price tends to either be done in unsustainable ways
> (simply dealing inadequately with those problems) or makes use of
> special opportunities that simply would scale up. I suspect that
> *sustainable* desalinization on a large scale would cost more in
> $1,000 per acre foot range. Water is more precious than gold of
> course, but obviously this makes it the last choice -- after
> efficiency means have reduced consumption, and after extensive
> rainwater capture is instituted, since water conserving irrigation,
> water efficient appliances, and cisterns all save or produce water
> much less expensively than this.
>
> I still think substantial desalinization will be needed. Between our
> current unsustainable mining of the water table, and disruption of our
> water supply by climate chaos, I doubt efficiency and rainwater
> capture alone will supply our future needs.
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-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu michaelperelman.wordpress.com