The ghosts of Lake Mead

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The only bad thing I've read about the these toilets is that they can be mechanically troublesome. They seem to work fine when I've used them but they're not all the same. Perhaps following the mantra "If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down" is easier? Lol

They "work". With that said I seriously doubt they do what they're supposed to, which is save water. The one I bought had a pretty complicated valve. It didn't look too easy to replace. Plus it was a one piece bowl and tank. I was glad to be able to walk away from it, instead of repair it. Had we stayed, I would have replaced it with a "normal" toilet.
 
So where is rainfall actually increasing?

We’ve had 15” here in the last 2 weeks in St. Louis, shattering a record.

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It mentions it. But water is water. And in an area where homeowners are being asked to conserve, and install water conserving landscaping, and where future water is in serious question, this hardly seems worthwhile considering those circumstances.
True on the other hand I think there's an economic argument to be made. The Bellagio fountains are one of the primary attractions of the hotel and LV in general as it pertains to tourism. In fact it's such a fixture that surrounding properties are able to charge higher rates for a fountain view. The town of LV is really odd as its growth would not have happened without the Hoover Dam. Just like growth AZ in and SoCal. We're talking billions of USD in investment.
 
True on the other hand I think there's an economic argument to be made. The Bellagio fountains are one of the primary attractions of the hotel and LV in general as it pertains to tourism. In fact it's such a fixture that surrounding properties are able to charge higher rates for a fountain view. The town of LV is really odd as its growth would not have happened without the Hoover Dam. Just like growth AZ in and SoCal. We're talking billions of USD in investment.
All true. Those fountains draw a lot of people with money in their pockets, that most leave in Las Vegas when they go. These sideshows bring in people. Regardless if it's wasted electricity shining the worlds brightest beam into space. (The Luxor). Or the Bellagio's fountains.

It's all become a, "Can you top this?" scenario. Sooner or later something has to break in this whole, "daisy chain in the desert". And when and if those turbines ever stop turning in Hoover Dam, it will all come to a crashing halt.
 
I figured these trillions of gallons vaporizing were indeed condensing elsewhere.

Please return ASAP.
I've often wondered about that. It's not like this water is vaporizing away into outer space. It remains in the atmosphere until it condenses somewhere else. Some underwater volcano just blew up in Tonga, and it released enough water to fill 58,000 olympic swimming pools. Where the hell did all of that go?

 
There is a trend I noticed whenever the subject of the “greater good” in whatever form it may be, is brought up, in most cases the so called “solutions” focus on the little guy or an average family, that for the most part already struggles with getting the ends meet and is in most likelihood already conserving due to mounting utility costs.

This topic is a good example, suggesting low flush toilets, low flow shower heads, etc. I’m sure these things have already been implemented, heck most of that stuff has already been done in Ontario Canada, and there is now water shortage there. And if they weren’t in some older buildings, I’m sure the inhabitants are conserving water in some ways just to lessen the water bill.

What is usually not discussed is corporate usage. Sure they bring in the billions, but does a portion of that go towards solving the water issue? And I’m not talking about conservation attempts that these corps are quick to brag about, but in reality do little to lessen the overall problem, but actual measures like new filtration and distribution systems. All of this is expected to be footed by the tax payer.
 
For the same 46c/kwh why would you waste them to desalinate water for farmers to grow stuff to export, when other countries can grow them cheaper and deplete their own water instead?

Makes no financial sense.
IIRC, Diablo Canyon is around $0.034/kWh or something OPEX; it's VERY cheap power produced there. But, per your point, unless we are transporting those crops using nuclear powered freighters, you are just adding pollution to the process.
 
I've often wondered about that. It's not like this water is vaporizing away into outer space. It remains in the atmosphere until it condenses somewhere else. Some underwater volcano just blew up in Tonga, and it released enough water to fill 58,000 olympic swimming pools. Where the hell did all of that go?

That is why I never worry about recycling or conserving water; nature does it for us (I am kidding) No seriously, earth will be here for billion years more after human life goes extinct.
 
Interesting thread. The book "cadilac desert" essentially predicted this in 1986, it really isn't a surprise. I imagine everyone is still waiting for "the weather to turn". As usual no one will do anything until its much too late, then everything will go bust.

Israel gets 70% of all their water from desalination, so its definitely possible.

Nevada gets less than 2% of the Colorado river allotment and my understanding is they don't even take all of it every year, so while golf courses in Vegas are probably still stupid, there not the real problem here, California agriculture is the primary culprit.

There are plenty of other places in the US that can grow broccoli and have lots of water, it would simply be much more expensive.
 
Interesting thread. The book "cadilac desert" essentially predicted this in 1986, it really isn't a surprise. I imagine everyone is still waiting for "the weather to turn". As usual no one will do anything until its much too late, then everything will go bust.

Israel gets 70% of all their water from desalination, so its definitely possible.

Nevada gets less than 2% of the Colorado river allotment and my understanding is they don't even take all of it every year, so while golf courses in Vegas are probably still stupid, there not the real problem here, California agriculture is the primary culprit.

There are plenty of other places in the US that can grow broccoli and have lots of water, it would simply be much more expensive.
Israel as a country is very small, and they have a very different tax system to afford such a way to supply water to the nation. I’d stop here or it will turn political very quickly.

Same as Cabo in Baja California, all hotels have their own desalination on site. It is not feasible if you do that to grow alfalfa to feed dairy cows then sell milk for $1 a gallon. The energy to supply such water then have 90% of them evaporated into the air (plants evaporate most of their waters, not turning them into carbs), then turn them into animal feeds that also very low efficiency in nature. It might be more efficient to do all these in places with a lot of water then use fuel to move them elsewhere with less water.
 
You can look at all the availability agriculture land and say you are wasting the land not watering them to grow the most valuable crops. You can look at all the water and say it is wasted not being used for things that give you the most valuable thing your money can afford vs growing alfalfa. You can also turn your farmland into something like solar farm and make the rest of the farmland vs water bottleneck equation balanced.
 
I made a flippant comment regarding water conservation in support of somebody saying earth's water is NOT depleting "it can't go to space!"

Now I am not so sure. Does all of the evaporated water comes back to earth or some does lose to space?

But I have to first decide if I am going to worry about not having enough water because of global warming or worrying about melting ice caps, sea water rising and flooding all the coastland. It is one or the other :)
 
But I have to first decide if I am going to worry about not having enough water because of global warming or worrying about melting ice caps, sea water rising and flooding all the coastland. It is one or the other :)

I keep hearing about sea levels rising..... For years.... Where? People living in the Florida Keys, and along the coast have not seen it. Gravity is the same everywhere. And why are all of these prominent people who say this is coming, investing in multi million dollar beachfront property?

Waikiki Beach looks the same now, as it did on postcards 60 years ago. The USS Arizona is no deeper now in Pearl Harbor, than it was when it sank. All the glaciers are melting! They all exclaim.... And prove with satellite images.

OK, where's the flood? People were living on the Outer Banks in North Carolina 60 years ago, same as they are today. When is the gift shop at the Fontainebleau in Miami going to have to get out the pumps and mops? When should we all panic, and head for higher ground?

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