REPORT10


 * Water recycling/Water management In California**

Many people all over California are being affected by the water crises, but with the help of water management, and water recycling we can help preserve the water that so many of us take for granted. One of the questions that are pressing peoples minds is how does water recycling help the environment? There is a large amount of water recycling in California and they are purifying toilet water to make it drinkable.

As well as using the now purified water to provide water to farmers in California to water their crops. Still some farmers have cut back a significant amount of their crops to help save water. Although some farmers are not looking forward to having less to sell the outcome can be great if more and more farmers decide to reduce the amount of water they are using to water their crops.

Another question one might ask would be, will this make a significant change for California by managing water? The answer to that question is yes! If we continue to store and save water like, "water harvesting, or capturing and storing excess rainwater so it can be available during dry periods."(Michael J. Strauss) What the plan wants to do is to catch the surface water in fields, and take it to use for reservoirs and farmers and their crops. This will save a large amount of run off water that is normally wasted.

Water management helps in a different way, yet still very key to saving water. We did use water management for a while and it worked quite well, but then we thought we were safe with the production of modern technology. Now, "Old ways of managing water in dry regions are winning new attention in the search for sustainable development in both urban and rural settings, experts in water technology say. (Michael J. Strauss)" Governments are lending support to this horrible water crises. Some ideas use more money as well as modern technology like, "…qanats rely on a gravity feed rather than pumping or other mechanical delivery systems..."(Michael J. Strauss) Water recycling will not change the purity of water that we drink, and not all of us have to drink the water that comes out of the tap. Most families have apposed dinking toilet water because they think it is unclean and not purified. Once they found out how clean countries managed to make the water they changed their minds.

This describes the cleaning method of toilet water in California to turn it into drinkable water: “After an initial cleansing treatment—send it through $490 million worth of pipes, filters, and tanks for purification. The water then flows into lakes in nearby Anaheim, where it seeps through clay, sand, and rock into aquifers in the groundwater basin. Months later, it will travel back into the homes of half a million Orange County residents, through their kitchen taps and showerheads.” Unless we consider projects like these to make wastewater a reusable resource, we have to discover a new source of clean, potable water, but the chances are low so why not just use the smarts to conserve water while we still have a plentiful supply.

Where is the money coming from that we are using to help this water crises? The money is coming from the government, as well as non-profit organizations. “Desalinated water costs between $800 and $2,000 per acre-foot to produce, while its recycled water runs about $525 per acre-foot.”(Eilene Zimmerman) Some other projects cost more, “Although originally estimated at $10 million for the pilot study in San Diego, water department officials said the figure would be refined, and the total cost of the project might be hundreds of millions of dollars. Although the Council wants to offset the cost with government grants and other sources, Mr. Sanders predicted it would add to already escalating water bills.” Other people make sure that they are not spending too much money on these projects and feel that the money is better spent somewhere else.