killamch89 Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 With the various technologies around the world to purify water (purifying sewage to drinking water is catching on in quite a few countries, we can also purify sea water quite easily). Ask yourself this, on a planet with 73%, why are some countries (some of them with various rivers/dams among other things) experiencing water "shortages"? I don't know about anyone else but doesn't this sound absolutely nonsensical? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shagger Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 (edited) Yes, purification of water is doable, but the amount of energy it takes makes the process uneconomical on a large scale. It usually takes the form filtering then distillation. Distillation isn't difficult, it's a simple process of boiling contaminated water, catching the water vapour then allowing said vapour to cool. The cooled vapour is now pure water with no contamination. It works, but trying to do it on the kind of scale you're referring to is very difficult. The equipment necessary would be expensive and one would need a fuel source to boil the water, which is costly and would have a large environmental impact. Edited August 2, 2021 by Shagger killamch89 and The Blackangel 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killamch89 Posted August 3, 2021 Author Share Posted August 3, 2021 20 hours ago, Shagger said: Yes, purification of water is doable, but the amount of energy it takes makes the process uneconomical on a large scale. It usually takes the form filtering then distillation. Distillation isn't difficult, it's a simple process of boiling contaminated water, catching the water vapour then allowing said vapour to cool. The cooled vapour is now pure water with no contamination. It works, but trying to do it on the kind of scale you're referring to is very difficult. The equipment necessary would be expensive and one would need a fuel source to boil the water, which is costly and would have a large environmental impact. Fair enough answer but couldn't we use hydropower to offset some of the energy requirements? I was mentioning the Seawater desalination project that was being discussed by the UN as a potential solution to this issue. But then a few cities around the world have turned to purifying their own waste as a water source. Do you think this is a more viable alternative? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
