Is water becoming the new oil?

Yes, exactly. Family planning in the developing world is also something not many look at and it will be the driving force behind future sustainability. With the world heading to a number of 9 billion people, resources will be stretched to the maximum because of waste, wars, and overconsumption which is all part of the American way it seems. Americans overconsume, waste, and wage war at a pace not seen in modern history. And now people in the developing world are suffering for it. Instead of wasting billions on an unnecessary illegal war, we should be using those dollars to build a sustainable planet. I keep hoping some sort of metamorphosis will occur where humanity as a whole will see our true purpose, but I'm running out of that hope as I see world events unfolding.

Things like this just make think we're doomed in the end. Overpopulation.

Turning salt water into freshwater (desalination) is only a LAST resort. Desalination plants are also expensive, large, and hurt marinelife with the brackish water having to be dumped back into the ocean once the desalination process is over. Conservation is the key. Bringing education and other methods such as rain catchement, drip irrigation, and other methods of farming to cultures in Africa is key (such as looking to plant crops that are less water intensive.) Installing solar water pumps is another positive way to bring water. Fixing leaky and old infrastructure is also a way to save water. Turning salt water into freshwater is also CO2 intensive and therefore only exacerbates climate change. To me it is sad how humans on the whole always look for the more convenient way for themselves instead of simply doing what is right to begin with.

Stunt_bunny, that company is one of a few that is attempting to make a difference. However, a product being created doesn't mean it gets into the hands of those who need it in time or at all. The water crisis isn't just about converting undrinkable water into a drinkable source, it's also about being able to effectively provide those tools to those who need them most.

You may want to believe that this issue isn't as serious because of a few companies trying to make a difference, but that doesn't mean it will be in time or even enough for those that have been affected by this existing crisis for years, even decades. Water shortage may not be affecting your life, but don't say it doesn't exist just because you have a bowl of water to pee in every morning when you wake up.

We're (the people who believe that freshwater supplies are becoming scarce), aren't talking about completely running out of water. We are talking about how water is being "claimed" by certain people and then being sold as a product they claim to have complete ownership of, meanwhile people all over the world are dying from lack of drinkable water.

Geez, people like J_Jammer and MacMonster are obviously oblivious to anything happening outside of their immediate surroundings.

MacMonster, I suppose you think that the poor people in Africa are lazy? They walk about 20 miles sometimes just to get to a feshwater source, oh yes, and they have to share that source with animals who defecate and urinate in it. They even have to use the same water they drink to bathe. Even if they did know how to make water drinkable using any of the "simple methods" that are available, they would have to make enough for entire villages. Let's see how long you'd last in Africa without freshwater, even if you weren't lazy.

Any water problems could be slove if we can find a way to turn salt water into fresh water.

"Flow, For The Love of Water" will scare the hell out of you. The problem is not just in third world countries.

Irena Salina's film takes you throughout the world, including the US, documenting the exploitation of water by the Wolrd Bank, Suez, Nestle and Vivendi and others....

It's about corporate profits...and to them, "collateral damage", (dead dehydrated bodies), are acceptable if their version of order is achieved...

I want to thank everyone who contributed to this thread so far. I truly believe this to be a crucial issue for our survival. Unfortunately, one of the pitfalls of a site like this means that some abuse this system. So be it. I will continue to post about this because it is important. I will also continue to speak out about nuclear and the presidential candidates' total lack of ethics regarding pushing clean coal. All of these issues actually also relate to water as well, as nuclear uses much of it which is totally not feasible in a water insecure world and coal which also uses and pollutes much water. This is too important to ignore as the energies we use in the future will relate directly to our ability to grow food and sustain ourselves.

I think I may have seen that, but i will check it out. Thanks Imcniel.

If you enjoyed this check out "A World Without Water" its a documentary you may be able to find it on google video. Check it out!!!!! If I find the link I'll post it.

thanks JanforGore for these links.

Water is life and the human animal is reproducing rapidly. People live the water running while brushing their mouth and flush the toilet when it's not even yellow.

What to do? I realized that you can't teach people like JJammer to help humanity and life.

I boil water!

To those who think it "stupid" to care about water scarcity and water justice: who in this thread stated we were running out of water? Did you even read the link? We ARE however running out of POTABLE water to sustain humanity through pollution and mismanagement, AND yes, climate change.

Approximately forty percent of this Earth is now in some form of drought. That is due in part to the burning of fossil fuels causing global warming/climate change which is changing weather patterns and interfering with the hydrologic cycle. Much of it as well is through deforestation and desertification. It has already been documented that places around the globe that depend on rains to grow their crops (such as Ethiopia and Kenya) and in India, Bangladesh, etc. have not gotten those rains which has now caused severe and prolonged drought causing famine.

Only three percent of the water on Earth (the 71% that is salt water oceans as well) is freshwater, and about two-thirds of that is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps. That doesn't leave much for a species whose pollution continues to toxify this planet's freshwater and whose people continue to pollute it and waste it beyond usability. So those who say people aren't going thristy or won't are in my view ignorant of this topic. People are already going thirsty in Kenya and other places on Earth and have lost many of their cattle which have died due to lack of water. So much so that they live their lives digging deeper and deeper into the ground looking for it.

Most of the rest of the freshwater is underground and only about 0.3 percent is surface water. Most of the freshwater on Earth is located in Lake Baikal in Russia and the Great Lakes in the US/Canada, with the Great Lakes water table receding as well as the Great Lakes becoming more polluted. This is also true of Lake Mead, Lake Powell, and the Colorado River as well as the Rio Grande...All water tables receding due to overpopulation, waste, and climate change. So much so that the fish are dying in the Great Lakes from viruses. Ask anyone who lives there and I am sure they can clue you in on that.

So to state it is stupid to say we are running out of water to drink is simply not true. It always benefits the commenter when they either actually read the link provided, or do a little research before responding. This planet is in a water crisis of our own making, and unless we wake the hell up to it and start doing the right thing to conserve it and preserve what we have left for the growing population on this planet, it may well become the new oil in that wars will be fought over it.

That is really the point of what I wrote as also applies to the privitization of this precious resource that makes it hard to virtually impossible for poor people in developing countries to afford it. Look up Bechtel, Enron, (before it went bankrupt,) and those companies mentioned in the article to understand why allowing multi nationals (Coca Cola and Nestle to name just two regarding bottled water) to control our water is detrimental to our human rights. The phrase, 'water water everywhere and not a drop to drink' is more fact than fiction.

20 years ago I saw the water crisis looming. When bottled water started becoming popular. I said that someday they will figure out a way to charge more for a gallon of water than they do for a gallon of gas.

This is what has happened now. They have polluted many of the fresh water supplies and they are charging a dollar for an 8oz glass of water in a plastic bottle.

The answer is yes, water has become the new oil.

The Arizona water crisis borders on life threatening. Yes, Arizona has desert, but even there, there are underground aquifers that are being drained so rapidly that enormous sink holes are the norm.

The economy in Arizona is built around continued, unsustainable development greed. Foreclosures are as common as anywhere else, yet the building does not stop.

A former Phoenix-based journalist, Jon Talton who wrote for the Arizona Republic, was forced out of town for writing about the misuse of Arizona's water.
He continues to write about water issues, amongst other topics from Seattle now.

http://roguecolumnist.typepad.com/rogue_columnist/2008/05/when-i-was-at-t.html

There certainly is (and has been) a large water crisis. Whats more amazing is how much water people waste without even realizing it.

water has always been more important than oil, but no one ever pays attention to things until how finite they are becomes a critical issue.

yelling about how stupid people are while putting a bullet in your head does not make you the smart one in the room.

Water levels are continuing to go down. Even if cheaper methods for extracting salt can be discovered, eventually, all that would be left...is salt.
Something to consider.

Stopnoise, it does affect rainfall directly. This link describes why...

http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu02fe/uu02fe0e.htm

I think it's a joke to say that the world is running out of water. We are running out of lazy people drinking water, but, it's not like we're breaking hydrogen and oxygen when we have a glass. And if you think that hydrogen fuel will give us a water crisis, the main byproduct of that is WATER! Water has been recycled and reused on this plants for ages. We're not having a water crisis we're having a lazy people crisis.

You are right about the world being full of stupid and useless people, please don't be one of them.

J-Jammer, I hope you didn't just say that. Doi, the world is made up of 75% water, hell even the human body is made up mostly of water. But just like you can't crack open someone's body and drink the water in their tissue, you can't just walk up to any water source and take a drink. 75% of the world is water, but only 2% of that is actually freshwater and drinkable (the rest would have to go through some sort of treatment to be drinkable), and when you add in the fact that the tools to treat and purify the water aren't the cheapest, it makes it difficult for poor communities in overall poor countries (which this water shortage will affect the most), to afford to make the water drinkable for the people of those communities.

Plus you also need to take into account the pollutants we have put into the water sources all over the world. These pollutants are put into water sources, not in harmless dilluted amounts, but practically concentrated amounts. They stay in the water and rarely break down fast enough to not pollute the surrounding ares as well (plant and animal life).

So before you assume that because you can see water all around you it's means you'll never be thirsty, try researching or looking up how some people who are surrounded by water sources are dying daily because of the lack of freshwater.

Here's one resource from a few years back:
http://www.unbotswana.org.bw/undp/docs/speaches/world_environment_day.pdf

Here's another that explains the situation via a panel discussion on water:
http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu02fe/uu02fe0e.htm

I am wondering about the deforestations around the World and Fossil fuel pollution would interfere with rain falls and weather changes around the World. I think it does big time!

Guess constantly responding to your own post gets you up the ratings eh janforgore??

Water makes up 75% of this planet. To suggest that people are going to go thirsty has got to be the dumbest thing ever. Not the mere suggestion but the fact that it would even become a remote possibility is stupid.

Oil has to be searched for.

Water is RIGHT THERE.

This world is, and continues prove to be, full of stupid useless people.

God, it makes me feel so bad when I see something like a composting toilet, because as good as it would be for water conservation, I don't think I'd ever use one. It grosses me out. And I know that when you use a toilet filled with water and then flush it shoots up bacteria, but I take the proper measures for that.

And now as the Great Lakes decline, will the treaties entered into by the US and Canada be honored? I wonder just how far this will go before we see a war over water. There are already disputes in Georgia, Tennessee, Maine Montana, Colorado, and others. This is one reason why I have no use for the MSM. We see nothing about this there.

When they figure out a way to make fuel out of water ...watch how quickly your water bill goes up

I lived in Philadelphia for many years and now live in the dry west of New Mexico. It is common to see fire hydrants open all day spilling out into the street of Philadelphia during the dangerously hot summers. Many of the poor can't catch a break from the heat but this is not a solution either. And does it make any sense at all that our toilets fill with drinkable water? We really have designed ourselves into a corner with our inefficient utility systems and wasteful transportation machines.

Well, first of all I think it is ridiculous that anyone would think they can put a stake in the ground and then say this and anything beneath it or water sources around it belongs to us and only us and you have to pay if you want it.

Water management yes, but water for the sake of profit NO!

If you vote down water, you vote down life.