Value
I value clean water that is safe to drink and tastes good. In Vancouver, we are lucky that we can drink straight from the tap. When I visit my boyfriend in LA, we have to put all the tap water through a brita filter. In some places, you can only drink bottled water. In some places you have to boil the tap water first. I value my access to drinking water that is cheap, easy and fun. This is only possible in Vancouver because we have ecosystem services that are still intact, and able to provide/clean our water.
Vision
It’s much better to create systems that allow water to be/stay clean, rather than using technology to purify it later. In my vision, everywhere on earth will have access to rivers and lakes that are clean enough to drink from without elaborate and expensive filtration systems. Stinky agriculture and other damaging land use practices will be kept away from clean rivers and lakes.
Intervention
One intervention could be increased research into hydrological dynamics, and policy structure that allows this research to shape land use decisions. In depth analysis could be done to improve our understanding of how water moves from the watershed to the tap, and how it can be contaminated. Also how water contamination could change as the climate changes. Research can help us answer and act on the question: what areas are safe to develop, and which should be preserved to insure access to clean water remains?
The water at Pitt Lake is clean enough to kayak in! Is it clean enough to drink?
Hey Anya! I love your vision regarding the ability to make all water drinkable, including rivers and lakes. However, to me this goal does not seem feasible unless the aspects that contribute to making the water undrinkable (eg. Fertilizer leaching) are first dealt with. Needless to say, if this technology was created, it would drastically change the extent of the water crisis.
Hi, Anya!
I am sharing this for the benefit of people like me who'd like to learn more about relevant technologies for understanding our Beautiful Watery Gem of a Planet Earth! I thought it would be a good "volley"in response to your thoughts and observations about water quality protection.
Biogas, produced from naturally occurring biosolid and liquid wastes, as well as landfill methane recapture, could be a much more viable and sustainable alternative to fracking natural gas.
Here is some info about Geomatic Imaging Systems (more for my reference than anything, seeing as I am curious about Geomatics Engineering, SONAR and RADAR, ultrasound, and other imaging, remote sensing and earth modelling technologies for applications such as hydrological assessment for protection of and or usefulness of ground water:
https://carnegiemnh.org/detecting-objects-with-invisible-waves-using-radar-sonar-and-echolocation-to-see/#:~:text=While%20radar%20can%20effectively%20move,use%20Sonar%20in%20underwater%20applications.
Question: Can Core Sample Drilling of Underground Soil and Rock Formations be used for Hydrological Analysis = to determine the quality of ground water and surrounding rock formations/soil deposits for water quality protection as well as estimate the useful benefits of a specific region, area, or site as a source of groundwater?
Hi Anya, I agree that accessibility to clean drinking water is something that many first-world individuals take for granted. I also agree that agricultural practices should be kept away from clean rivers and lakes where our drinking water comes from; maybe if there was less eutrophication, water quality could be improved around the world!