Is there any way to use ocean water to help california?

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infernal.machine
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Re: Is there any way to use ocean water to help california?

Post by infernal.machine » Fri Mar 20, 2015 7:53 pm

Styles Bitchly wrote:
Most if not all of the development in central-southern CA should've never happened in the first place. It's desert. Read up on the whole Mullholland back-story to get a feel for the lunatic fringe regarding water.
Yep.
As for the excessive energy requirements for desalination, that's only relevant as long as big oil maintains it's death grip on alternate energy source development. It's no secret that there's an endless source of cheap energy from that big orange thing in the sky, or even from water itself - and the technology exists to harness it.
If solar energy was really a viable option, don't you think someone would have capitalized on that by now? Solar panels take up a ton of space and are at best 20 or 30% efficient... but usually closer to 15%. Also producing and maintaining solar panels takes energy... so you're kinda out of luck. It's a simple concept: Use the sun for energy and the ocean for water. But when you look at how the technologies we have actually work, it's not reasonable.
Lastly, ocean salts can be harvested from desalination instead of digging them out of the earth and fucking up the landscape - aside from that, any saline/organic effluent returned to the ocean isn't going to put a dent in the balance of ocean salinity/ph when you consider that oceans cover 3/4 of the planet. Earth is a closed system and except for the net addition of inorganic minerals from meteorites, everything works it's way back to where it came from - where do you suspect that the consumed water byproduct of desalination ends up at the end of the day? :|
It's a concentration problem. If you were to evenly spread the dirty brine throughout the ocean, you won't have any problems. However if you have a desalination plant which basically just has a sewer pipe feeding the nasty stuff into the ocean at a single point, everything around that area is going to get screwed up. If we're at opposite ends of a swimming pool and I take a piss, you probably won't notice. But if you're in the swimming pool and I piss on your head, you probably won't be too happy.

beats me
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Re: Is there any way to use ocean water to help california?

Post by beats me » Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:08 pm

I think the advancements in solar are going to be less about the panels and more about the batteries that store the energy. And the battery advancements won’t come from the solar sector. It will come from something like the auto industry and then it will be discovered that the same technology can easily be retrofitted for solar.

starving student
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Re: Is there any way to use ocean water to help california?

Post by starving student » Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:24 pm

yur2die4 wrote:This might sound silly, but I think that it'd be nice to raise awareness by making a phone app game which reveals the challenges and potential risks of the situation.

More people are tuning the real world out and tuning the phone in, not giving a second of thought to their habits. If you've been playing a game that involves conserving water, using it responsibly, the impact it has on the community, and the difficulty of finding a resolution, you might glance up from your phone for Just a second, and see your sprinkler and think 'hmmmm... That's not right'

Although, the tricky part would be to make such a game without scaring the shit out of children. The point is not to scare people, but for them to realize the seriousness of the situation they are in, and how to be responsible.

Awareness is a surprisingly useful tool, and gets the conversation actually Happening

nice idea

bodhi71
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Re: Is there any way to use ocean water to help california?

Post by bodhi71 » Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:51 pm

I have seen billboards that can condense the moisture in the air into drinkable water,... the idea for areas that are poor and not close to any potable water resource. I imagine something like this could be used very effectively on a larger scale given the resources a country like the US has (had, before the total corruption took hold).

Never mind, Nestle has declared the remainder belongs to them and will sue the Northern Hemisphere if any resistance is brought forth.

What does it matter really, isn't the western coast getting hit by all that Fuckyoushima rads anyway? Kinda daft to remain there, all things considered.

aisling
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Re: Is there any way to use ocean water to help california?

Post by aisling » Fri Mar 20, 2015 10:04 pm

to the extent that we pipe oil around the country, I always thought utilities/water could piggyback off the infrastructure in place, or develop it's own and, bring water from places that produce a lot of rain to places in need?
http://soundcloud.com/aislingbeing


Live, Reason, Moog sub phatty, Moog sub 37, Ozone 6, guitars, Pedals, proper ergonomic sitting posture, french pressed coffee with a pinch of cardamon.

Styles Bitchly
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Re: Is there any way to use ocean water to help california?

Post by Styles Bitchly » Sat Mar 21, 2015 4:33 am

infernal.machine wrote:
Styles Bitchly wrote:
Most if not all of the development in central-southern CA should've never happened in the first place. It's desert. Read up on the whole Mullholland back-story to get a feel for the lunatic fringe regarding water.
Yep.

If solar energy was really a viable option, don't you think someone would have capitalized on that by now? Solar panels take up a ton of space and are at best 20 or 30% efficient... but usually closer to 15%. Also producing and maintaining solar panels takes energy... so you're kinda out of luck. It's a simple concept: Use the sun for energy and the ocean for water. But when you look at how the technologies we have actually work, it's not reasonable.

I'm not talking about solar panels. Think bigger.
Lastly, ocean salts can be harvested from desalination instead of digging them out of the earth and fucking up the landscape - aside from that, any saline/organic effluent returned to the ocean isn't going to put a dent in the balance of ocean salinity/ph when you consider that oceans cover 3/4 of the planet. Earth is a closed system and except for the net addition of inorganic minerals from meteorites, everything works it's way back to where it came from - where do you suspect that the consumed water byproduct of desalination ends up at the end of the day? :|
It's a concentration problem. If you were to evenly spread the dirty brine throughout the ocean, you won't have any problems. However if you have a desalination plant which basically just has a sewer pipe feeding the nasty stuff into the ocean at a single point, everything around that area is going to get screwed up. If we're at opposite ends of a swimming pool and I take a piss, you probably won't notice. But if you're in the swimming pool and I piss on your head, you probably won't be too happy.
I LOL'd at that. Good one. I wasn't referring to dumping salt into a big offshore dome via an outflow pipe - sorta like the Hyperion Waste Facility does (you should see the enormous shadow cast by the underwater "turd donut" from the air....it's impressive). Distribution shouldn't be an issue given cheap available ocean-going transport.

john gordon
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Re: Is there any way to use ocean water to help california?

Post by john gordon » Sun Mar 22, 2015 6:11 am

Let's just admit it, we're all fucked.

john gordon
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Re: Is there any way to use ocean water to help california?

Post by john gordon » Sun Mar 22, 2015 6:12 am

Actually you guys are. I have 14 thousand in my life's savings and I'm moving to Thailand where everything is ok. Good luck to the rest of u. :?

andydes
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Re: Is there any way to use ocean water to help california?

Post by andydes » Sun Mar 22, 2015 1:06 pm

john gordon wrote:I'm moving to Thailand where everything is ok.
Surely you mean:

Image

starving student
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Re: Is there any way to use ocean water to help california?

Post by starving student » Mon Mar 23, 2015 2:23 am

Finally.... There's allot a water out there To take :evil:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y27THpZFbo

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