Any environmentalist out there, Randy?

billyboy · 10-08-2008, 02:05 PM

I saw an article that said Starbucks is wasting 1.5 million gallons of water per month in this county because they leave their faucets running all the time. People are raving about how bad this is for the environment. I can't figure out why it's bad. What about the hydrologic cycle? Doesn't the water just keep going round and round? Granted there are some energy costs to get the water from the ground or lake to the tap.

looneybin · 10-08-2008, 02:11 PM

I hear that crap all the time too.
Idiots that claim we are running out of water
I can see how they could claim we are running out of FRESH water, but because of the hydrolic cycle, it keep raining back down as fresh water.
The earth has the same amount of water it always has, and will always have.
It's either in the ground, air or in ice form.
The problem is we have too damn many people drinking all my water

Jim Richards · 10-08-2008, 02:14 PM

All the water wasted in CA eventually comes back in the form of rain...here in DC. Thanks Starbucks! Thanks Californians!

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

surprised they would do that

it wastes FRESH water -- ends up in the sea

the rain falls all over the place - not just where they are taking the water from

also there is the cost to pump and purify the water

in the PNW [rainforest], water wastage is not that big a deal

in SoCal or NV, AZ [deserts] it is huge

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

actually - all matter on Earth cycles -- eventually -- not just water

problem is that you might not want to wait 600 million years to get stuff back

Energy, of course, is always lost [Laws of THD]

and as we all know "lost time is not found again" [The Band]

LakeCleElum · 10-08-2008, 02:34 PM

I saw a letter to the editor to an Austrailian....Some idiot claimed we were running out of water due to "daylight savings time".......It was all about the "extra hour" of daylight.....Pretty funny..

jyl · jyl's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by billyboy

I saw an article that said Starbucks is wasting 1.5 million gallons of water per month in this county because they leave their faucets running all the time. People are raving about how bad this is for the environment. I can't figure out why it's bad. What about the hydrologic cycle? Doesn't the water just keep going round and round? Granted there are some energy costs to get the water from the ground or lake to the tap.

You live in CA, and you don't see the problem with wasting water? Ever go look at the reservoirs in a drought year?

There is plenty of water on earth, but very little of it is fresh water, and even less of that is fresh water that is stored and available for municipal water systems.

Why not draw $10K from your bank account and scatter it on the ground? There's a money cycle, after all. What, you're worried that money might take a long time to come back to you personally? Same thing with water.

billyboy · 10-08-2008, 03:33 PM

Y

Quote:

ou live in CA, and you don't see the problem with wasting water? Ever go look at the reservoirs in a drought year?

There is plenty of water on earth, but very little of it is fresh water, and even less of that is fresh water that is stored and available for municipal water systems.

Why not draw $10K from your bank account and scatter it on the ground? There's a money cycle, after all. What, you're worried that money might take a long time to come back to you personally? Same thing with water.

Well, you still haven't shown how this is bad for the environment. I do see a problem with wasting water, it's bad for populations of people.It may be bad for people who want to live in an arid climate. Looks like there is plenty of water around, the problem is that the people are just in the wrong places.
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Dave L · 10-08-2008, 03:36 PM

Water purification involves chemicals and energy to run the equipment and pumps, thats the part thats bad.

jyl · jyl's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by billyboy

Y Well, you still haven't shown how this is bad for the environment. I do see a problem with wasting water, it's bad for populations of people.It may be bad for people who want to live in an arid climate. Looks like there is plenty of water around, the problem is that the people are just in the wrong places.
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Is it bad for the environment?

Depends on what people do when water is scarce, do they gracefully do with less water? Or do they do things to get more water that are bad for the environment?

For example, in CA when water is scarce there is more diversion of fresh water from the Delta, which causes the Delta to become more saline and damages that environment. In other places they may divert more river flows, which can be bad for downstream environments.