Water Water Everywhere...

                Earth is mostly water with some land, yet in many places people do not have access to fresh clean drinking water. The big questions floating around today are whether or not water should be considered a basic human right. If so then it would be up to the governments of countries  to provide safe drinking water for their populations. When most people in America think about the water problem we think it's something going on in third world countries. But the facts are that this is a problem that hits closer to home then most people think. With the devastating droughts in California and the massive debt accumulating in Detroit, the water crisis is right around the proverbial corner. There are many ways in which we are able to reclaim water, from fog and humidity, to desalination. At the same time people are trying to reclaim water others are wasting it without regard to the people and communities being put at risk. There are those who would privatize water as a consumable resource that should be controlled and utilized as we utilize ore and fossil fuels. The other side of the spectrum are those who see water as a fundamental human right that everyone should have access to no matter their economic status. Over the years there have been a number water right acts brought forward to the UN about the access of water as a right for all people and in 2010 we saw the UN pass a resolution recognizing the access to clean water as such. It was a tremendous step forward but it was only a step, what matters is how it is followed up. Moving forward how water is handled is always going to stir up controversy and full of problems.

                Looking at water reclaiming we can see a slew of innovations being made in this field from the Fog nets to humidity traps, and so on. These systems can be implemented in locations where perceptible water is scarce and temperatures are high such as deserts and high elevations. The moisture can be trapped, condensed, and stored for consumption. The water collected this way can be filtered and made available almost anywhere that a need exists. In areas that have plenty of power and access to sea water, but little to no access to fresh water we see implementation of desalination plants. These plants take raw sea water and refine it into clean safe drinking water ready for use in any application. They way this works is by distilling the water, by heating the water to the point it turns into steam. The steam is then condensed back into clean water. In the next few years we will be seeing more water reclaiming going on as the need for more clean water increases. Likewise as the demand for clean drinking water increase so will the need for regulations concerning the use of said water, particularly in the industry sector. It will no longer be acceptable to pollute and drain aquifers and other natural water Reservoirs. The next few years are going to be interesting to say the least, and we might start seeing the first ever "Water Wars" which is a frightening thought.