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Tapping groundwater – problems. Saltwater Intrusion Normal interface between freshwater and saltwater moves inland Figure 15-17. Subsidence : Land sinks. Sinkholes Roof of cavern collapses. Reducing Water Waste. Why do we really waste so much?.
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Tapping groundwater – problems • Saltwater Intrusion • Normal interface between freshwater and saltwater moves inland • Figure 15-17
Subsidence: • Land sinks
Sinkholes • Roof of cavern collapses
Why do we really waste so much? • Underpricing! We don’t really pay for it!!!!
Conventional Irrigation • “About 60% of the irrigation water applied throughout the world does not reach targeted crops.” • Most lost to evaporation and run-off
Examples: • Flood irrigation:
Xeriscaping • Replace green lawns with vegetation adapted to the climate! (natural)
This storm water system will reduce the building’s water bill by 90% and save water resources
In the U.S.: Flushing toilets with water clean enough to drink is the single largest use of domestic water.
Solution: Desalinization?? • Reverse osmosis or Distillation • Disadvantages: • Expensive • Energy Intensive • Produces Briny Water
Non-Point Source: scattered and diffuse; can not be traced to any single point.
Cultural Eutrophication: excessive inputs of nutrients due to human activities. • What are NUTRIENTS????
Produce “blooms” of algae, cyanobacteria, or aquatic plants • Initially, produce Oxygen; however, massive die-offsand decomposition via bacteria sucks OUT all Oxygen • Ecosystem suffocates!!
Animal wastes • Fertilizer run-off (agricultural and domestic) • Sewage • 80-90% of raw sewage in developing countries dumped directly into lakes/streams • Approx. 85% of raw sewage from people around Mediterranean Sea dumped along the coast