Here’s your weekly sociological treatise -
14 Jun 2005
This week it’s a lesson in plumbing
Where I am we are in the midst of our worst drought ever. If something isn’t done soon, we may run out of water. It could be global warming. Maybe just a cruel twist of fate.
The politicians say don’t panic lets just see what happens. It might rain you know.
The water companies say if you don’t wash the car or the garden it’ll be just fine.
The meteorologists say that ain’t going to happen.
The academics say a small increase in population in our cities will tip us over the edge and we will run out.
Sustainability experts say there’s no water shortage, but there is a critical water management problem.
Supporters of desalination say build desalination plants.
Supporters of pipeline systems say pump it up from Tasmania.
Sheep farmers watch their sheep starve to death, they can’t afford the bullets to shoot them.
Wheat farmers don’t plant any crops at all, no point.
I guess when they built these cities on this land they didn’t figure that we would ever need to plan for water consumption. After all, this country is very very big and there are hardly any people here. Nobody thought the population would expand so concentrically around the coastal cities, or the total aridity of the centre of the country, or what effect the absence of rain might have in the future.
Unfortunately our recent governments have watched the water supply dwindle over recent years and put the whole issue in the too hard basket. To put it in Monty Python terms – this government is completely unblemished by planning.
When I turn on the taps at home, water comes out. There’s water in the toilet too.
When I have a shower, all that water runs down the pipes and into the ocean. Same with the washing machine. When I flush , it goes down the same pipes and into the ocean. And there’s the problem. In Australia, our sewer outflow pipes and our water outflow pipes are one and the same.
But, if we had different pipes for the ‘grey’ water and separate pipes for the sewer, then we could recycle the grey water and pump it back into the system.
But that can’t happen because no government is ever going to spend the money on the infrastructure required to get a system like that up and running. So we toy with largely untested and piecemeal solutions like desalination and cartage.
And in the meantime it still hasn’t rained.
So, think about us while you complain about the rain – and if you know of any rain-making schemes, then please let me know.
more drought stories
Where I am we are in the midst of our worst drought ever. If something isn’t done soon, we may run out of water. It could be global warming. Maybe just a cruel twist of fate.
The politicians say don’t panic lets just see what happens. It might rain you know.
The water companies say if you don’t wash the car or the garden it’ll be just fine.
The meteorologists say that ain’t going to happen.
The academics say a small increase in population in our cities will tip us over the edge and we will run out.
Sustainability experts say there’s no water shortage, but there is a critical water management problem.
Supporters of desalination say build desalination plants.
Supporters of pipeline systems say pump it up from Tasmania.
Sheep farmers watch their sheep starve to death, they can’t afford the bullets to shoot them.
Wheat farmers don’t plant any crops at all, no point.
I guess when they built these cities on this land they didn’t figure that we would ever need to plan for water consumption. After all, this country is very very big and there are hardly any people here. Nobody thought the population would expand so concentrically around the coastal cities, or the total aridity of the centre of the country, or what effect the absence of rain might have in the future.
Unfortunately our recent governments have watched the water supply dwindle over recent years and put the whole issue in the too hard basket. To put it in Monty Python terms – this government is completely unblemished by planning.
When I turn on the taps at home, water comes out. There’s water in the toilet too.
When I have a shower, all that water runs down the pipes and into the ocean. Same with the washing machine. When I flush , it goes down the same pipes and into the ocean. And there’s the problem. In Australia, our sewer outflow pipes and our water outflow pipes are one and the same.
But, if we had different pipes for the ‘grey’ water and separate pipes for the sewer, then we could recycle the grey water and pump it back into the system.
But that can’t happen because no government is ever going to spend the money on the infrastructure required to get a system like that up and running. So we toy with largely untested and piecemeal solutions like desalination and cartage.
And in the meantime it still hasn’t rained.
So, think about us while you complain about the rain – and if you know of any rain-making schemes, then please let me know.
more drought stories
posted by knitabulous at Tuesday, June 14, 2005 |
