World running dry

[gerrit]

[quote=Cricket Tragic;252308]Coca-Cola - Press Center - Press Release

QUOTE]


Do you honestly consider this to be a reliable source?

[Cricket Tragic]

Originally Posted by gerrit

Water resources are drying up all over the world. Western societies haven't noticed the consequences of this yet because it really hasn't affected us that much so far. If giant corporations can get away with it then yes they will be diverting billions of gallons of Great Lakes water away from the basin. Nestle (Perrier) is a Swiss company and they are aggressively trying to get a piece of the Great Lakes. Nestle, by the way, uses even more fresh water than Coca-Cola does.

Even if you had 40 companies as big as Coca Cola doing the same, they would still bottle less water per annum than is used for irrigation in Illinois.

Originally Posted by gerrit

Those are famous last words. There were those that said that the cod stocks would never disappear from the Grand Banks either.

According to Detroit News, four trillion liters of water are taken from the Great Lakes Basin every day. Lake Michigan alone loses 2.5 billion gallons of water every day (New York Times.)

The premise that it would take 80,000 years to empty Lake Erie is a myth.

It seems to me that many of the participants on this site are either misinformed or purposely sabotaging what needs to be said.

You don’t seem to be getting the point. I am not saying that water withdrawal out of the Great Lakes is not a problem. I am saying you need to worry about the big users. Corporations bottling water are a minor player in the game. The example of Illinois:

http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/wsp/faq/addl...atwith1995.gif

The major users are power generation, domestic and public supply (particularly for Chicago) and irrigation. Most of this water comes from Lake Michigan.

http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/wsp/faq/addl...ithdrawals.gif

So within your Lake Michigan Usage, you need to include a whole stack of other users. You seem to be conflating water for bottling with total water use from the lakes.

There is a lot more covering the whole great lakes region here. http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3032/pdf/fs2008-3032.pdf Total consumptive supply by industry in the Great Lakes region is calculated as 640 MGal/day – less than the domestic use, irrigation and power generation. While bottled water has a high consumptive use proportion, it is still a minor part of the overall use.

The Great Lakes contain 6 quadrillion gallons of water. Industrial supply at its current rate will empty that in 25,000 years. Domestic use will empty the Great Lakes in 13,000 years, farm use in 14,000 years and electricity generation in 14,000 years.

I suggest that some participants on this forum have a one-track mind and fail to look at the bigger picture.

Originally Posted by gerrit

Do you honestly consider this to be a reliable source?

If you wanted to know how much water Coca Cola uses, wouldn’t you ask them?

I did check it against other sources. The values Coca Cola gives for water use are higher than those given by other sources. Therefore, I am happy with them as a source.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by gerrit

Water resources are drying up all over the world. Western societies haven't noticed the consequences of this yet because it really hasn't affected us that much so far.

Not all over the world they're not. Water is a local/regional issue rather than a global one. Many countries have an excess of water whilst others have a shortage so it's not a case of all countries been in the same situation. And globally agriculture is by far the biggest user of water. Commercial use only accounts for a small part.

[gerrit]

Several U.S. states are drying up. According to "Thirst" (2004 PBS documentary), the state of Arizona is completely dry. Arizona is home to populous cities such as Phoenix and Tuscon. That means that all water for bottled water, soft drinks and even beer, which are consumed in this state, is taken in from somewhere else.

Irrigation, if done locally, finds its way back into the system. Water taken away to other destinations does not.

[gerrit]

[quote=Cricket Tragic;252495]




If you wanted to know how much water Coca Cola uses, wouldn’t you ask them?

QUOTE]



Not a chance. Are you being paid by someone or are you just that naive.

I suggest that you read a book entitled, "Blue Covenant." It was written by Maude Barlow. Maude Barlow is the founder of Blue Planet Project, Councillor with the World Future Council in Hamburg and recent recipient of Sweden's Right Livelihood Award (the "Alternative Nobel.")

She espouses ther truth. You don't.

If you live in Canada, "Blue Covenant" can usually be found at your local library.

[gerrit]

[quote=Cricket Tragic;252495]

The Great Lakes contain 6 quadrillion gallons of water. Industrial supply at its current rate will empty that in 25,000 years. Domestic use will empty the Great Lakes in 13,000 years, farm use in 14,000 years and electricity generation in 14,000 years.

I suggest that some participants on this forum have a one-track mind and fail to look at the bigger picture.

QUOTE]


Cricket Tragic would have you believe that unless we consume all the water contained in the Great Lakes then there's no problem. This couldn't be further from the truth.

According to www.ec.gc.ca/water, only 1% of the waters of the Great Lakes are renewed each year by snowmelt and rain. Once more than 1% of the waters are used up, lake levels will drop.

If this happens, we don't know if lake waters will evaporate at a faster rate or if rivers that feed the lakes will reverse their flow or if lake waters will become stagnant... we just don't know.

Let's not have a repeat of an "Aral Sea" type disaster.

[gerrit]

Re: my one-track mind.

According to Great Lakes Environmental Directory: extensive information regarding Great Lakes environment, the Great Lakes represent 95% of all U.S. surface freshwater. According to "Thirst" (2004 PBS film), several U.S. states are fast drying up or are dry. Think about it. I wish a few more people had a one-track mind.

[Cricket Tragic]

Originally Posted by gerrit

Several U.S. states are drying up. According to "Thirst" (2004 PBS documentary), the state of Arizona is completely dry. Arizona is home to populous cities such as Phoenix and Tuscon. That means that all water for bottled water, soft drinks and even beer, which are consumed in this state, is taken in from somewhere else.

Irrigation, if done locally, finds its way back into the system. Water taken away to other destinations does not.

Information about water resources in Arizona for you. http://www.azwater.gov/dwr/Content/P...pplydemand.pdf

Most of their use comes from groundwater, followed by the Colorado River. Hardly sounds as if they are ‘completely dry’. Stressed perhaps and if their population continues to grow there are bound to be future water issues.

It does help if you don’t try and put words in my mouth. I never said there was no problem with water extraction from the Great Lakes. I used those figures to put your arguments into perspective. For some reason you have developed a bee in your bonnet about bottled water. I am no fan of bottled water myself, but I don’t see it as the proximate cause of the collapse of the Great Lakes. There are very much larger targets at hand that would have a much greater impact.

It might also help if you did some research on some of these topics before making silly claims. For example, you need to learn about transpiration. Lots of the water applied through irrigation gets lost to the atmosphere by being pumped through plants. Unless that water rains back into the same basin it can be totally lost. Secondly, irrigation water can be pumped hundreds of miles away having devastating impacts on water bodies. For example, the problem with the Aral Sea stemmed from diverting water for crop irrigation.

[gerrit]

Originally Posted by Cricket Tragic

Information about water resources in Arizona for you. http://www.azwater.gov/dwr/Content/P...pplydemand.pdf

It might also help if you did some research on some of these topics before making silly claims. .

The 6 quadrillion gallons of water, contained in the Great Lakes, is not a stationary mass. It eventually flows out to the sea.

If we consume too much of it. It could change the whole dynamic of the lakes.

Just like the Colorado River, water levels may drop dangerously low.

Read the book by Maude Barlow entitled, "Blue Covenant."

[gerrit]

[quote=Cricket Tragic;252807]Information about water resources in Arizona for you. http://www.azwater.gov/dwr/Content/P...pplydemand.pdf

Most of their use comes from groundwater, followed by the Colorado River. Hardly sounds as if they are ‘completely dry’. Stressed perhaps and if their population continues to grow there are bound to be future water issues.

QUOTE]

Stressed is an understatement. The Colorado River is in trouble.

Also, there is practically no ground water left in the state of Arizona.

I suggest that you do some research. You can start by viewing the 2004 documentary film, "Thirst."