Reflections on Water

I would like to thank Emily MacCrae for the wonderful lead in sentence last issue. It referred to air, water, and soil as the "holy trinity of life." Having talked some about soil as a prelude to The Symphony Of Soil that was shown here recently, I’d like to talk about water.

I’ve recently read a book on water, "The Big Thirst", by Charles Fishman. I learned an amazing set of facts, and found hope in some data and insights that he provided.

We all know that water exists in only three states: ice, liquid, and water vapor. Right? Wrong. Water also exists as a solid within the molecular matrices of certain rocks. At a depth of 255 miles and 2000 Degrees F., water molecules are broken into a single Hydrogen atom and an OH molecule, which work their way into the molecular structure of rock. These are known as hydrous minerals. When conditions of lower pressure occur, such as when magma rises to the surface, these OH molecules find another hydrogen atom and become water molecules again. This is the explosive force of volcanoes. It is estimated that the amount of water in this state is from four to ten times the amount present on the surface of the planet. One theory holds that all the water on our planet came here in that form originally from space. The violent tectonic activity on the early Earth brought this matrix water to the surface where it became all the H20 that we know today.

Unlike gasoline or hot dogs, water is not destroyed when we consume it. All the water that ever existed here is still here. We are not running out of water; we are running out of water that exists in a state that we can use. It is the ultimate solvent; most things dissolve into it. This makes it the ideal carrier for the chemistry of life; every cell in your body contains trillions of water molecules. It is also ideal for absorbing all other kinds of pollutants that make it unsuitable for life. Miraculously, cubic miles of fresh water are distilled from the oceans everyday by sunlight to be carried over land by clouds to replenish our supply.

The devil is in the details. We can’t make that water fall where we most need it. We know prevailing winds, temperature, topography, and vegetation affect rainfall and it’s absorption into the earth. The sheer volume of water that we need to live is so great that it is a huge and expensive task if we have to move it ourselves, as in the case of Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Coastal cities have the option of building desalination plants which are expensive up front, as well as to run.

The trick is to use the water that we have as efficiently and appropriately as possible. Since water can’t be destroyed, we know that we can use it over and over. We also know that different levels of contamination remain suitable for different uses. Clean potable water for drinking should not be used to flush toilets. Graywater is perfectly useable for toilets and to water plants; the added nutrients are either not a problem or actually an asset. Our graywater is already captured in our waste pipes, so we can redirect it relatively easily.

Water comes to us from the sky as well as from the ground or from surface streams: we should take advantage of all of it. Permaculture provides methods of maintaining the moisture in your soil so that you needn’t do much extra watering at all. It goes without saying that we respect our water by not wasting it; turn that spigot off when you are not using it.

When we are through using the water, we need to be sure that it has an opportunity to be cleaned for the next user downstream, and there will always be a user downstream. Minimize large runoff areas like roofs, paved areas, and lawns. We can control runoff by using vegetation and swales to allow the water to filter back into the ground where it can be purified once more. We can avoid using harmful chemicals that persist in our water.

Some good news is that the USA is using 7% less water today than in 1980 despite the fact that we have grown by 70 million people! Agriculture, which uses 60% of our water, has cut back by 15%, so our household use may not have changed much. We know that agriculture is still extremely wasteful and that our personal use can improve greatly so our prospects of reducing our use are very good.

Unlike petroleum or most other resources, water is a stable and indestructible resource that will always be with us. That is not to say that we will not be in serious trouble if we don’t change our current water habits. Also, climate change may require many of us to leave areas that no longer receive enough precipitation. It will not be a matter, though, of whether the water exists, but whether it is available for our use. We can do a lot to insure that it is.

Comments?
terry@vashonloop.com