Water Shortages | Blue Living Ideas

Is Traditional Water Management the Future?

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Scott James.

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The world’s water situation is only going to get more challenging in the coming years. There will be more people a water supply that is increasingly polluted and often distributed with aging infrastructure. Clearly we will need to embrace new methods of water management- is it possible that those methods have been around for thousands of years? The International Traditional Knowledge Institute (ITKI), a new research group founded in Bagno a Ripoli, Italy, is teaching that traditional methods from the Sahara, Ethiopia and Babylon will work well with new technologies like solar power.
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Is Climate Change Genocide?

Posted on Apr 22, 2010 by Scott James.

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Climate change and rising temperatures are widely believed to be causing the retreat of glaciers and lower river flows. According to researchers, that is what’s happening to the Andean glaciers. Evo Morales, President of Boliva, believes there should be an international court of environmental justice- and many Bolivians agree with him. In fact, Boliva’s UN Ambassador is preparing to present a proposal to Mexico’s COP16 to create an international court of justice.
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Rivers in the Desert: Solar-Powered Desalination

Posted on Apr 15, 2010 by Scott James.

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Water crises and water shortages are increasing around the world- at this point there are 1.2 billion people in 40 countries without reliable access to clean water. But what if there were a way to use the sun to turn oceans into drinking water? IBM and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the national research and development organization in Saudi Arabia, announced this week that they are collaborating on research to create a solar-powered desalination plant. The project combines two technologies that IBM and KACST have been working on: ultra-high concentrator photovoltaic (UHCPV) technology and energy-efficient filtration through nanotechnology.
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Research Recommends Diversified Water Portfolios for Urban Water Planning

Posted on Jan 27, 2010 by Scott James.

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Cities need water. And as they grow, so does their need for water. Unlike most other goods that can be manufactured or shipped in, you can’t make more water. Cities are facing the reality that they have to learn to efficiently use the water they have and prevent waste at all points of the process, and with the growing pressures of rising population and climate change, urban water planning is only becoming more critical. A new study from Penn State says that combining traditional permanent water rights with leases and options is the most effective way forward for cities to secure their water future.
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Will Smart Water Grids Become a $16.3 Billion Industry by 2020?

Posted on Nov 19, 2009 by Scott James.

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If you read this site you know that water is a major issue and how we relate to and manage our water could be the defining issue of the 21st century. Water innovation is just now starting to build buzz and attract investors, with venture capital still not flush and technologies very much in their infancy. Any discussion of macro-water issues brings up the smart water grid as a necessary but complicated step- but will smart water grids, currently a $530 million market, become a $16.3 Billion industry in the next ten years? A new report from Lux Research thinks it will.
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