The Ongoing Super Mega Weather Thread v3

[timun]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Is the water usage that goes "down the pipes" even an issue? Doesn't it all get returned to the river system? To me that seems like use/reuse if we have the capacity to process it.

The problem is not having enough water coming down the river system to meet the demand, not that the capacity to process it can't keep up. It's also not

water taken up by our water treatment plants = water discharged by our wastewater treatment plants + storm sewers

It's not 100% efficient. We have leakage, spillage, irrigation: treated water is "used" and never replenishes.

[fotze2]

Great, now I have Quasimodo saying "She gave me wahtah" going through my head.

[Looch City]

Maybe we all need some of those stillsuits from Dune.

There's gotta be some obscure manufacturer out there for them. Drink your own piss instantly!

[chedder]

If all of the water use charts are to be believed, almost half of all water use in the province goes to agriculture irrigation. They show municipal use at somewhere around 11% and a similar percentage for oil and gas.

The charts I could find online are all several years old. I wouldn't doubt ag use is even more. The amount of newly irrigated land in the last 20 years in Southern Alberta is staggering.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Looch City

There's gotta be some obscure manufacturer out there for them. Drink your own piss instantly!

Some American cities are planning something like that, where waste water is treated to a good enough level that it can piped to the front of the water treatment system to turn back into potable water.


https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/dire...ed-sewage.html


I recall reading that Calgary's waste water is already treated to a very high level so it may not be a big step to take if needed.

[curves2000]

Originally Posted by chedder

If all of the water use charts are to be believed, almost half of all water use in the province goes to agriculture irrigation. They show municipal use at somewhere around 11% and a similar percentage for oil and gas.

The charts I could find online are all several years old. I wouldn't doubt ag use is even more. The amount of newly irrigated land in the last 20 years in Southern Alberta is staggering.

This right here! Although we really really need moisture without a doubt, it's the agriculture and farming business that uses a lot of water.

It's stupider and easier to tell everybody to do everything under the sun including short showers and non flushing of urine in order to help with the situation than what is logical. Logically it would be wise to significantly reduce water dependent use agro business like beef and severely limit restaurant dining then it would be to tell the population to do what they will eventually tell us to do.

Stay home and eat lentils is a harder message to get across then "if it's yellow, let it mellow"

Hopefully we get some more snow where required and we have some strong rain in the near future. We can all reduce our water use but sometimes it's not where we think it's required.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by accord1999

Some American cities are planning something like that, where waste water is treated to a good enough level that it can piped to the front of the water treatment system to turn back into potable water.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/dire...ed-sewage.html

I recall reading that Calgary's waste water is already treated to a very high level so it may not be a big step to take if needed.

If you think about it, we are drinking all the crap downstream from Lake Louise, Banff, Canmore, Cochrane...so I'm more concerned at the quality of their treatment than Calgary!

[D as in David]

How much water gets used/wasted in the watering of lawns in the city of Calgary?

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by D as in David

How much water gets used/wasted in the watering of lawns in the city of Calgary?

A fraction of the billion m3 diverted for all municipal use which is much less than the 4.5 billion m3 used for agriculture and crop irrigation.

[OldDutch]

Long story short, when my back alley flooded from “ground water” we worked to find its source. Turned out something like 25% or more of potable water is lost before it gets to homes. Due to infrastructure.

Would be good if the city took a look at efficiency going forward. Lots of water wasted even before it gets to the home

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by chedder

If all of the water use charts are to be believed, almost half of all water use in the province goes to agriculture irrigation. They show municipal use at somewhere around 11% and a similar percentage for oil and gas.

The charts I could find online are all several years old. I wouldn't doubt ag use is even more. The amount of newly irrigated land in the last 20 years in Southern Alberta is staggering.

The amount of water lost to evaporation from canals must be quite significant. It's costly but replacing canals with pipelines could potentially reduce the amount of water drawn from rivers. At some point does the value of water make it economical to start replacing our canals?

[chedder]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

The amount of water lost to evaporation from canals must be quite significant. It's costly but replacing canals with pipelines could potentially reduce the amount of water drawn from rivers. At some point does the value of water make it economical to start replacing our canals?

California is looking at covering canals with solar panels. Apparently India has done it in a few places. Saves water and produces power. Cost and maintenance are the issues but you'd think that can be worked out. Seems like a great idea as it's not using more farm land just the space above already used infrastructure.

But here in Alberta, those canals are probably within 35 km of some park so it'll be a no-go

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by chedder

California is looking at covering canals with solar panels. Apparently India has done it in a few places. Saves water and produces power. Cost and maintenance are the issues but you'd think that can be worked out. Seems like a great idea as it's not using more farm land just the space above already used infrastructure.

But here in Alberta, those canals are probably within 35 km of some park so it'll be a no-go

Doesn't LA fill their reservoirs with black liquid filled balls that significantly reduce evaporation?

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science...not-save-water

It's solar panels now?

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by Barnes

A fraction of the billion m3 diverted for all municipal use which is much less than the 4.5 billion m3 used for agriculture and crop irrigation.

Lawns are a bygone remnant of a utopian society that doesn't exist anymore. Ideally, they should be turned into gardens to produce food.

[timun]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

Long story short, when my back alley flooded from “ground water” we worked to find its source. Turned out something like 25% or more of potable water is lost before it gets to homes. Due to infrastructure.

Would be good if the city took a look at efficiency going forward. Lots of water wasted even before it gets to the home

You don't know you've got a leak until it shows up somewhere. It's essentially impossible for the water department to just "detect".

[btimbit]

Alright I put winter tires on today, prepare for a month of +15

[timun]

Thank you for sacrificing your winter tires for us all.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by chedder

California is looking at covering canals with solar panels. Apparently India has done it in a few places. Saves water and produces power. Cost and maintenance are the issues but you'd think that can be worked out. Seems like a great idea as it's not using more farm land just the space above already used infrastructure.

But here in Alberta, those canals are probably within 35 km of some park so it'll be a no-go

Interesting idea and doesn't seem to have much of a downside at first glance. If they would be effective in reducing evaporation.

[red sky]

Putting winter tires on in March?

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by red sky

Putting winter tires on in March?

Just bought the tires. Before this I had other vehicles I'd use in the winter so never bothered having winters on this car, but I just sold those vehicles since we're moving soon