Desalination on tap would be a great help to all

Ilook mournfully at my little garden as it shrivels away in the summer heat and drought, and I seriously consider pulling out all the plants and replacing them with stone chips or paving stones, which require no water. My cats would never forgive me. They regard the garden as their own huge private toilet.

The city council happily passes plans for new housing developments down in the south, but nobody seems to consider where all the extra water will come from to flush all those new toilets and run all those new showers.

A friend recently remarked wisely the only real long-term solution to our water supply problems was to develop a cost-effective way of desalinating seawater.

He pointed out there was probably just as much water on our planet as there was in Noah’s day. The only problem was, as it was for Noah, the water was in the wrong place. And most of it isn’t good for drinking.

Whenever we mention desalinating seawater, the initial reaction is: “Oh that’s far too costly!”

Well, yes, it is costly using present methods, but the human brain is a flexible machine and it shouldn’t be too hard for it to come up with a cost-effective solar-powered plant.

Many modern homes have solar water heaters mounted on their roofs and the water that comes from them is almost boiling hot. If we were to make a solar heater that heats seawater and collects the vapour that comes off in a condenser (cooled by seawater, naturally) we could have a continuous stream of pure water dripping out at the end of it.

The experts predict that 14 percent of the world’s population will be suffering from water scarcity by 2025.

They also say 1 percent of the planet’s population is already dependent on desalinated water.

I don’t think we take our water supply seriously enough until it’s too late. There are far sexier projects to tackle – like electric cars and solar-powered aircraft.

I think there should be a Nobel Prize for the inventor who comes up with a system for producing cheap drinking water from the sea.

The emphasis should be on on the word “cheap”. There are already thousands of desalination plants around the world.

Israel produces 40 percent of its water from desalination plants.

The biggest plant in the world is Ras Al-Khair in Saudi Arabia, which pours out more than a million cubic metres of fresh water a day.

I believe we should be working like mad to design a better system here in South Africa.

Last Laugh

Mary fell in love with her dentist and before long they were having a passionate affair.

One day the dentist said: “Mary, we’re going to have to end our romance. Your husband is bound to find out.”

“No, he won’t,” said Mary. “We’ve been lovers for nearly a year now and he doesn’t suspect a thing.”

“That’s true,” said the dentist, “but you’re down to one tooth.”