Is there enough water in the United States so I can keep on wasting water?

Question

I know in other countries there are water shortages but I dont care because I live in the United States.

Answer 1

If there ever is a shortage of water, I'm sure you will be the kind to suffer in silence.

As a homeowner, I pay for every drop that I use. I hear a Ka-ching everytime I flush a toilet in my house.

To paraphrase Dee-Dee Snidely, "don't mess with Mother Nature and she won't try to kill you".


Good luck with your life.

Answer 2

No.

Depending on where you live, your water probably comes from an aquifer. (Aquifers, simply put, are undergrounds systems of porous rock or sand that collect water from rain that seeps through the ground.) Some of the major aquifers in the United States are the Edwards Aquifer in Texas and the Ogallala Aquifer in the central U.S.

The Edwards aquifer provides water to San Antonio and surrounding areas, and this area has to ration water practically every summer because of high demand.

The Ogallala Aquifer is one of the largest aquifers in the world and was formed during the last ice age. However it is quickly being depleted and it is estimated it recharges only 10% of the amount of water that is demanded by those who rely on it.

If you live near the coast, you have the added trouble of subsidence. If you take water out of the ground and replace it with nothing, you are leaving big caves underground. These caves can cause the land to sink, or worse, the water from the ocean will seep into the aquifer and make your local water salty.

Another source of fresh water in the United States is the glaciers in the Rocky Mountains and elsewhere. Every summer they melt a little and provide a lot of water to the people near them and every winter they regain what they lost. But due to global warming, the glaciers are shrinking and may well disappear in the not too far off future.

Regardless of where you live, you'll do everyone a favor by conserving water.

Answer 3

There may be parts of the US that have shortages. I know like for Minneapolis the water comes out of the Muddy Mississippi. I would imagine that along the way to New Orleans there are many more who draw their water from that source. Where I now live we draw from this large man made lake. It covers many sqaure miles and I think with us as with others is just how fast the water can be purified. There are parts of the US that are arid.

Answer 4

In a word, yes. Drinking too much water can lead to a condition known as water intoxication and to a related problem resulting from the dilution of sodium in the body, hyponatremia. Water intoxication is most commonly seen in infants under six months of age and sometimes in athletes. A baby can get water intoxication as a result of drinking several bottles of water a day or from drinking infant formula that has been diluted too much. Athletes can also suffer from water intoxication. Athletes sweat heavily, losing both water and electrolytes. Water intoxication and hyponatremia result when a dehydrated person drinks too much water without the accompanying electrolytes.

Answer 5

That's a wonderful idea! In fact, there is as much water on the planet today as there was when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. There will always be plenty of water.

Now, if you are talking about useful water, you may want to reexamine your strategy. You may first want to look at NASA's global water map:
http://www-surf.larc.nasa.gov/surf/pages/water.html
You will see that the US isn't doing as well as you think in the water share.

NASA also has a page for global water distribution:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Water/
This page illustrates the tiny portion of useful water on our planet.

With regard to the coming urgency for "Thinking Globally - Acting Locally", check out Jonathan Harris' "infographics" poster:
http://www.princeton.edu/~ina/infographics/water.html. When our neighboring countries run out, they will be forced to do what you do when you run out of sugar in the middle of a recipe - run over to tthe neighbor's for some.

There are two larger issues that NASA does not discuss in their global water distribution. 1) Keeping in mind that the US has just about the same amount of water available as it did 200 years ago, there are now 250 million to share with instead of the 4 million of 200 years ago. 2) Of the roughly 3/4% of fresh water in groundwater and lakes and streams around the world, much of that is too polluted to drink.

When you waste water, you are not only using our drinkable water but you are also moving water to the undrinkable part of the water distribution. We aren't losing any water on this planet, but we won't be getting any more new water, either.

If we do, it will be in the form of a large icy comet and we probably won't need water at all after that.

Answer 6

That will depend on where you're living. In some parts of the USA, there's plenty of water. In others, water is being removed from underground systems faster than it is being replenished. In all cases, pumping water and purifying it takes energy and money.
Use what you need. Don't be unjustifiably wasteful.

Answer 7

Waste in never a good thing, even if there is enough supply. It is just a waste, you know what I mean?

And there are plenty of places in the US that are short on water, at least short on clean water.

Answer 8

Ya soon, you in US will have to live off the piss that other countries intends to drain....

then maybe you will move to the other countries and waste water there too...

and soon you will run out of places to waste water.... well atleast you can proudly say... I wasted so much water in my life...

Answer 9

Yeah thats a great attitude to have!!!!!!!!!!!!
You can waste water, throw all non decompasable things into seas and oceans, kill all animals, use up all petrol and diesel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are in the USA, but my friend it also happens to be on planet Earth.
And all the resources are meant to be used judiciously...........so that everyone has the oppurtunity to live............
There is absolutely no resource available anywhere that should be wasted. If we do so, then our grandchildren won't remember us fondly.

Hope that answers your question.
Keep asking!

Answer 10

Yeah sure go ahead, drain the US of every single drop of water.