If they can take the poop out of the water good enough to drink why isn't sea water an option? Can they could take the salt out of it?
2007-01-31 20:37:05 · 5 answers · asked by deb m 4 in Environment
1) We don't generally drink recycled brownwater (that'd be the water with the poop in it). Most brownwater is separated by solids/liquids (mushy things are solid) and then the solids are turned into dirt by natural processes and the liquids are cleaned up of harmful bacteria by other bacteria in a series of washings. The final product is usually a pond full of water that is allowed to evaporate for a couple of years and the dirt at the bottom used for a landfill.
2) Only a handful of places reclaim the brownwater into purified water. The reclamation is expensive enough that unless water supplies are limited or storage pond space unavailable, its usually much cheaper to rely on aquifers and rainfall for fresh water. It involves things like osmotic treatment and uv-treatment, so its expensive.
3) Sea water needs to not ony be purified from microbes and solid waste (like brownwater) but it also has high salt content. Salt stays dissolved in water very easily, so its hard to get out. Its harder to get out than it is to get bacteria out. You have to go through evaporative purification, which is time-consuming and takes a lot of energy (its way more expensive than uv-treatment). Large-scale desalination is highly impractical in cold or temparate climates, because most technology requires solar energy (specifically in the form of heat).
Some places do have desalination plants, particularly in the Middle East, where heat is plentiful, sun abundant, and water very scarce. At this time, that's the only place it makes economic sense to use sea water.
2007-02-01 08:34:27 · answer #1 · answered by Tomteboda 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
desalination opposite osmosis i heard they're en focused on the microbals interior the water sistillation won't be pura nd clean sufficient even petrolum products bypass by way of many rounds of refinery before popping out using fact the main suitable product
2016-12-13 05:58:21 · answer #2 · answered by fechter 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They can. but the water will come to you expensive, make you thinking twice before you go to take a shower.
2007-02-01 21:37:53 · answer #3 · answered by Kalooka 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Right now it seems like it just cost too much.
2007-01-31 22:57:29 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
it's very expensive to desalinate sea water!!!!!
2007-01-31 22:00:55 · answer #5 · answered by Flongkoy 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋