I definitely understand that shortages will eventually occur in other areas and when that happens, we'll end up shipping out a lot of our water.

As for the river water containing traces of chemicals, that's why I never drink New Orleans water! It tastes awful but where I live north of Lake Pontchartrain, the artesian water is great.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

Years ago, I ran a liquor wholesalership, and one of my brands was Manichewitz (Man, Oh Manichewitz, what a wine), the rep from Monarch Wine told me that they were building the largest bottling plant in the world, to bottle water.
The only water in a bottle I had ever seen was the sparkling mineral water they had in europe, I had never seen a bottle of water in the US.
Now there's like a whole aisle in the supermarket with nothing but water.
Some of it costs more than gasoline (and they talk about Exxon's profit margin).

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“ The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

Adam Smith , The Wealth of Nations 1776

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics"
FDR's second Inaugural Address

Some things have no substitutes. Fresh water is one of them. It is an absolute necessity and there is nothing that can replace it whatsoever. No amount of innovation and ingenuity will ever change that, any more than it will change the law of conservation of energy.

And as for short-term versus long-term, I didn't even talk about long-term prospects. Long-term, we'll be fine, because at worst what we'll have is a massive die-off, which will bring the population down under the limit of sustainability, and then, since water IS a renewable resource, it will replenish itself and there will be plenty of it to go around. This is entirely a short-term problem -- but a horribly severe one.

Not at all. It's long-term thinking that says drilling in ANWAR is useless. We reached the domestic oil production peak in 1970, our oil production has trended down ever since, nothing we can do is going to change that, and the only solution possible is to improve efficiency and switch to other energy sources. Trying to squeeze the last drops of oil out of our reserves while continuing to burn the stuff as if there was no tomorrow is decidedly short-term thinking and I'm agin' it for that reason.

Yes, we would. If there were no environmental restrictions on drilling anywhere in the U.S., our production of oil per year would still be substantially below what it was in 1970, and the shortages we are experiencing would be hardly better at all.

But it would still be expensive. It would, therefore, drive up the price of food, as well as water itself, and -- again, unless you are prepared to approve of massive wealth redistribution -- the poor would starve.

Umm -- actually, we're about there now. I agree we will never run out of oil. But we have already run out of cheap oil, and the process of transitioning to higher efficiency and alternative energy is going to be very, very painful for a lot of people. This is what happens when you wait for "market forces" to mandate a huge change like this, instead of planning for it.

No, thanks, I will not waste my time reading anything written by Julian Simon. This is the idiot who once said we could go on multiplying our population at the current rate for the next million years -- when all you have to do is use a little math to figure out that if we did, the biomass of the human species would exceed that of the solar system long before then. This is so obviously impossible, that Simon is, frankly, delusional. Not worth my time.

Look, every species in the world has natural limits to its numbers. We are not exempt from this fundamental law of ecology and common sense. There is some uncertainty about where our limits lie, but there is no uncertainty whatsoever that we do have them. And very little uncertainty that, by tapping nonrenewable sources of cheap energy and slowly-renewable sources of groundwater, we have overshot them.

I'm very careful to read the labels of bottled water since I'm going to be paying over $1 for 16 oz. of it. I try to buy "Abita Springs Artesian Water" because it tastes much better than most but if I can't get it, I try to find one that's bottled "spring" water instead of tap water. Since I rarely drink water anyway (maybe 8 oz. every 6 months!), if I'm going to pay for a bottle of it, I don't want something I can get out of my faucet at home! But I won't go nuts and spend a fortune either on "sparkling mineral water".

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

Same, and i even have a well!

I just hate the taste of it so much that i try avoid drinking it altogether, i may try one of those water filer things actually.

That stuff is such utter horrid trash....if there's anything i hate more than normal water its "sparkling" water, gross! It is the most disgusting stuff i have ever tasted, right up there with chocolate flavor brandy.

Man, if that's the most disgusting thing you've ever tasted, I've got to take you to the Asian grocery store.

Salted jellyfish? hmm. Maybe bitter melon.

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When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

I sometimes do go to Asian grocers but they sure have some strange stuff there, ladyfingers are not bad though (Okra).

Speaking of salt though, am i the only one who actually finds sparkling water to taste salty? (I fear the years of alcohol may have ruined my taste buds).

OTOH, might it be mineral water? There are some other minerals besides salt that can taste salty. Sometimes potassium chloride is used as a salt substitute; it has the same taste but no sodium.

I'm just guessing, you understand. I find carbonated water tastes more sour than salty, but that's probably just me.

Hmm you may be right, i can't say it tastes sour, otherwise i may well have been inclined to spit out as i would have thought it had passed its date.

Yes, potassium chloride is used as a "salt" substitute for those who need to keep an eye on their sodium intake. It's the chloride ion in these two salts (KCl and NaCl) that are substrates for the salty taste bud receptors.

Carbonated water probably does taste sour as it is acidic in nature. The origins of some organic chemistry terms are based on their structural nature's interaction with our senses. For example, acids are called such as most non-toxic naturally occuring acids do taste sour. Also, the term for an aromatic compound comes from obviously, aroma, and most naturally occurring aromatic compounds have structural and electronic similarities and have strong aromas.

I find the origins of organic terms interesting in the sense of the history of the discipline. Just a factoid I wanted to share.

Anyway, onto sparkling waters...I like them OK, but my favorite is not yet commonly imported. Badoit. I like it because it does have a bit of a salty flavor to me. I like salt.

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I am an American. That's the way most of us put it, just matter of factly. They are plain words, those four: you could write them on your thumbnail, or sweep them clear across this bright autumn sky. But remember too, that they are more than just words. They are a way of life. So whenever you speak them; speak them firmly, speak them proudly, speak them gratefully. I am an American. ...a tradition

I think for the most part the entire US will not have a problem with getting water, that still doesn't mean we should pollute and squander it. India on the other hand already has a crisis, simply because they have more people then fresh water. Ick.