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#drought
apas-95 · 2 years
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reasonsforhope · 7 months
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"Namibia is the driest country in Sub-Saharan Africa, and home to two of the world’s most ancient deserts, the Kalahari and the Namib. The capital, Windhoek, is sandwiched between them, 400 miles away from the nearest perennial river and more than 300 miles away from the coast. Water is in short supply.
It’s hard to imagine life thriving in Windhoek, yet 477,000 people call it home, and 99 per cent of them have access to drinking water thanks to technology pioneered 55 years ago on the outskirts of the city. Now, some of the world’s biggest cities are embracing this technology as they adapt to the harshest impacts of climate change. But Namibia leads the way.
How did this come about? In the 1950s, Windhoek’s natural resources struggled to cope with a rapidly growing population, and severe water shortages gripped the city. But disaster forced innovation, and in 1968 the Goreangab Water Reclamation Plant in Windhoek became the first place in the world to produce drinking water directly from sewage, a process known as direct potable reuse (DPR). 
That may sound revolting, but it’s completely safe. Dr Lucas van Vuuren, who was among those who pioneered Windhoek’s reclamation system, once said that “water should not be judged by its history, but by its quality”. And DPR ensures quality. 
This is done using a continuous multi-barrier treatment devised in Windhoek during eight years of pilot studies in the 1960s. This process – which has been upgraded four times since 1968 – eliminates pollutants and safeguards against pathogens by harnessing bacteria to digest the human waste and remove it from the water. This partly mimics what happens when water is recycled in nature, but Windhoek does it all in under 24 hours...
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Pictured: These ultrafiltration membranes help to remove bacteria, viruses and pathogens. Image: Margaret Courtney-Clarke
“We know that we have antibiotics in the water, preservatives from cosmetics, anti-corrosion prevention chemicals from the dishwasher,” Honer explains. “We find them and we remove them.”
Honer adds that online instruments monitor the water continuously, and staff ensure that only drinking water that meets World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines is sent to homes. If any inconsistencies are detected, the plant goes into recycle mode and distribution is halted until correct values are restored. 
“The most important rule is, and was, and always will be ‘safety first’,” says Honer.  The facility has never been linked to an outbreak of waterborne disease, and now produces up to 5.5m gallons of drinking water every day – up to 35 per cent of the city’s consumption.
Namibians couldn’t survive without it, and as water shortages grip the planet, Windhoek’s insights and experience are more important than ever.
Interest from superpowers across the globe
In recent years, delegations from the US, France, Germany, India, Australia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates have visited Windhoek seeking solutions to water shortages in their own countries. 
Megadrought conditions have gripped the US since 2001, and the Colorado River – which provides 40 million people with drinking water – has been running at just 50 per cent of its traditional flow. As a result, several states including Texas, California, Arizona and Colorado are beginning to embrace DPR.
Troy Walker is a water reuse practice leader at Hazen and Sawyer, an environmental engineering firm helping Arizona to develop its DPR regulations. He visited Windhoek last year. “It was about being able to see the success of their system, and then looking at some of the technical details and how that might look in a US facility or an Australian facility,” he said. “[Windhoek] has helped drive a lot of discussion in industry. [Innovation] doesn’t all have to come out of California or Texas.”
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Pictured: The internal pipes and workings of Namibia's DPR plant. As water becomes scarcer in some parts, countries are looking to DPR for solutions. Image: Margaret Courtney-Clarke
Namibia has also helped overcome the biggest obstacle to DPR – public acceptance. Disgust is a powerful emotion, and sensationalist ‘toilet to tap’ headlines have dismantled support for water reuse projects in the past. Unfortunately, DPR’s biggest strength is also its biggest weakness, as the speed at which water can re-enter the system makes it especially vulnerable to prejudice, causing regulators to hesitate. “Technology has never been the reason why these projects don’t get built – it’s always public or political opposition,” says Patsy Tennyson, vice president of Katz and Associates, an American firm that specialises in public outreach and communications.
That’s why just a handful of facilities worldwide are currently doing DPR, with Windhoek standing alongside smaller schemes in the Philippines, South Africa and a hybrid facility in Big Spring, Texas. But that’s all changing. Drought and increased water scarcity worldwide are forcing us to change the way we think about water. 
Now, the US is ready to take the plunge, and in 2025, El Paso Water will begin operating the first ‘direct to distribution’ DPR facility in North America, turning up to 10m gallons of wasterwater per day into purified drinking water – twice as much as Windhoek. San Diego, Los Angeles, California, as well as Phoenix, Arizona are also exploring the technology."
Of course, DPR is not a silver bullet in the fight against climate change. It cannot create water out of thin air, and it will not facilitate endless growth. But it does help cities become more climate resilient by reducing their reliance on natural sources, such as the Colorado River. 
As other nations follow in Namibia’s footsteps, Windhoek may no longer take the lead after almost six decades in front.
“But Windhoek was the first,” Honer reminds me. “No one can take that away.”"
-via Positive.News, August 30, 2023
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zegalba · 1 year
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Paul Nicklen for National Geographic arial photographs of the Colorado River, "Delta" as it flows into Baja, Mexico. Appearing like water colors, the work demonstrates the desperate remains of the Colorado River, ravaged by drought.
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hennethgalad · 2 months
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"officials are warning of an “unfolding famine” that could equal or eclipse the 1984-85 disaster, which inspired Live Aid. They have reported hundreds of deaths."
everyone agrees on the need for land reform
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Kinda fucking wild that many places in the United States are in a fucking drought and many countries have created water saving products but we don't fucking use them in the States.
Is it the racism again?
Like first of all Mexico (and other countries I'm sure) they have these toilets where if you just pee you push one button. It uses less water. But if you poop you push the other button. It uses more water. Over all saves water.
And in Japan they reuse bath water to wash their clothes. Then they reuse clothes water to flush the toilet. (For context in Japan they get clean in a shower prior to a bath so bath water isn't that dirty). Why the fuck are we using CLEAN water to flush a toilet?
And like aside from toilet water. Why the fuck can't that water be used to water our lawns or some shit? The only reason I can think of is maybe the chemicals in our soaps but like if we just switched to all natural products we could store like bath water to water the plants.
Like there's this idea about 3 levels of water cleanness.
Clean water. You can drink this water. You can bathe on this water. It's 100% clean just been sanitized and shit.
Grey water. This is used water so you don't want to drink it. But it's used without toxic chemicals or excrement. So like you could still use it for activities that don't need clean water.
Black water. This is water that's contaminated with chemicals or excrement which needs to go back to the cleaning plant or whatever.
Grey water comes from activities such as washing dishes, bathing, or laundry and like... you don't want to drink it but like... there's certain activities that don't need "this water is drinkably clean" water for. Gardening. Landscaping. Flushing the toilet. Composting.
Fucking wild.
-fae
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jacobvanloon · 7 months
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Dry Lightning (Red Sun IX)
Gouache on paper, 8x10”
2023
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gwydionmisha · 9 months
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thatsbelievable · 3 months
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whatevergreen · 2 years
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The Loire River, France
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The Rhine, Germany
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Po River, Italy
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The Danube, Hungary
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Yangtze River, Chongqing, China
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Lake Poyan, China - shrunk by 75% due to drought
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Rio Grande, Mexico side
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Colorado River, USA side
Through this summer (2022), severe drought is being experienced across much of Europe, North and Central America, China, and many other regions.
Some of this of course is making existing problems worse. The Colorado River was in crisis long before this summer (for many years). The Mekong River which emerges in Tibet, and flows through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam, has been in trouble for years due to a major series of dams in China.
Regional droughts are nothing new however the scale of the current crisis is historic and mostly due to climate change.
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mapsontheweb · 11 months
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Copernicus satellites continue to acquire worrisome snapshots of the impacts of the severe drought ongoing in Spain.
Extremadura has lost its typical green color, as evidenced when comparing Sentinel 2 images from May  2022 and 2023.
by @defis_eu
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wild-raven-and-crow · 2 months
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Fire and Drought
Drought left the forest vulnerable to fire.
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Still-living trees rise up from soot-black roots, a testament to the fire-resistant bark of the redwoods.
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The silhouettes of former redwoods stand among those that still live, and the forest is made more beautiful by their company.
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B.C.’s average snowpack is almost 40 per cent lower than normal, raising concerns about what Premier David Eby says are “some of the most dramatic drought conditions that have been seen in our lifetime.” The province’s latest snow bulletin says levels remain “very low” at 61 per cent of normal, compared to 79 per cent of normal this time last year. The bulletin shows the snowpack is especially sparse across the South Coast, ranging from 30 per cent of normal on Vancouver Island to 47 per cent in the Lower Fraser region.
Continue Reading
Tagging @politicsofcanada
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ancientorigins · 5 months
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As Brazil's drought exposes a riverbed, ancient petroglyphs aged between 1,000-2,000 years have surfaced. The enigmatic carvings depicting water, animals, and the rare "Caretas" - little human faces seen only once before.
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williammarksommer · 1 year
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Empty Lake Beer 
California
All The Time In The World
Hasselblad 500c/m
Kodak Ektar 100iso
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dorfdisco · 3 months
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We all depend on fluids
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