11
For Water
• Water production comes from lakes, rivers, groundwater, and increasingly, rain
gathering, direct and indirect potable (drinkable) reuse of wastewater, or desalination of seawater. These processes use both “grey” built infrastructure and
engaging natural or “green” infrastructure.
• The twentieth century’s largest producers of electrical power, thermoelectric and
hydroelectric power plants, require copious withdrawals of water, particularly
for cooling.
• In economically developed areas, massive and energy-intensive physical and
social infrastructure process and treat and distribute water with the expressed
aim of protecting consumers from water-borne pathogens, toxic chemicals, and
other contaminants.
• Water distribution requires aqueducts and pipe infrastructure that are second
only to the electrical grid in their extent and pervasiveness. Storing water often
requires dams, tanks, wells, and other human infrastructure. Distributing water
through large physical infrastructure requires economic arrangements for the
maintenance of the physical system (“user fees”), and governmental policies
determining which users have a right to water.
The sheer complexity of FEW infrastructures is possibly the most significant
“wonder” of the modern world, a wonder often unnoticed while in plain sight. One
challenge is to make this “invisible” set of systems visible.
Such systems are much more visible in societies where such infrastructure is
missing or dysfunctional, and the impact shapes the daily lives of people who toil
each day to gather sufficient food, energy, and water to sustain themselves and their
families. In most such societies, a disproportionate share of this burden falls to
women, who must pay much higher real costs for these resources in terms of time
consumed, education forgone, and health impacts.
The “hard” metal and concrete infrastructures that provide the physical functions
of modern societies are quite visible. However, a soft infrastructure of human
institutions and activities enable the building, maintenance, and functioning of hard
infrastructure. These and other infrastructure issues are explored in Chap. 10.
1.3.1.3 Criterion 3: Footprint-Heavy
The direct and indirect biophysical impact of consumption of natural resources on
Earth is commonly referred to collectively as the “footprint” of consumption. The
footprint concept is particularly useful when applied to natural resources that have
a “planetary boundary” on their availability.
A planetary boundary is a human-determined threshold beyond which, with a
margin of safety, there is a significant risk that an important biophysical process
undergoes an irreversible decline or collapse. Nine planetary boundaries that have
1 Introduction
For Water
• Water production comes from lakes, rivers, groundwater, and increasingly, rain
gathering, direct and indirect potable (drinkable) reuse of wastewater, or desalination of seawater. These processes use both “grey” built infrastructure and
engaging natural or “green” infrastructure.
• The twentieth century’s largest producers of electrical power, thermoelectric and
hydroelectric power plants, require copious withdrawals of water, particularly
for cooling.
• In economically developed areas, massive and energy-intensive physical and
social infrastructure process and treat and distribute water with the expressed
aim of protecting consumers from water-borne pathogens, toxic chemicals, and
other contaminants.
• Water distribution requires aqueducts and pipe infrastructure that are second
only to the electrical grid in their extent and pervasiveness. Storing water often
requires dams, tanks, wells, and other human infrastructure. Distributing water
through large physical infrastructure requires economic arrangements for the
maintenance of the physical system (“user fees”), and governmental policies
determining which users have a right to water.
The sheer complexity of FEW infrastructures is possibly the most significant
“wonder” of the modern world, a wonder often unnoticed while in plain sight. One
challenge is to make this “invisible” set of systems visible.
Such systems are much more visible in societies where such infrastructure is
missing or dysfunctional, and the impact shapes the daily lives of people who toil
each day to gather sufficient food, energy, and water to sustain themselves and their
families. In most such societies, a disproportionate share of this burden falls to
women, who must pay much higher real costs for these resources in terms of time
consumed, education forgone, and health impacts.
The “hard” metal and concrete infrastructures that provide the physical functions
of modern societies are quite visible. However, a soft infrastructure of human
institutions and activities enable the building, maintenance, and functioning of hard
infrastructure. These and other infrastructure issues are explored in Chap. 10.
1.3.1.3 Criterion 3: Footprint-Heavy
The direct and indirect biophysical impact of consumption of natural resources on
Earth is commonly referred to collectively as the “footprint” of consumption. The
footprint concept is particularly useful when applied to natural resources that have
a “planetary boundary” on their availability.
A planetary boundary is a human-determined threshold beyond which, with a
margin of safety, there is a significant risk that an important biophysical process
undergoes an irreversible decline or collapse. Nine planetary boundaries that have
1 Introduction