Water, Water Evam/ærc . . .
99
people soon become experts in making the best use and re—use of it.
Many industrial concerns, particularly those which have to pretreat their water, have known this for a long time. They simply
cannot afford to waste water. On average the petroleum industry
re—cycles water six and a half times while individual reneries may
re—use water as much as thirty times. As water becomes increasingly
expensive such re—use must become more widespread on the
domestic front. This in turn will mean more treatment of polluted
water. In Britain, some municipal supplies already rely on water
courses half of which are processed sewage effluent.
Desalination must be regarded as only a part of a larger problem
of nding sufcient fresh water and the case for its widespread use
is not as great as some writers and authorities would have us believe.
On the other hand, there are many places where desalination is
already, or soon will be, economical. The issue is further confused
by the incomplete knowledge of the world’s water resources. The
International Hydrological Decade which started in 1965 has as one
of its aims the preparation of an accurate balance sheet of the world’s
water. However, even in the absence of accurate gures one can be
fairly sure that new sources of fresh water will be found in the years
to come. How easily they can be exploited is impossible to guess——
it might be cheaper to build desalting plant. In the end some kind
of criterion must be applied and one could do worse than insist that
the development of any water resource be justied in terms of
human well—being. ln other words, the provision of a supply of
fresh water should not be regarded as an end in itself. This test goes
beyond propaganda and seeks out tangible rewards such as im—
proved agriculture or industrial productivity. A cheap way of
desalting the seas will free men from the chains of poverty and thirst,
but it must not be allowed to commit them to just another form—_of\\
bondage.
99
people soon become experts in making the best use and re—use of it.
Many industrial concerns, particularly those which have to pretreat their water, have known this for a long time. They simply
cannot afford to waste water. On average the petroleum industry
re—cycles water six and a half times while individual reneries may
re—use water as much as thirty times. As water becomes increasingly
expensive such re—use must become more widespread on the
domestic front. This in turn will mean more treatment of polluted
water. In Britain, some municipal supplies already rely on water
courses half of which are processed sewage effluent.
Desalination must be regarded as only a part of a larger problem
of nding sufcient fresh water and the case for its widespread use
is not as great as some writers and authorities would have us believe.
On the other hand, there are many places where desalination is
already, or soon will be, economical. The issue is further confused
by the incomplete knowledge of the world’s water resources. The
International Hydrological Decade which started in 1965 has as one
of its aims the preparation of an accurate balance sheet of the world’s
water. However, even in the absence of accurate gures one can be
fairly sure that new sources of fresh water will be found in the years
to come. How easily they can be exploited is impossible to guess——
it might be cheaper to build desalting plant. In the end some kind
of criterion must be applied and one could do worse than insist that
the development of any water resource be justied in terms of
human well—being. ln other words, the provision of a supply of
fresh water should not be regarded as an end in itself. This test goes
beyond propaganda and seeks out tangible rewards such as im—
proved agriculture or industrial productivity. A cheap way of
desalting the seas will free men from the chains of poverty and thirst,
but it must not be allowed to commit them to just another form—_of\\
bondage.