I am starting to think the next crisis will be the lack of water in China - not oil anywhere.

[hollysmom]

They seem to be whole hog on polluting the water, which should lead to very little clean water left to drink - This can be more effective on population control that the one child program.

like so many things I believe there is a tipping point with ground water. I don't think people can adapt quick enough to the lack of clean water.

[MADem]

1. Someone needs to get going on improved water purification on a large scale.

And while they are at it, they should work on making desalinization better and more affordable.

We might need to make greater use of seawater in the outyears.

[Boomerproud]

2. I remember back in high school my history teacher predicting that a water shortage

will be the next ecological disaster-and this was 1974.

[Buzz Clik]

3. China is going through economic growing pains. They'll figure it out.

[hollysmom]

5. I seriously disagree -

China has 400 cities with less than acceptable amounts of water, and they are a big investor in damming to provide water, but if pigs die drinking that water, what use is it?

[napoleon_in_rags]

4. Some say this is issue number one.

But there's some incredible research working against it, involving new nano-scale tech that can filter water at the molecular level. Check this out:
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/115909-graphene-the-perfect-water-filter

[Buzz Clik]

6. Which is awesome. However, the economic efficiency ...

... is to not pollute in the first place.

[hollysmom]

7. it is a lot cheaper to not dirty the water than to have to clean it afterwards

Will they be able to afford this for their billions of people, or only for the rich?
Prelude to a water and economic crisis?

Water quality is a bigger problem in North China, where shortage of water prevents pollutant discharges from being diluted. In the northern region, about 40 percent of the rivers have the two worst water quality standards: grades V and VI. This means water is so highly polluted that it is not only unsafe to drink (a serious health issue in itself), but also very difficult and expensive to treat.

[napoleon_in_rags]

8. Well, Lockheed Martin is working on a large scale production technique

http://www.businessinsider.com/lockheed-martin-desalination-graphene-filters-2013-3

Lockheed anticipates that their filters will be able to provide clean drinking water "at a fraction of the cost of industry-standard reverse osmosis systems," their press release says. Water-poor regions of the world will be the first to benefit.


Of course, make no mistake. All these players intend to make money off this, and money they will make. So yes, its cheaper not to pollute in the first place.

edit: I thought Lockheed HAD patented a fairly large scale production technique already, but that's not what this article says. Regardless, this line of research is a huge deal for the future of the world.

[hollysmom]

10. I can see this transforming deserts first -

heavy duty land pollution will be harder to fix.

[napoleon_in_rags]

11. Oh yeah, there you go.

Get it cheap enough, and all that desert land by the sea becomes green. Good time to have real estate in the Saudi region, I guess!

[woodsprite]

9. Isn't this where "Lil Boots" and Moon's estate steps in with their aquifers in Paraguay? n/t