[tallrick]

The one thing they SHOULD do is run a pipeline along the expressways connecting parks and roadway landscaping with the sewage plants. Also consider watering schools and parks with the stuff. The water is probably as clean as the well water, and it would be nice to see the schools and parks cared for like they were before the 1980's.

[sunrico90]

Desalination is very expensive, but compared to what? Is a choice, better than none....


Water? Who cares about water? # More than half of all animals and plants live in water.
# The human body is two-thirds water.
# A human can live for more than a month without food, but only for a few days without water.
# Water is necessary for most of the biochemical reactions that occur in all living things.

80% of the Earth is covered with water but only one 1% is fresh water that humans can use.

Water is used in photosynthesis, the process plants use to convert sunlight into carbohydrates.

# Almost 40% of our freshwater supply is used for generating hydroelectric power.
# Hydroelectric power makes up 11% of the United States total power supply.

Visit: USGS Real-Time Water Data for the Nation

Thank God I have no children. For some of us that have children (old or young) we lived for them. Just remember We all were children at one time...

[Magnulus]

Desalinization is expensive. In the Middle East they do it because they have no choice, and they have alot of oil and natural gas. Saudi Arabia for instance uses natural gas as the energy input for distillation of the water. It is not a very good option for Florida.

One thing Florida could do is allow native and low-water groundcovers on lawns. Currently homeowner's assosciations require the growing of grasses that are not very drought resistant. Growing sawgrass and rye would be a nice option, for instance. there are also some non-grass groundcovers that work. This is the environmentally friendly thing to do but nobody is doing it. This is the 21st century, there is no need for Victorian-looking lawns anymore.

[Spongedaddy]

Originally Posted by Magnulus

Desalinization is expensive. In the Middle East they do it because they have no choice, and they have alot of oil and natural gas. Saudi Arabia for instance uses natural gas as the energy input for distillation of the water. It is not a very good option for Florida.

One thing Florida could do is allow native and low-water groundcovers on lawns. Currently homeowner's assosciations require the growing of grasses that are not very drought resistant. Growing sawgrass and rye would be a nice option, for instance. there are also some non-grass groundcovers that work. This is the environmentally friendly thing to do but nobody is doing it. This is the 21st century, there is no need for Victorian-looking lawns anymore.

Well then this might be a good time to start ignoring politics and lobyists and really put our money into alternative fuels. We are a very fat (talking more metaphore here), lazy, ignorant nation. I hope we do something before it is too late.

[MrTudo]

It's incredible how much water is wasted in this country just on turning on the hot water ,and waiting waiting waiting for water to come out of the faucet, hot. At least in Fla. I don't know how they screwed this up but it's an incredible waste.

When I lived in Asia, where resources MUST be economized , I had an on-demand hot water and it conserved quite a bit of water. A/C units didn't aircon entire homes if you didn't need to. They ( split systems) work in a similar fashion to window units although are much more efficent, on remote control and quiet.

We waste huge amounts of resources here.

[Suncoaster]

Originally Posted by Magnulus

Desalinization is expensive. In the Middle East they do it because they have no choice, and they have alot of oil and natural gas. Saudi Arabia for instance uses natural gas as the energy input for distillation of the water. It is not a very good option for Florida.

One thing Florida could do is allow native and low-water groundcovers on lawns. Currently homeowner's assosciations require the growing of grasses that are not very drought resistant. Growing sawgrass and rye would be a nice option, for instance. there are also some non-grass groundcovers that work. This is the environmentally friendly thing to do but nobody is doing it. This is the 21st century, there is no need for Victorian-looking lawns anymore.

Exactly! And the type of grass required by these associations is the worst kind, from a water-conservation perspective: St. Augustine grass is a water hog. Better to have non-grass alternatives.

Think FL-Friendly, not necessarily native. Many natives evolved in areas that were swampland - the swamps have since been replaced by development. Whatever groundcover or landscaping is used, the plants should be water misers.

And what about all the irrigation wasted on golf courses? Good grief, talk about non-essential use - what a WASTE! Either use the synthetic turf or turn the whole thing into a giant sand hazard, whatever. Better still, replace the golf courses with affordable housing.

An earlier poster was thankful he had no children. When I look at what's going on in the world, I have for once started feeling the same way.

[Magnulus]

I'd love to have a flash water heater, since it takes so long for water to heat up the pipes in the winter. It does cost money to install, though, and doesn't add alot of value to your house.

I hate golf. My dad being an Air Force officer played it (he still does from time to time), but what a waste of time- it's not that fun, requires way too much skill to be anything but a swearing match. Also, my dad got his legs irradiated by the tropical sun when he was in Guam playing golf, and it burned him so deeply that it damaged blood vessels. And yet he still plays. What a stupid, dumb sport. The only reason people play it is because it is expensive and therefore exclusive. Actually, home owner NIMBY's love golf courses because it "stops developement", and they hate apartments and duplexes anyways, so they'd rather have a golf course next door to them than affordable housing. We live in a golf course community type area and few locals actually play golf there.

[tallrick]

Remember when most housing was "affordable" in Florida? Now with Government planning nothing is affordable. I bet the golf courses use less resources than apartments teeming with poor people. Anyway, the golf courses are a good place to dump processed sewage water. They also help a little bit with aquifer recharge wheras apartments do not. I would rather look at a golf course than apartments like in Hialeah.