Farmers and horticulturists are being advised to act now in order to survive the years of drought ahead.

A recent report commissioned by the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) shows that higher temperatures and lower annual rainfall in summer is likely to reduce river flow and subsequently reduce the availability of water for the agricultural and horticultural industries in England.

The report was carried out by scientists from the Walker Institute for Climate System Research and the School of Agriculture – both a part of the University of Reading.  Agri-Science Director for RASE, Ian Smith stated that the future likelihood of drought posed a challenge for “plant breeders, policy makers and planners as well as farmers.”

“For a long time, water management in the UK has concentrated on getting water off land and into rivers and drains and then into the sea. Perhaps we need to rethink some of these strategies and divert more of that water into storage for later use,” he said.

The report discusses how important it is that farmers recognize that climate change is a reality and that a readily available water supply is likely to be one of the first casualties of this change.

According to a Phys.org article other key messages of the report include:

• Finding ways of reducing demand and focusing production on enterprises which use water more efficiently or move some enterprises to areas where water is more readily available
• identifying the potential to move water from areas where there are fewer requirements to areas with higher demand
• better use of excess winter rainfall and flood water through capture and storage
• feasibility of water re-use and what is acceptable to the consumer
• emphasis in plant breeding programs on drought and water-logging resistance
• revising crop protection policy for new weed, pest and disease pressures

The report also notes that climate change is only one aspect that will influence agricultural behaviour, and that other factors like national and global drivers, political incentives, technological innovations and socio-economic will also play a vital role.

Mr Smith said that the report clearly identifies the importance of water management in the future and will feature strongly as an educational tool at RASE meetings.

Article by Kate R., appearing courtesy Celsias.

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Safe drinking water from thin air? That’s the claim of San Luis Obispo, California, based Atmospheric Water Systems (AWS), which offers a product line of air-filtering water systems under the brand Dewpointe. Founded more than a year and a half ago by Co-owner Stephen Krauss, Dewpointe systems takes a different approach to creating safe drinking water. Rather than filtering the water that comes through a pipe, Dewpointe filters the moisture out of the air to create drinking water. There are no water pipes attached to the machine. The rectangular device simply plugs into a wall.

I caught up with Mr. Krauss on the second day of this year’s West Coast Green event held at Fort Mason in San Francisco, California, and found out more about the Dewpointe system.

How does it work? Magic?

No, similar to a dehumidifier, Dewpointe pulls moisture out of the air; but unlike a dehumidifier, the goal of this device is to make that moisture drinkable. A series of filters take out 99.99% of the impurities and create clean drinking water. Impressive as this may sound, it also means that there must be moisture in the air for Dewpointe to operate effectively. Hence, all tropical or even moderate humidity environments in the United States such as coastal states, the south and mid-west work well. In desert environments or low moisture areas such as the south-western US, the Dewpointe will struggle.

How much water does it create and what does it cost?

Depending on the relative humidity, a residential unit will create 3-8 gallons of drinking water per day. There is a hot/cold water model (DH9) and a cold only model (DH9x). Both models retail for $1,599. Commercial units are also available but were not at the show and therefore are not described in this article.

Is there maintenance?

Yes, similar to all other water filtration systems, the water filters need to be changed. Estimated annual filter changes is approximately $100. The filters are made of plastic and can be recycled in the same way you would recycle any other plastic. Units come with a 90-day labor, one-year parts and three-year compressor guarantee from the manufacturer.

How does it taste?

Anyone who has ever tasted “plasticy” bottled water or chlorinated tap water will know that taste is the real test of any filtration system. Dewpointe claims that its water is more pure than anything you’ll get out of your tap and will be much better than what you are accustomed to tasting from bottled water. Mr Krauss states that this is because the EPA allows 20 parts per million (PPM) of total dissolved solids in tap water whereas bottled water can have anywhere from 400-800 PPM. Dewpointe has 3 PPM. My completely unscientific and statistically meaningless test of drinking a cup of Dewpointe water confirms that it does taste clean, clear and overall excellent.

How much energy does it use?

This is the downside of using an electric device to create clean drinking water. The hot and cold model uses around 10 kilowatt (kW) hours of power to create 3-8 gallons per day at a cost between $0.40 – $3.00/day. This is because the cost of electricity varies across the US with some areas paying only $0.04 per kW hour and other areas paying as high as $0.30 per kW hour. The higher your humidity, the more you will produce and the lower your per gallon cost. Worst case scenario is that the cost of a gallon of purified water is the minimum amount of water produced (3 gallons) and the highest cost of electricity ($0.30 * 10 kW hours = $3.00) meaning that a gallon costs $3.00/3 gallons = $1.00 per gallon. This is comparable to what you would pay at the store but means you do not have to waste a plastic bottle or make a trip to the store. The best case scenario for a Dewpointe system is that you produce 8 gallons of water at a cost of $0.40 or $.05 per gallon. As you can see, where you fall on the humidity/electric rate spectrum makes a big difference but even the worst case scenario is comparable to the price for a gallon in the store. Mr. Krauss states that the average cost one should expect to pay is somewhere between the extremes or around $0.50-$0.60 per gallon. Note that both models shut off when the water storage tank is full.

Off grid considerations

Since the Dewpointe system runs on electricity, anyone who wants drinking water off the grid could simply couple this unit with solar panels to create drinking water in remote locations. This is ideal for emergency relief areas, military applications, park ranger stations and a plethora of other situations.

Manufacturing source:

The compressors are built in the United States, the filters come from Japan and the body of the units is made in China. Mr. Krauss stated that he spent a long time determining the best place to manufacture the units and through his research realized that an entirely US built system would need to retail for closer to $4,000.

Cool to the last drop

Depending on where you live, the quality of your water and the price you pay for electricity, Dewpointe may offer a clean, cost effective, great tasting, and more sustainable way for you to enjoy drinking water. Magic? No. Innovative thinking? Yes.

To see the device in action and find out more about why it was developed, watch the video below:

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Chris Tobias recently wrote about waste to energy in Singapore, illustrating the city’s exemplary response to fly ash left over from the incineration process. I just read an interesting French book on water, and one of the most interesting parts of the book was about Singapore.

Written by Erik Orsenna, a member of the prestigious Académie française, L’Avenir de l’eau (Water’s future) enables us to travel all around the world (albeit reading) and gathers facts and figures on how water issues differ from country to country.

Perfectly located between East and West Asia, Singapore is an important local hub for 4,000 international companies. The city’s geostrategic importance led to an important population boom, with the number of inhabitants climbing from 1.5 million at the time of independence in 1965 to more than 4.5 million today.

Despite receiving a lot of rainwater (there are 2,415 mm of precipitations per year, compared to roughly 500 mm for San Francisco and 1,200 mm for New York City), the city lacks water.

The precious liquid comes from four main sources: rain, water treatment, desalination and imports from Malaysia.

Rainwater currently brings about 30 percent of the needed resources thanks to the city’s 15 reservoirs. There will soon be 18. About 40 percent come from Malaysian imports thanks to two deals, one of which will be ending in 2011. The remaining 30 percent of water come from various treatments and desalination.

Water recycling is indeed important since the local utility launched NEWater, which is made of reclaimed water. The results are satisfying. The utility’s Chairman, Mr. Tan Gee Paw, estimates that NEWater responds to more than 15 percent of Singaporean water needs and by 2010 will provide 30 percent of the water through a new factory that will treat 2.5 million cubic meters per day. It is even possible to buy bottles of this reclaimed water. Since its launch six years ago, over ten million bottles of NEWater have been sold.

Singapore is also exemplary as it is estimated that only 12 percent of the total water leaks through the pipes compared to more than 25 percent in many American cities or even 40 to 60 percent in Mexico City.

Conservation measures prove to be successful as the average Singaporean now consumes only 155 liters of water each day, compared to 176 liters in 1994. This has to be compared with the average Canadian ( 330 l ), American (300 l ), Australian (260 l ) Italian (200 l), French (160 l ) and Belgian (120 l ) consumptions.

To conclude: Water management in Singapore could and even should inspire many cities in America, Asia and Europe.

There are numerous business opportunities for water treatment and management companies. The BBC estimates that in Singapore no less than $3.5 billion have been invested in the past five years and that the same sum will be invested in the five years to come.

[photo credit: Flickr]

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For thousands of years, the native Aymara people have been harvesting scarcely fallen raindrops along the Andean foothills in northern Chile by capturing the rainwater in nets for irrigation and drinking purposes. The people in this region, in and around the Atacama desert, are accustomed to fragile ecosystems and an extremely dry climate. However, today, even in the fertile central and southern regions of Chile, there are noticeable tensions over water rights and water availability.

Presently, it is not as if there are times when nothing flows out of the tap here. Nor are the urban folks of Santiago running outside their homes with their own polypropylene mesh nets ready to catch any drop of rain that falls. However, a convergence of factors – an increase in population growth, perceptible changes in climate patterns, and competition for water resources between various industries and hydro power – have caused a national “war over water” of sorts to emerge at the forefront of national environmental, economic, and political discussions.

Climate Change Impacts

Recent studies by Chilean scientists convey climate change could create huge challenges for the country’s expected water availability. The models show projected temperature increases of 1C to 1.5C and a drop in rainfall of at least 10 to 15% in the next 40 years. In addition, the 4^th IPCC Assessment, from 2007, documents:

1. dramatic reductions that have already occurred in the volumes of Chile’s glaciers over recent years,
2. an increase in the presence of hanta virus after prolonged droughts, and
3. more erratic weather activities associated with the El Niño and La Niña cyclical phenomena.

Projections from this assessment also reveal restrictions in the country’s hydro availability in the central zone in the coming years, as well as increased salinity and desertification in Chile’s northern zones

These changes would have a particularly strong impact on Chile’s internationally beloved breadbasket, its prominent agriculture and wine production from the fertile central region. While Chile is not as dependent on Andean glacial run-off for its fresh water supply as neighboring Peru and Bolivia, the natural water supplies from melting snow on the Andes are essential for Chile’s agricultural sector, forestry sector, fruits, and the vines that produce the exquisite wine.

Currently, changing climate patterns, manifested in more frequent and prolonged droughts in the central region, have had the greatest impact in diminished reserves for hydroelectric supplies. Such hydroelectricity has, historically, been Chile’s predominant energy source and, presently accounts for around 40% of Chile’s total installed electricity capacity.

The central region is also home to approximately two-thirds of the country’s 16.6 million inhabitants. Therefore, the reduction in water supplies is concern for potable water treatment and purification companies. One study, headed by Sebastián Vicuña of the Catholic University of Chile’s “Center for Global Change,” discovered that, with a 10-15% reduction in rain levels, the water of the Maipo River – by far the greatest source of drinking water and irrigation for Santiago and the region – would be diminished by 70% by 2065, from 170 cubic meters a second to not more than 60.

Opportunities for Clean Tech Water Technology Transfer

Although Chile has had a unique (and, sometimes successful) free market in the buying and trading of water rights since the framework was first implemented in 1981, even ardent supporters of this unfettered water market see its current and future limitations of oncoming climate challenges and growing industrial needs. The Director General of Water with Chile’s Ministry of Public Works (MOP), Rodrigo Weisner, has stated that even though there is a high level of justice in resolving water disputes in Chile, there are also inadequacies with the system of environmental impact assessments (EIAs), for example. Weisner also points out that current legal mechanisms do not allow for a middle ground between winners in losers in such disputes. Many would argue that, simply, those interests with the deepest pockets are usually the winners of such disputed water supplies.

Even still, beyond economics, what would most likely help resolve water dilemmas in Chile, and in a growing number of water-pressed countries around the globe, are infrastructure improvements from new “clean” water technologies.

In early July 2009, Chile’s state MOP declared that it is presently analyzing ways to promote seawater desalination investment projects in the country’s five northern regions. Large enterprises that have reportedly shown serious interest in desalination activities in Chile have reportedly been BHP Billiton, Spain’s Agbar and even General Electric. With 4,000 km of coastline, it would seem there is no shortage of business opportunities in Chile for emerging desalination technologies, either developed locally or abroad. In addition, The MOP has also investigated the use of “tertiary wastewater treatment” for increasing efficiency in local water utilities. And, in June, the Chilean government established a separate inter-ministry committee for water policies and investments alone.

As Tina Ngo wrote in a previous blog entry on CleanTechies, the water crisis may not receive as much press coverage as the current energy crisis, but, quite soon, there will most likely be just as many “cleantech” opportunities for water treatment and conservation technologies as in producing and harnessing new forms of energy. For an example of innovative approaches to resolving water issues look at the prize competitions of California-based ImagineH2O.

Chile is an example of emerging water debates soon to play out around the globe. So, if we want to continue indulging in the fruits of Chilean wines, as well as potentially our own drinking water, we look forward to increased capital investment and interest in novel, cost-effective water treatment technologies.

[photo credit: malia_mi, LanceCheungImages, steeveleenow]

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Bernie Focker, aka Dustin Hoffman of Meet The Fockers, once said, ”If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.”

Bernie Focker, though an imaginary character, spoke of real life issues: water conservation. Even though the water crisis has taken a backseat to other issues such as carbon emissions, the problem is real: By 2025, the world will experience major freshwater shortages. Though 97% of water comes from oceans, only about 3% of it is freshwater. From that, 2.4% is permanently frozen in glaciers and ice caps, 0.5% of Earth’s water is ground water, and the rest can be found in rivers and lakes (also known as surface water).

Since our water comes from ground and surface water, that’s a small percentage overall. And because of our ever-growing population and water needs, rising temperatures and droughts, the US government estimates that about 36 states will face water shortages by 2013.
Not only does consuming more water lead to less in the future, but it also threatens our environment. Our beautiful lakes, rivers and wetlands are being threatened because of increased groundwater withdrawals. Might as well rename Lake Tahoe to Lake No Mo’.

We all know that every drop of water counts, and there are also hundreds of inexpensive ways you can help too. Simple things such as replacing all leaks in your home, taking shorter, efficient showers, using the dish washer only when its at its full capacity, and much more*.

Conserving water is not only helping our future generations, but it can even save you a buck or two. According to the EPA, you could be saving $170 a year – $170 that could be going to a nice dinner in the city, your child’s college books or to your favorite charity.

There are also many clean technologies being developed to save and use less water, such as solutions to use less water to wash clothes. My personal favorite is washing laundry with less than 2% of the water a regular laundry machine needs, by using plastic chips to help clean clothes. The process begins by adding clothes into the machine, then plastic chips are added, after which a cup of water and detergent is added. The heated water dissolves dirt from the clothing, which is absorbed by the plastic chips. Since this process uses significantly less water, the clothes come out almost dry. Thus, not only does this process uses less water, but also uses less energy to dry them as well.

Besides water conserving machines, there are other possible solutions of the water crisis. Desalination is the process of removing salts and other minerals from water. To me, it seems logical to treat ocean water through desalination, but the expensive costs keep it from becoming more commonly used. However, recently, improving technologies have managed to decrease costs and as the water crisis looms on, desalination will be more accepted.

Some other solutions include reusing water to irrigate lawns, all the while keeping harmful materials from reaching the environment. Advanced irrigation technologies include remote sensing and hydrodynamic gates, solutions that developing countries may adopt to conserve their water supplies.  Are there other clean technology solutions to this water crisis? Yes there are, but then, why do you think the water shortage problem has not been garnering as much attention as the energy crisis?

So the next time you throw tissue into the toilet or squash a bug in the bathroom and want to flush it down, you might want to consider throwing it away in the trash. And hey, if you got the guts (or live alone), be like Bernie Focker – I know I’m saving my flushes. Are you?

* Refer to the EPA WaterSense page for more water saving ideas!

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The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute reports that water technology exports totaled $1.4 billion in 2008 – double the 2005 amount. The global water market is worth $400 billion annually and is expected to rise to $537 billion next year.

To mark World Water Day, the Export Institute published figures about the country’s water technologies industry. There are 250 companies in the sector of which 200 export their products. 50 companies in the sector are defined as start-ups.

These clean technology companies are involved in sectors including water management systems, safety and security for water sources, irrigation management systems, desalination, water recycling and purification.

Israel is ranked first in the world in recycling water for agriculture: 75% of sewage is recycled for agriculture.

This article originally appeared on Cleantech Investing in Isreal.

[Photo Credits: Ron Almog]

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