By Guest Blogger Chris Coppersmith, LEED AP
Through the generosity of the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE), I was able to attend a conference last month, where we discussed the current and future state of the world's fresh water supply and the actions necessary to rectify the crisis. In Water is the New Oil: Part 1, I discussed the major problems concerning our water supply, and delved further into the relationship between water and energy. As promised, today's post will address education and conservation. The good news is there is plenty of water for everyone. We just need to be more aware of its worth and be smarter about its use.
EDUCATION
Our community is in the unique position of having the opportunity to educate and raise awareness of critical, water-related issues with public officials, private development, supplying manufacturers, and the general public. Plus, we get paid for doing so!
Water saving devices are very familiar to us, but will not suffice to resolve the crises. The development of innovative technologies must be encouraged through implementation. Recycled and treated wastewater is becoming cheaper and more readily available as municipalities upgrade their aging supply infrastructures. Rainwater harvesting technologies are available and currently in use. The education of public officials can create allies, instead of road blocks, in efforts to reuse this water for non-potable applications. The public can be made aware of the financial incentives of an economical source of water, for non-consumption uses, that they would otherwise have to fund disposal of. Contractors will obviously benefit from the new infrastructure construction and upgrades and retrofits to existing systems. The manufacturing industry would need to increase employment levels to take advantage of the profits that the research, development, and supply of innovative technologies will yield. Engineering and design professionals will have an influential and responsible role in the design, application, and specification of new products and innovative applications.
Innovative technologies are not limited to the supply side of the water crises issue; waste water disposal requires attention as well. Grey water separation enables re-use, either on site by the owner or off site for treatment and resale by the local utility. Storm drain flow can be intercepted by green roofs or bioswales, and be safely 
reintroduced back into the water cycle or stored and treated for non-potable uses. The re-use of this renewable resource protects the environment and incoming water supply from its concentrated discharge, and saves the cost of its treatment and discharge.
Government will prosper as bureaucracy must be increased to legislate, regulate, administrate, and insure that their due revenue enhancements are tallied and received for all of this new commerce and profit. Right?
Education is paramount to the success of this effort.
CONSERVATION
While new technologies are gaining ground, there is much that can be achieved with water conservation. Beyond the use of the water saving fixtures and devices that are familiar to us, lifestyle modification is required to make water conservation successful. Here in Southern California we live under the delusion that we reside in a lush rain forest, where water flows upon demand in unlimited quantities from our taps to meet our needs and irrigate our non-native gardens.
The average family can lower their water footprint and associated utility expenses 30 to 40 percent by simply considering consumption when purchasing fixtures and appliances, retrofitting existing plumbing fixtures with water saving devices, limiting time spent in the shower, washing full loads, limiting or eliminating non-potable uses such as hardscape washdown, and practicing responsible landscaping and irrigation.
As energy and water supplies are symbiotic, energy conservation will reduce the water supply needed for hydrology and free its use for other purposes. This has the added benefit of reducing conflicts over the rights to its flow, and the efforts wasted in resolving those conflicts through litigation at home or internationally.
Unfortunately, time is not on our side. As the Earth's population and unequal distribution grow, the efforts required for remediation increase exponentially. This issue requires actions that are timely, conscientious, and provide the opportunity for profits. I am convinced that we possess the skill, knowledge, and proactive nature to meet the challenge and solve this problem. I look forward to seeing the progress we will make, as an industry, in 2010.
By Guest Blogger Chris Coppersmith, LEED AP
The trouble with fresh water is that its total sum is inherently limited. Since the days of Adam and Eve, our water tally has remained unaltered. Plus, no new water is coming down the pike. This finite supply of life-sustaining fluid has been recycled throughout our world's long history, or as Plumbing Engineer Jerry Yudelson puts it, "we are still drinking dinosaur's urine."
The limited amount of potable water is in no way our only problem. The dilemma also lies in distribution. Of the 326 million cubic miles of our earth's water, only about 1 percent is drinkable. The rest is too salty, frozen, vaporized in the atmosphere, underground, or polluted past the point of human consumption. Only 1 percent, of this 1 percent, is readily available in the form of lakes and rivers to quench the thirst of the 9 billion population projected by the year 2040.
Were these current and new consumers living on the pristine shores of drinkable lakes and rivers, this dilemma would be a non-issue. But the unequal distribution of potable water is only eclipsed by the unequal distribution of the Earth's population; most of whom reside in urban areas where the local supply has been rendered undrinkable.
Water Equals Energy
The World Energy Council's 2004 Survey of Energy Resources attributes 17 percent of Earth's energy to hydropower and names it as the largest and most important renewable energy resource. Conversely, it takes energy to move water to its destination. Often this destination is a power plant where it is used to co
ol equipment or mine coal and shale. The World Resources Institute notes that 65 percent --2 out of every 3 gallons-- of the drought-plagued United States Southeast's freshwater withdrawals are used for this purpose. A full 30 percent of the nation's municipal energy costs are spent on treating the water supply inflow and post-consumption outflow.
Even with a hefty commitment of funds, the U.S. must still import most of our energy, often in the form of oil from countries that are unstable or at odds with our policies. This can, and has embroiled our nation into costly foreign military obligations abroad and increased security measures within our homeland. Efficient water use equals less energy consumption. Efficient energy use equals less water consumption. The goods news is, there is plenty of water for everyone we just need to be more aware of its worth and be smarter about its use. Water efficient, sustainable design features play a sizeable role here. In my next post, I'll delve into community outreach, conservation, and how to raise public awareness to resolve this crisis.