ISO stands for International Standards Organization, TC stands for Technical Committee number 224, and WG 7 is Working Group seven. In simpler terms, what is happening at the SII next week is of such critical importance worldwide that it took months of wrangling over the wording of the title of the conference, with some participating nations wanting to stay away from a more alarmist, yet more accurate, conference title such as "Security of Water Utilities in the New Era of International Terrorism and the Increase in Frequency of Natural Disasters."
When it comes to the vital resource of water, and the complex issues surrounding it, Israel has long been a world expert. Situated in arid land and surrounded by enemies, the Jewish state has had to devise tools and methods to make the best possible use of the water available to it, as well as defend its water resources from sabotage and attack.
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"The next wars will be over water, not oil, and nobody is threatened by water war like Israel is," says Jacobo Sack, a veteran official at Israel's national water carrier, Mekorot, and now a water and wastewater quality consultant.
Highlighted because I believe in that strongly.
So what to do when available fresh water is scarce?
Rainwater harvesting should be used to provide an additional measure of water security to householders, farmers, hospitals, schools, hotel and business operators. The technology can be easily incorporated into existing plumbing systems and hard surfaces (e.g. roofs) and used to capture and channel harvested water. RWH is of high value particularly following natural disasters (notably hurricanes), where water supply infrastructure may be damaged and remain out of commission for extended periods.
Applications of rainwater harvesting are not only limited to household and domestic purposes, but are also important to the agricultural and commercial sectors where rainwater can be used to offset heavy demands for non-potable (not for drinking) water. The high volumes of potable water that are used in a variety of manufacturing, washing/cleaning, watering (crops and livestock) processes can be augmented by rainwater, which can benefit production costs through reduced water utility bills and assist in conserving water supplies in general.
Water woes: Scarcity points to big opportunities in desalination
The economics of desalination are changing, but remain difficult for most municipalities. One plant under construction in Carlsbad, California expects to pay $1.10 in electricity to produce 1,000 gallons of water, down from $2.10 at the mothballed Santa Barbara plant. According to Meng Lean, manager of microfluidic systems at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), the energy cost of desalination runs at about eight times that of conventional water, with the most efficient plants requiring 15 watts per gallon, per hour.
A little known fact, however, is that desalination technology costs have fallen by as much as 80 percent over the past few years, by some estimates. Couple that stat with the total global desalination capacity growth of more than 47 percent over the past five years, according to a recent Credit Suisse investment report, and all of a sudden, desal looks a bit more attractive.
But then, desal doesn't seem to be so popular in Israel:
Prof. Eilon Adar, director of the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, is emphatic that desalinated tap water is the best possible water you can drink. "I'm a hydrologist. I drink tap water in my house and not because I can't afford bottled water, but because it is clean and healthy," Adar, considered one of the foremost water experts in the world, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. According to Adar, the quality in Israel's water distribution system "ranks with the best in the world."
So why doesn't the general public share that feeling? Could it have something to do with the frequent Health Ministry warnings advising residents of cities country-wide to boil their tap water before drinking it?
Some Israelis seem psychologically unable to accept that tap water is clean and healthy, even when the claim is based on hard science. "There is a myth that bottled water is better for you, and I know that it is only a myth," says an Australian national living here. "The reality is that there are elements from the plastic that can seep into the bottle and enter the water and that can be bad for you... Yet, in general, I don't trust the tap water in Israel. I hear so much about pollution."
Israel is also busy testing new solar technology.
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Randomness:
Mayors ask Congress to help fix U.S. infrastructure
"We're having a quiet collapse of prosperity," said Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Mark Funkhouser, one of four mayors to testify before the Senate Banking Committee about the state of the nation's infrastructure, which they agreed was poor and getting worse.
They blamed much of the decay on shortsighted thinking by local, state and federal officials.
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The American Society of Engineers estimates that bringing the nation's transportation and resources networks up to a properly functional level would require $1.6 trillion and five years of work. Still, the mayors say, even that wouldn't accommodate the new strains placed on roads in coming years.
New Southern Baptist leader faces graying flock
The Rev. Johnny Hunt's Woodstock church goes against trend of shrinking numbers
The Rev. Johnny Hunt of Woodstock looks over the declining numbers and white hair of those attending the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting and sees a microcosm of his denomination.
"In 1985, with 45,000 messengers [church delegates attending the convention], 36 percent were under 40," Hunt said Wednesday from Indianapolis, the day after Southern Baptists elected him president of the national organization.
This year about 7,000 delegates came to the convention.
Recent numbers show a stagnation in denominational membership, falling from 16.3 million in 2006 to 16.27 million last year. That is a warning bell to a group that has defined itself by growth in the face of losses in most denominations.
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