- In the US, we use the same water we drink
to flush our toilets, wash our cars,
and water our lawns.
But are we going to run out of water altogether?
Depending on where you live,
that might be a question you face sooner rather than later.
So the big question is,
do I need to start building my stillsuit,
or can we fix our water crisis through technology?
What is a water utopia, and can we achieve it?
I'm Swapna Krishna.
Let's explore the future of water.
(upbeat music)
In the age of peak water,
which means that in the next five years
half what world's population
will live in a water-stressed area,
cities like San Francisco are trying to reduce
how much water they waste
by requiring large commercial buildings to recycle it.
Black water recycling systems
are a step in the right direction
because they focus on recycling
versus finding new sources of water.
Black water is water that's contaminated with bacteria
from your toilet and dishwasher.
Gray water is shower and bath water.
It's easier to treat and reuse
for things like rooftop cooling, drip irrigation,
and yep, flushing toilets.
Newsha Ajami studies water systems in the Western US
where drought has become the new normal.
- First we need to know
if we can actually get more out of what we have
rather than just constantly looking for more and more water,
because the reality is
we have a limited amount of water on this Earth.
- Before you start blaming your roommate
for taking long showers,
we should note that, like with climate change,
individual actions aren't really the issue here.
- Most of the water is being used by industry,
and most of that is being used by the food industry.
So there's the challenge.
We have to eat and we have to provide food
for a growing population,
but we have to do it in the face of climate change
and in the face of a declining supply of ground water.
- This is hydrologist Jay Famiglietti.
He and his team used a pair of satellites
to track the amount of water across the globe
basically by measuring the gravitational pull of the water.
- When they fly over a place like the Southwestern US
that's, you know, in the middle of this mega drought,
that region has lost water weight,
and so it exerts slightly less of a gravitational tug
on the satellites
and they float a little bit higher in their orbit,
so the measurement is actually
of the position of the satellites.
- After more than a decade of monitoring,
they found disturbing hotspots
where ground water is rapidly depleting,
and we're growing 25% of our food in those hotspots.
Think those bananas and coffee you love so much.
Industrial farms use 70% of the world's fresh water
and they're increasingly reliant on ground water.
Ground water is especially vulnerable
because it takes time for rain and surface water
to trickle down through the soil
to join underwater aquifers.
And the rate we're pumping it out is not sustainable.
Climate change is a threat multiplier for water scarcity.
We're experiencing more drought,
less snow melt in the spring,
and unpredictable rainfall.
- A lot of the world is still using
really, really inefficient flood irrigation,
which is exactly what it sounds like.
So that's way more water than it's necessary
to grow most crops,
a lot of it ends up evaporating.
- Hydrologists agree that instead
of trying to create more water,
which is virtually impossible,
we should start by curving our demand.
We'll replace our number one crop in the US, lawns,
with native grasses, shrubs, or rock gardens.
In a lot of places, these transitions are already happening.
Starting in 2002,
Las Vegas gave cash incentives for ripping out lawns
and replacing them with desert shrubs and trees.
The city also prohibited front lawns in new developments
and put golf courses on water diets.
All those cuts led to a 46% reduction in water use
over two decades.
Other drought-stricken areas in the Southwest US
are contemplating implementing similar measures.
- A portfolio approach is going to be required around the world
and the elements of the portfolio
are going to change from place to place.
So that utopian version is that everybody
is using the amount of water
that's available in their region
and no more
and things are incredibly efficient
and all the water's been recycled.
Part of that utopia
requires cooperation globally,
because it may be to achieve the utopia, you know,
you grow certain crops in certain regions
or in certain countries where they're more fitting.
- But what's the other side of the coin
if collectively we don't take these actions?
To hydrologists, a dystopian future of water
looks a lot like the infrastructure we have right now
but on steroids.
Rather than curving our demand
and becoming more efficient with water,
we continue asking for more,
and spoiler alert.
Desalination, the process of turning sea water
into drinking water,
also isn't a magic bullet.
Desalination may seem like a viable solution
from the outside,
but in reality it takes a lot of energy and money,
plus, you end up with the byproduct of toxic brine
that pollutes marine environments.
- That's the dystopian nightmare.
Desalination plans up and down the coasts, you know,
every few miles,
and then all those brines are being thrown back
into the ocean and, you know,
contaminating, ruining our coasts.
And then there's going to be all kinds of pressure
either within countries or across international boundaries
to move water from one place to another, right?
So big crazy pipelines from, you know,
the Mississippi River or from the Great Lakes
to the Southwest.
- Hydrologists say that getting to utopia
will require the right mix of political will
and public awareness.
Take Cape Town, South Africa, for example.
In 2018, they were quickly approaching day zero,
the day when the city would run out of water
for its approximately four million inhabitants.
- There was a media and apolitical campaign
to help people understand
the dire situation the community was in
and try to change the behavior,
and you saw that that day zero never happened
because that campaign led people changing their behavior,
reducing their water use,
being more thoughtful about water consumption.
- This shows us that awareness, education, and action
can make a huge difference in the water crisis.
- We know that the train is headed towards a train wreck
and people want to actually see the cars come off the rails
before they start to do things,
but in some places people are actually listening.
That's what keeps me going.
- Stay thirsty for knowledge.
Do you think a water utopia is achievable?
Let us know in the comments.
(gentle music)