Blue technoloqy can quench America's thirst.

• Author: Shenkar, Laura
• Position: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

IS THE WATER glass half empty or half full? It is half empty because of our future water shortages, increase in pollution, and health risks at our beaches all occurring within an economic climate that does not recognize water as a priority.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

One of the great challenges that the U.S. faces over the next decade will be ensuring an ample supply of quality water. Even under normal weather and water conditions, water managers in 36 states anticipate water shortages within the next five years. Water usage patterns become a factor here. New Englanders use less than 20 gallons per day per person. while Southwesterners consume about 200 gallons per person per day. Population growth in the driest places has continued to expand, depleting water supplies rapidly while creating even more runoff pollutants.

At the same time. the pipes that deriver and remove water from our homes and businesses are collapsing as a result of decades of neglect. The U.S.'s drinking water piping network extends more than 700,000 miles and much of the infrastructure is at least 100 years old. With over 1,200,000,000 miles of sewage piping in the U.S., storm water and sewage collection systems fail daily, stopping business and creating significant health hazards.

Finally, climate change brings m a new element of uncertainty for water--potentially increasing the number of severe storms, floods, droughts, and heat waves, thus making our existing centralized water treatment and delivery for the steady supply and quality of water that are essential for human health and for economic activity even more problematic.

When rain falls on paved or hard surfaces, instead of natural environments, it carries oils, wastes, and contaminants into rivers, streams, and beaches--a process known as runoff. Until the 1970s. the disposal of toxic water was considered harmless. It was thought that any polluted discharges would be diluted by the significant water volumes in the oceans. However. through rapid development, our communities have become denser and storm water pollution more dramatic. The General Accounting Office estimates that 46,000,000 gallons of oil are spilled, dumped, or run off into the nation's rivers, lakes, streams, and oceans annually.

Beach closings and advisories are at a record high for U.S. coastal waters. When it rains heavily, untreated sewage combines with contaminated storm water to flow into waterways from overflowing sewers, storm water pipes, and...