ruffashlar

We're keen to move over and Adelaide looks like it could be an option via regional sponsorship. However, coming from green and pleasant England to parched and (I'm sure) pleasant Australia will no doubt be a bit of a shock. What's more concerning is that Australia's drought problems don't look like they will be resolved any time soon. I know Adelaide is the butt of jokes for water quality already. I also understand that salinity is a huge problem and that desalination would only add to the problem of increasing ground level salt / salinity. Although it doesn't look as though El Nino will strike this year Australia is already clearly in the grip of a major drought cycle and with global warming things will probably only get worse...

Considering this move would be pretty much permanent I really don't want to end up in a country where I'm rationed as to how much water I can drink. Water being a basic necessity for survival and all.... What else is being done to combat this problem? Could hydrogen fuel cells help in easing both power supply and water problems eventually? Is Australia doing enough to ensure it's future survival in this regard? Looking for some sincere reassurance here...

Banksia

Many people say "no".

Ransi

Tena Lady?......................

Ialibu

Check out this article

http://tinyurl.com/8ny7h

Most thinking Australians are concerned. All politicians don't fit into that category.

ruffashlar

Thanks for the link. However, I think the author's environmental bias shone through a bit. Coal-fired power uses about the same amount of water as gas-fired power, in that both use steam powered turbines. Nuclear power requires more water in that the cores need to be cooled as well as driving steam turbines.

It's all quite scary indeed!!! 3 years until crunch time.... Maybe I should hang on for awhile and see what happens...??? I hope the Australian can-do attitude will prevail and someone will find a solution somewhere. In the meantime you have lots of sun, hydrogen and oxygen. Surely someone can find a way to use sunlight and small-scale domestic fuel cells to generate domestic power and water?

Megalania

"In Geodynamics tenements in the Cooper Basin a thermal resource equivalent to 50 billion barrels of oil is estimated. This consists of a 1 kilometre thick slab of granite covering 1000 square kilometres equivalent to the surface area of GEL 97 and GEL 98, all above 5km depth, and with an average temperature of 270oC. For comparison, Australia's current total oil reserves are 2.9 billion barrels, and the US oil reserves are 20 billion barrels."

Geodynamics

joho

Look at it this way, if it becomes a major issue you can go back to green and glorious england, the Aussies will have to apply for a visa. Seriously though, Australia has had water problems for years, it is bad at the moment but I am sure they will do something about it before it becomes critical. I for one intend on getting a water but thingy when I buy a house.

Jo

ABCDiamond

Solar Panels are available for heating and power, and water tanks are available for water storage.
It looks like it is all available, it's just up to people to pay for it

Ceri

It's worth checking with your local council to see if they have any rebates for fitting some of the environmentally friendly items. Solar heating , there was a rebate on this just a few years ago, don't know if this rebate is still in existence today.

Environmental shower roses/fittings that don't waste a lot of water, there was a rebate for this when I was building, besides a few other things that I can't remember off the top off my head.
Water tanks, some new estates are actually installing them for the whole estate when the houses go up now.

Anyway, if you're thinking of fitting say a water tank etc, check with your council there may be some sort of rebate for some of the items.

As for rationing of water , it's metered anyway. Most areas in Aus you pay for your water consumption anyway. Use more water- you pay for more. Use less you pay for less.

cheers

ruffashlar

Water tanks are fine and well when it rains. Do you purify this rainwater further before use or do you just use it for bathing, watering garden etc? Also, how do you keep your tanks and drainpipes clean and free from rodents etc? Paying for water use is a basic restricting market mechanism and will not ultimately solve the problem of water shortages i.e. when there's no water then there's nothing to pay for anyway... What about reverse osmosis high pressure pumps? These are basically small scale desalinators / water purifiers
and used traditionally on boats. Does anyone living near the sea have a unit installed? I know they install them on small island resorts... I was wondering if this was a viable option for a city close to the ocean?