Tampa Bay tapped as new source of drinking water

Associated Press ^ | March 25, 2003 | Associated Press

[grundle]

APOLLO BEACH, Florida (AP) -- The Tampa Bay area's burgeoning population of nearly 2 million people is tapping a new source for its drinking water -- salty Tampa Bay itself.

The nation's first sea water desalination plant built to serve as a primary source of drinking water is providing water to Tampa, St. Petersburg, New Port Richey and surrounding cities.

[grundle]

Despite real world events such as what's reported in this article, there are still plenty of people on the radical left who insist that we are running out of water, and that we need totalitarian measures such as laws that make it illegal to water your lawn, wash your car, and fill your swimming pool, and which outlaw 3.5 gallon toilets, and which force people to spy on their neighbors and report any of these activities to the police. I thought I'd post this article so you can show it to anyoone you know who still holds these views.

[ovrtaxt]

I was talking to this lady in Odessa, a rural town in the north end of the bay area, where numerous wellfields keep the lakes at unnaturally low levels. She was complaining about the growing population around the city, railing on new development, and generally complaining about everything she could think of. When she got to the subject of groundwater, I mentioned the desalination plant. She immediately attacked that idea on the basis of seawater salinity in the bay.

This awful, bitter broad is typical of the enviro whiners. Nothing makes them happy. There are no solutions short of reverting back to a caveman existence. I think the plant will prove to be a blessing.

[Savage Beast]

The totalitarian Left will not be swayed by intelligent arguments or appeals to justice, kindness, or basic human decency. Their agenda is control--control for its own sake.

“A totalitarian mind hates ambiguity. It loves black and white.”

~Nafisi, Azar, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books.

"Liberals"--the Left--hate freedom.

[Catspaw]

You did ask this woman if she bathed, didn't you?

[ovrtaxt]

Ha! No, I just stared at her in silence. It was deafening. After a couple of seconds, she realized how angry and bitter she sounded, then we parted ways. She was a trip.

[Vigilantcitizen]

I find it surprising that our water restrictions here in the metro Atlanta region are still in place even though we've had above average rainfall for a year and a half now.

Matter of fact, we surpassed the record rainfall amount for May and suffered through some flooding. The Chattahoochie and all it's tributaries are high. Yet the draconian watering restrictions are still in place.

[Straight Vermonter]

You miss the left's real issue. They would like everyone to follow their example and avoid showering.

[Catspaw]

Good tactic. Usually staring at people with the "you're an idiot" look is far better than trying to continue a fruitless debate.

I've seen desalinization plants in the Caribbean. They're most effective, and without them, the people who live on the islands wouldn't have water, potable and otherwise, in the dry season.

[Spaghetti Man]

We went thru the same thing up here in the northeast. Personally I don't believe i droughts. It will rain again, the water isn't going away.

[RJayneJ]

Quote of the Day by Brainhose

[Glock19C]

Atlanta area water restrictions depend on the county. Gwinnett was one of the last to impose restrictions when the drought began and we are no longer under restrictions. (But the high amount of rainfall means that most of us aren't watering anyway).

[doc30]

The highly salty byproduct will flow into the Big Bend power plant's cooling water canal, where it will be diluted in the 1.4 billion gallons the canal carries each day.

It is this byproduct that has caused the most concern for some area residents, although Luther led a study in 2000 that found the briny waste would not cause any long-term increases in salinity.

People just don't get it. Most of seawater. Should we put big sheets over the oceans to keep sea water from evaporating? Desalinization isn't that much different. Both routes have fresh water being extracted from sea waterof the fresh water in rainfall is produced by evaporation.

[doc30]

I was talking to this lady in Odessa, a rural town in the north end of the bay area, where numerous wellfields keep the lakes at unnaturally low levels. She was complaining about the growing population around the city, railing on new development, and generally complaining about everything she could think of.

I also live in the Tampa Bay area. Her concerns of overpumping the well fields is quite sound. The low level of the aquifer in the area is causing sinkholes to open up at a much higher frequency and people are losing their homes becasue of this. The water in the aquifer helps to support the soil above it. Lower the aquifer, lose support and the ground opens up. Her concern regarding development is also well-founded. THe population of FLorida is growing like crazy and growth is everywhere. The big problem is that there is little long-term growth planning. Developers aren's required to expand existing infrastructure when they build huge subdivisions. The result is overcrowded schools and 2 lane rural roads trying to accomodate a commuter-based suburban community. The county and state are left trying to play catch-up. I'm not against development, but a greater effort needs to be made to make sure the infrastructure grows with the development.

[ImaGraftedBranch]

The plant has become operational despite concerns from some area residents that it will increase salinity in Tampa Bay and reduce oxygen in the water.

Ok, I'm not an environmental OceanSaltOlogist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, and know that evaporation sucks millions of gallons of H20 from the bay each day. Have the fished died because of that? Of course not, it all balances out, just like everything in nature tends to do. Idiots.

[ovrtaxt]

I absolutely agree 100% with everything you said. I was born here and the growth is overwhelming.

But my point was the inability of this raging woman to see anything in an optimistic light, i.e. the desalination plant. She was completely irrational. I live on a lake, and I see daily the effects of groundwater pumping. Hopefully, this plant will make a difference.

[GOPJ]

It cost twice as much to produce and taste awful. What liberal group is pushing bottled water? We had a dry spell and it's over now. Millions of gallons of fresh water drain into the Gulf of Mexico every day. Something smells fishy here and it's not the water...

The plant has become operational despite concerns from some area residents that it will increase salinity in Tampa Bay and reduce oxygen in the water.

[GOPJ]

It cost twice as much to produce and taste awful. What liberal group is pushing bottled water? We had a dry spell and it's over now. Millions of gallons of fresh water drain into the Gulf of Mexico every day. Something smells fishy here and it's not the water...

The plant has become operational despite concerns from some area residents that it will increase salinity in Tampa Bay and reduce oxygen in the water.