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In Jackson, Mississippi, a water crisis of unparalleled scale

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Re: In Jackson, Mississippi, a water crisis of unparalleled scale

#181

Post by bsder »

sroussey wrote: post #132
hosh wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having better local sources of water and treatment may turn out to he a better idea than centralized water treatment. Here in the US, water is pumped (often uphill) and purified to drinking water standards, only for 70% of residential water used for watering green lawns. Those lawns are usually grown in a way where soil microbes are killed off, water retention capability are reduced (so it needs more water), and the…

In Irvine, California, homes are plumbed with two water lines: potable, and greywater. So even in the middle of a drought, everything is green.

For those unfamilar with the California scene: there is an agricultural water shortage, not a residential one.

You could reduce residential usage of water in California to zero and it would barely make a dent in the water shortage. California can relatively easily desalinate its way out of residential water shortage.

On the other hand, shutting down the agribusinesses in the Central Valley completely fixes California's water shortage for everybody.

Re: In Jackson, Mississippi, a water crisis of unparalleled scale

#182

Post by bsder »

coliveira wrote: post #136
hosh wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having better local sources of water and treatment may turn out to he a better idea than centralized water treatment. Here in the US, water is pumped (often uphill) and purified to drinking water standards, only for 70% of residential water used for watering green lawns. Those lawns are usually grown in a way where soil microbes are killed off, water retention capability are reduced (so it needs more water), and the…

I would be very glad if grass lawns were made unlawful in the US. It is a terrible waste of time, money, and natural resources for something so useless. I don't have any idea why this silly concept became so common in this country.

Grass lawns are a red herring.

The water shortages are almost all brought about by big agribusiness usage of water in places where we shouldn't be doing big agribusinesses.

Re: In Jackson, Mississippi, a water crisis of unparalleled scale

#183

Post by slowmovintarget »

hosh wrote: post #156
echelon wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Being able to waste land and water resources like that is a typical signal of wealth. The people with lawns that I know and grew up knowing didn't take care of them to "signal wealth". Many would never care to own a luxury car or Rolex. Rather, they enjoyed gardening, the aesthetics, and having their kids play in the lawn. They barbequed every weekend and enjoyed time outdoors at home. > Those lawns are usually gro…

My wife tells me the same things about wanting a lawn for the kids to play with. It’s only recently that she has opened up to alternatives — from having native grasses and ground cover, to shaping the terrain. I live in suburban US in a major metropolitan area, and I grew up here. When I talk to people around me maintaining lawns, they don’t think they are signaling wealth either. But some look at me like I am crazy…

We're staring at this dilemma right now. Not for the signaling at all. Our lawn basically died in close to drought-like conditions. We didn't want to waste the water or time, but now what?

What do we replace it with that a) doesn't provide a haven for pests or harmful critters, and b) actually is safe for kiddo and other neighborhood kids, and c) doesn't destroy property values for the neighborhood?

Re: In Jackson, Mississippi, a water crisis of unparalleled scale

#184

Post by jandrewrogers »

peterpost2 wrote: post #21
scifibestfi wrote: post #14

Does anyone else feel like all of our institutions are crumbling in real time? And to the degree they still work is a product of momentum?

That was the most shocking thing to me when I visited the United States for the first time in my live last month, the road system is so incredibly poorly maintained and so incredibly poorly thought out. It all is incredibly expansive but not maintained. That being said I only saw 3 (eastern) states, maybe it's different elsewhere.

It varies widely from State to State, and it is never more evident as when you cross a State border on one of the Interstate highways. The sudden change in road quality can be dramatic. There is also little correlation between road quality and the amount of money spent per kilometer on literally the same stretch of border-crossing highway -- the poor quality side of the border may be spending several times what is being spent on the good quality. Some States have very nice highways that are built and maintained at modest cost.

The high variance in road quality and cost is a very visible example of how varied the effectiveness and efficiency of individual State governments can be in the US.

Re: In Jackson, Mississippi, a water crisis of unparalleled scale

#185

Post by slowmovintarget »

afterburner wrote: post #88
boeingUH60 wrote: post #45

Where I reside..what you’ll call a third-world country (Nigeria), everyone who builds a home digs their personal water borehole and sewage system because our government is too incompetent to maintain city-wide infrastructure. I’ve always thought it would be much better if we can get centralized systems for these things as they do in developed countries, but I’m pretty sure this is the type of thing we would see regul…

Majority black town in the poorest state in the union, which is also a Republican state. That's no coincidence. EDIT: as in the town is being intentionally poorly maintained by the rest of the state.

Does the "rest of the state" have jurisdiction to run the town?

Re: In Jackson, Mississippi, a water crisis of unparalleled scale

#186

Post by seanmcdirmid »

njarboe wrote: post #158
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They could easily handle this with some smart metering, so people could just dry their clothes or charge their EVs in the morning or at night.

Smart metering is installed and rates vary with the time of day. Some people can afford to not care about that so asking people not to charge their cars might help.

Just absolutely restrict 240V during peak times then.

Re: In Jackson, Mississippi, a water crisis of unparalleled scale

#187

Post by emerged »

afterburner wrote: post #88
boeingUH60 wrote: post #45

Where I reside..what you’ll call a third-world country (Nigeria), everyone who builds a home digs their personal water borehole and sewage system because our government is too incompetent to maintain city-wide infrastructure. I’ve always thought it would be much better if we can get centralized systems for these things as they do in developed countries, but I’m pretty sure this is the type of thing we would see regul…

Majority black town in the poorest state in the union, which is also a Republican state. That's no coincidence. EDIT: as in the town is being intentionally poorly maintained by the rest of the state.

No post body was provided.

Re: In Jackson, Mississippi, a water crisis of unparalleled scale

#188

Post by daemoens »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #53
tootie wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's sample bias. You only notice when institutions fail. You don't notice the thousands of bureaucratic processes that work exactly how they're supposed to.

Institutions and infrastructure aren't supposed to fail at all in a functioning society. The fact that some of the institutions that are failing is still extremely alarming.

The water infrastructure of a single city failing doesn't say much about the whole city. Life seems to be chugging along everywhere else. Stay off the doomerism and appreciate what we have.

Re: In Jackson, Mississippi, a water crisis of unparalleled scale

#189

Post by tentacleuno »

RC_ITR wrote: post #157
coliveira wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More waste: now there is an extra water system to maintain and repair.

Define “extra” Do you consider hot/cold plumbing to be two systems?

Yes, I do. One is connected to the mains water, while the other goes through a series of pipes to the boiler.

Re: In Jackson, Mississippi, a water crisis of unparalleled scale

#190

Post by granshaw »

sroussey wrote: post #132
hosh wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having better local sources of water and treatment may turn out to he a better idea than centralized water treatment. Here in the US, water is pumped (often uphill) and purified to drinking water standards, only for 70% of residential water used for watering green lawns. Those lawns are usually grown in a way where soil microbes are killed off, water retention capability are reduced (so it needs more water), and the…

In Irvine, California, homes are plumbed with two water lines: potable, and greywater. So even in the middle of a drought, everything is green.

You can get that in some places in North Carolina too, but it costs thousands to get the non sewered line installed, so most homeowners don’t do it
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