It is difficult to say. The resources are being used at a rapid rate. However, there is a lot of clean and naturally filtered water underground. But who really knows how much? As for the water sources that we already know of....very little. What do you think?
This is an interesting topic and I am really concerned with this. Obviously, sources of fresh drinkable water have depleted in the past 5 decades because of industrial improvements. There is really no need to worry because modern technology can convert a tap water into a potable one but then again I am more concerned with our nature. The raw beauty and resources that we once had is slowly depleting.
I don't know for sure how much is left but I can give an estimate on what will happen. All of the following ideas are based on actual conditions in third world countries where water is scarce. The price of water will increase and that will be the first indicator. The government will put regulations on how much you can use. Showers and watering your lawn will become extremely rare events, eventually you won't be able to do either (Luckily they've developed waterless showers). People will go to jail for hoarding water, which is already happening. Eventually there will be riots and revolts. Order and government will effectively collapse and many people will die of thirst. Many more will die of starvation because crops and livestock aren't getting water either. So there you go.
The previous comment is a very pesimistic one, I have to say, but not so improbable in my opinion. That is true about water, and it is also true about oil. If someone doesn't find a good solution to these two, there will be chaos very soon
The difference between water and oil is that water is a renewable resource. If things get difficult, it will spawn leaps in desalinization technologies. Better yet, let's amp up the hydrogen cell technology so that we can collect the water that results from the reaction.
Figuratively speaking wouldn't the same thing be feasible with oil? Not through the same methods of course, but the same general concept. Honest question, I don't have much of a science background.
It's quite alarming actually. The rate in which fresh water is slowly depleting. I guess desalinization plants would be the probable answer. In our place, we're surrounded by big bodies of salt water. There's still a lot of water in the world, we only have to find ways to turn them into something useful.
I really can't comment percentage wise as how much of water is left on this earth, but I know for sure that it is depleting. Look at the rainfall , in my city I have observed that every year it's raining less than last year. One thing is for sure that once there is no water , there will be no life. We need to be very conscious about saving water. We need to take immediate action for this. We need to protect nature. There are many simple ways to save water like rainwater harvesting. We must promote these concepts in our localities.
Water filtration systems ensure that most of the water we use is filtered to be re-used again. Not to mention urination and evaporation constantly refill the water supply. It's not like this liquid disappears you know, there is a cycle constantly happing. If the water is all used up, I assume it won't be for some time...
Its difficult to say for sure. However the situation is not as pessimistic since there is lot of drinking water present in underground lakes and rivers. Plus we can also get water from humid air or desalinate sea water to make it drinkable. Of course these methods consume a lot of resources so they are not best suited for everyone. I am not saying that we should not be worried about water depletion instead we should focus on water conservation so that our future generations don't face any problem.
Well, you guys can't really blame the industrial diggers taking up valuable resource. Eventually, someone's going to end up doing it and taking the money they get from it. Very scary topic to think about. What IF the world just didn't have anymore available drinking water? :O
I don't think we would ever run out of drinkable water with our new filtration systems. Our problem is spreading out these systems to other people and making sure that more people have access to this water.
I agree, as technology grows we start finding ways to utilize other materials (in this case, ocean water or other water sources). I saw a few water filter systems being showcased on TED and it was quite interesting that they could get a few gallons of dirty water (still water) and filter it in 1-2 minutes to make it a drinking source. Kind of disgusting but I would take it if there's no natural drinking water left.
Ocean water can be turned into potable water easily by distillation and adding of minerals. This can be done with the help of the sun's energy.
Water is constantly recycled by nature. I doubt we will ever run out unless our oceans dry up. Evaporated water from the ocean rains down on the land and fill up the aquafers. The amount of drinkable water is in direct proportion to how we use the water in our aquafers for food production and drinking as well as what we use for washing. If your area is experiencing a drought due to climate changes than you will need to conserve till the drought lifts or move to an area where their is not a drought. The water doesn't just disapear though it just gets recycled back into nature. Pollution is another problem that we face along with over population. We use more fresh water with so many of us.
I agree with the user above me stated. Water won't get depleted because it is constantly getting recycled by nature. As a matter of fact, our oceans keep on rising because of the effects of global warming to the ice caps on both the South and North Poles.
I don't know the exact amount but the amount is not a big. The rest amount we gonna spend within the half of this century. This is true that technology much advanced but the matter is costing. A technology named "reverse osmosis" is used to purify the sea water in huge amount but the cost kick much of the people from it. If we don't start to reuse drinkable water, we the human race have sadness in our fate for sure.
How much drinkable? We cannot tell but with new technology, anything can happen. The best thing we can do is to save water as much as we can.
