Invest in Water?

At the end of the movie, The Big Short, there was an item about Michael Burry. He was one of the investors who cashed in on the collapse of the housing market built on a shaky foundation of subprime mortgages that was doomed to fail. Supposedly, Burry now only invests in water,

     Could Burry be noticing that progress in some economic sectors is having a negative impact on water resources? When the French company, Perrier, began exporting mineral water in green glass bottles, it seemed like a hard sell. Now, the hard sell is convincing those who drink bottled water at the world rate of 30 litres per person per year that their consumption is bad for the planet. There is the fuel cost of transporting bottles from one country to another that already has its own safe, unpolluted water supply. Plastic bottles pollute the land in dumps. Insufficient recycling limits how much recycled content is used in bottled water, although efforts have been made to produce bottles out of organic sugarcane waste and to reduce the weight of plastic and glass bottles.

     Data from NASA's space observations show groundwater from 13 of the world's 37 major basins is being depleted faster than it can be restored. Not only the amount of water used by agriculture and business is a concern; water quality and contamination needs to be addressed as well.

     Alternatives to fossil fuel have increased the use of water to produce crops made into bioethanol. That adds to the nearly 70% of the world's accessible freshwater already used by agriculture. Moreover, dams used to produce hydroelectricity create reservoirs that cause the evaporation of water that farmers and others traditionally relied on downstream. Alternative energy sources, such as wind, do not require water.

     Water also is under pressure from factories that dump heavy metals and chemicals from recycled electronics into local lakes and rivers. The winner of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, 18-year-old Perry Alagappan, does have one remedy that filters 99% of heavy metals out of water through graphene nanotubes that can be cleaned with vinegar and reused. The tubes can be fitted to the taps on sinks at home and in industry. To maximize availability of his invention, Alagappan will not patent his idea.

     Water keeps the equipment that processes data cool. Data centers that have used water-intensive cooling methods to improve energy efficiency now are looking at ways to use recycled rather than potable water in their cooling systems. Also, there is an effort to consider locating data centers in climates, such as Sweden's, where outside air can cool facilities all year.

     While fertilizers increase crop yield, they also cause nitrogen and phosphorous runoff that enables aquatic plants to deplete oxygen and create water dead zones where fish cannot survive. Palestinian farmers are attempting to deal with water shortages by building a wastewater treatment plant to provide water for agricultural use. But even with a major use of electricity, existing technology can only remove 10% to 30% of nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater. Where 90% of sewage in developing countries is discharged without any treatment, research on algal projects that rely on sunlight to grow algae that can break down nitrogen and phosphates in wastewater and produce sludge for biofuel have promise for agricultural areas, where sun is abundant in Africa, South America, and Asia.

     Fracking, which blasts oil and gas out of shale rock, is viewed as a way to help the United States and other countries become energy independent. As the earlier post, "The Lure of Shale Oil Independence," points out, however, the fracking process is suspected of contaminating water.

     These are just some of the water projects that Burry could be eyeing for investment. By going to kiva.org, you already can invest $25 in a water project that will help a household in India, Vietnam, Cambodia, or Indonesia install a toilet and improve sanitary conditions.

(Water is also the subject of earlier posts, "A Healthy Environment," "Personal Response to the World's Problems," and "Good Works Multiply Fast.")