It’s a serious question. One of the biggest problems when blogging about water issues, especially issues such as desalination or use of aquifers, is how ‘dry’ and technical it becomes for aqua amateurs. It’s just not sexy enough for the web. Sexy in the sense of exciting, enticing, stimulating, or provoking the grey matter. We need to disturb, inspire or just plain interest a broader audience.
Is Desalination a Solution? (No pun intended)
When Australia was struggling during a decade of droughts, many State governments saw desalination plants as the answer to water shortages in the Capital cities. A number have been built, are near completion or in the planning stages.
The first was the Perth Seawater Desalination Plant in Kwinana. Unfortunately it doesn’t do public tours. It has deflected some opposition by the use of a Wind Farm for its power. The WA Water Corporation promotes desalination here.
Victoria’s plant-in-progress at Wonthaggi has been very controversial, especially after the decade long drought finally broke. It has been criticised as:
- more expensive than alternatives such as water tanks
- adding to greenhouse gases through its reliance on coal power generation
- destroying the surrounding marine environment
http://www.watershedvictoria.org.au/content/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/backgrnd.png
They have tried humour and satire to gain interest. The cartoon below is from one of their bulletins:
http://www.watershedvictoria.org.au/content/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/stasitoon.jpg
Video may be the answer to reaching a wide audience. Here’s one example:
More at Th!nk5: Water
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