And of course, I thought I had a relatively easy answer.

[agoodwinsmith]

So, I was thinking that desalination technology was where to place my dollars.  However:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination

Aside from the currently not cheap issue, some of the places that need water are uphill and inland.  And then there's the whole sucking seawater in at a rapid pace, destroying plankton and fish eggs and larva, and who knows what else.

Hmm.

Comments

[jessie-c.livejournal.com]

I rather like the Iceberg Scheme (http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/icebergs-as-water.htm)or even the alternative super-supertanker scheme discussed in that article.

[moustachios.livejournal.com]

Hm. How would they keep their theoretical iceberg from tipping over and crushing either the towboats or the super-supertanker? Those things flip over all the time.

... Actually, now that I think about it, there *is* a local company that harvests icebergs for vodka. Maybe the key here is not to target big bergs, but to send out big ships to scoop up lots of little bergs.

[jessie-c.livejournal.com]

That's the gist of the tanker idea; load it up with bergy bits and let them melt on the trip home. The Iceberg idea I liked best involved what would otherwise be called an island: much larger in length and width than height. Most people think this (http://videotales.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/iceberg-1.jpg) when icebergs come to mind but the ones the towing people like look more like this (http://marginalizedactiondinosaur.net/wordp/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ice-sheet.JPEG) instead.

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

I suppose it must be a viable economic option - I mean: we've filled tankers with oil and sent them around the world, so it must be worth it to do the same with water - assuming they scrub out the tankers first. But oil has been - what - $20 a barrel during most of that time, and buying a liter of gasoline less than a dollar. Hmm. I know we are willing to pay more than a dollar for a liter of drinking water under some circumstances, but I bet I don't pay that much for the water that flushes my toilet. How expensive would water really be this way?

I suppose we could use a combination of methods - ship the melty bergs to the coast, pipe them uphill, use the water, and then recycle the water in situ and never let it back into the ecosystem.