Water Wars: Use, Conflict and the Future

[FayeforCure]

NorthEast Florida Environmental Summit

by Florida Coastal School of Law and Jacksonville University

Thursday, November 6, 2008

9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Glad to see they held this summit last year. Did anyone here attend?

[fsu813]

I did not. However, on a related note....

I was talking to the head/president of one the largest water provider/treatment centers in the sotuheast the other day. He owns many throughout the state and other states, that provide water (tap, reuse, etc) to the public....

i thought perhaps since Florida has the aquafer that our water would be better than most other states...

he said quite the opposite. that the aquafer is being greatly contaminated with saltwater from the ocean, b/c so much freshwater is being sucked out. this is expecially true near the larger population areas. he said that the sodium levels are hypthetically regulated, but in realty are not....with very little consequences. Currently, in many area sof Florida, you can get half your recommended sodium intake for the day from drinking 1 glass of water. Some areas you can get the FULL amount in 1 glass of water.

He said that the state of Florida does a horrible job regulating it and it's like the "wild wild west". The environmental agencies don't do a effective job on this matter either, in his opinion.

On the brightside, he said since Jacksonville gets it's water from the St. Johns that it's better than the other large population centers in Florida and that the future of water is desalination plants.


This was obviously off the record....

[FayeforCure]

He said that the state of Florida does a horrible job regulating it and it's like the "wild wild west". The environmental agencies don't do a effective job on this matter either, in his opinion.

It just keeps amazing me how many laws and regulations are on the books, and how few if ever they get enforced.

I knew that the aquafer is being greatly contaminated with saltwater from the ocean, b/c so much freshwater is being sucked out,..........but the extent per glass of water was unknown to me and incredibly shocking!!!

[buckethead]

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/08/26/feel-free-to-drink-your-shower-water-kids/

Don't know how serious, but there it is.

[kramer2k]

I caught that same story yesterday.  Strange to say the least.

[fsu813]

interesting....

[buckethead]

interesting....

It makes sense. I remeber hearing about cattails growing rampantly due to phospherous leeching into the natural system. They purified the water to such a dgree that many indigenous species along with simbiotic microbes were unable to suvive.

It seems like a pretty good way to treat waste water from a shower, washer or dishwasher, but I don't think they filter out the biotics related to septic waste.

[Deuce]

We think we got water problems, look at Atlanta!

Here's a great read that talks about the aforementioned problems:
http://www.amazon.com/Every-Drop-Sale-Jeffrey-Rothfeder/dp/158542367X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251378163&sr=8-1

I'm sure there are other great books on the subject. One of the key takeaways from the book, besides the need to conserve, is how the mismanagement of water resources from a physical and logistical standpoint have contributed enormously to the water problems.

[Dog Walker]

Jacksonville does NOT get its water from the St. Johns River, but from the Floridan Aquifer.  If we got our water from the River, it would have to be desalinated as the river is very brackish all the way up river past Palatka.

[Jason]

True Dat!

Water and Sewer Systems
JEA's Water System consists of 150 artesian wells tapping the Floridian Aquifer, which is one of the world's most productive aquifers. Water is distributed through 44 water treatment plants and 3,480 miles of water lines. More than 2,500 miles of collection lines and six regional sewer treatment plants comprise the JEA sewer system.

JEA is committed to improving water quality of the St. Johns River. One outstanding example of how we're working to meet our goal to reduce nitrogen release into the river is through the use of reclaimed water for irrigation.

http://www.jea.com/about/index.asp