Temporary+Solutions

=Temporary Solutions=

Blue Revolution In the 1960's there was a massive shortage of food and starvation was spreading rapidly. Then the idea of a Green Revolution came about and new ideas to improve agriculture and even more so increase the production of food. Now theres an even bigger problem arising, water shortage. With a Blue Revolution maybe people can get hooked on conserving water and helping the world. A part of the blue revolution is spreading ideas and giving helpful tips to go about participating such as:

**Drip irrigation**:
More energy efficient than conventional methods of irrigation because it prevents seepage and runoff by delivering water straight to the roots of plants. Drip irrigation

**"No Impact Man":**
Colin Beavan and his family are conducting a kind of social and economic experiment in which they try to make as little impact on the environment as possible, all while living in the midst of New York City (Beavan). The basic principle behind this idea is very simple, and one that in light of the recent GO GREEN campaigns has become increasingly popular: make small changes to our daily lives in order to decrease the greater effect that we have on mother nature. However, in the Beavan family's case, those changes are most drastic. Colin has broken down his experiment into three stages. The first of these stages is to live without creating any wastes at all, which means nothing packaged or disposable. The second of these stages is to make the best environmental choices in their food selection, and the third is to reduce consumption to the bare minimum and maintain that level of consumption (Beavan). While not everyone can make changes the way Colin and his family have, they set a great example for the rest of us to recycle what we can, buy environmentally friendly products, and invest in energy saving light bulbs or hybrid cars. We can all make a difference.

**Solar Water Disinfection:**
Solar Water disinfection is an easy and widely available way to disinfect the unclean water in developing countries on small scale. This form of disinfection would be hard to continue on a governmental scale but individual households can easily maintain fresh drinking water from this system. The first step is to obtain a PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottle and rinse thoroughly. After this pour relatively clear water, as the more sediment and 'large' substances in the water the harder it is for the system to work, in the bottle and allow it to sit in the sun for at least 6 hours. The combination of heat and UVA rays from the sun kill the microorganisms in the water and make it safe to drink. (How)

Water with large amounts of sediment or other light blocking substances must either be heated to at least 50 degrees C ( 122 degrees F) or processed through a filtration system first to remove the sediment. One possible filtration system is a Reverse Osmosis filtration system which can cost close to 400 dollars. This type of filtration system can filter as much as 45 gallons of water per a day. (RO-45)

**Different Types of Filters:**
There are many different types of filters, and in general systems for purification of water, and each one has their own specialties and failing points. For example a distiller unit removes the heavy metals from a source of water put into where as an ultraviolet disinfection unit removes mainly the biological contaminates from the water. Knowing what you need removed allows you to acquire the proper filtration system for your water. For common filtration systems and what they remove go to [|to this list]. (Consumer)

**Listing of Water Organizations:**
[|This] is nothing more than a simple list of organizations that are trying to help improve water quality around the world. Most appear to be based in and around America but a few are international organizations trying to regulate water use. Each link goes to the homepage of that organization and this list therefore allows for easy contact if any is needed.

**Work Cited Area:**
"Consumer Guide to Water Filters." __NRDC__. 8 Apr. 2005. Natural Resources Defense Council. 24 Apr. 2008 <[|http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/gfilters.asp>.]

"How Do I Use SODIS?" __Sodis__. 26 Oct. 2006. Swiss Federal Institute for Enviromental Science and Technology. 24 Apr. 2008 <[|http://www.sodis.ch/Text2002/T-Howdoesitwork.htm>.]

"RO-45 Ultra Reverse Osmosis." __Free Drinking Water__. 21 Apr. 2008. 22 Apr. 2008 <[|http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/ro-45-detail.htm>.]

Beavan, Colin. "No Impact Man." 2007. 27 Apr. 2008 .