WEBVTT - What Does the Future of Water Look Like? 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:02.880 Guess what mango? What's that will? So you may remember 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:05.119 a couple of years ago when an artist named Elizabeth 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:07.840 Butcher got a ton of attention for this special shower 0:00:07.840 --> 0:00:11.280 curtain she designed. You'd be standing there just enjoying a nice, 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:15.080 warm shower, but if you didn't stay focused, after four minutes, 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:18.240 you'd start to notice these soft spikes inflating around you, 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:22.160 and before you knew it, you'd be surrounded by them. Yeah, 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:25.400 I'm so guilty of long showers, but I love that thing. 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:28.160 I meet me too. And these were obviously not sharp spikes. 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:30.800 But the idea of Spiky, as it was called, was 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:32.880 to crowd the shower after you've been in there long 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:35.720 enough and encourage you to wrap things up. And I 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:38.320 just thought it was so funny. But Beaucher designed a 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:41.600 shower curtain that would also slowly squeeze and trap you. 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:43.440 This was a different one. I guess this was like 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:46.240 an area of expertise or hers. And so I started 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:48.440 thinking about Spiky the other day, and I wondered if 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:52.000 this ever actually became a real product. Unfortunately, when I 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:54.800 searched for shower curtains with spikes, I found dozens of 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:58.120 options for curtains with cacti on them, but not the 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:01.000 spiky I was looking for. But even if this didn't 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:03.280 become a real product, it was a fun way to 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:06.039 make people think about water usage and the very real 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:09.920 water issues the planets facing today and those issues along 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:12.479 with the solution scientists are trying so hard to find 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:14.920 or exactly what we'll be talking about today, So let's 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:34.560 get started a their podcast. Listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:36.600 I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:39.119 good friend man guest shot Ticketter. A few weeks ago, 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:42.280 we published an episode titled Can We Feed ten Billion? 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:44.600 If you didn't hear it was an episode focused on 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:46.680 many of the efforts being made to feed a rapidly 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:50.640 growing global population. Well after the episode ran, we heard 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:52.760 from several listeners asking if we would do a similar 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:55.280 one but focused on water. Well, there's no question the 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:57.760 future of water and our access to clean water is 0:01:57.800 --> 0:01:59.920 a major issue, So much like we did in the 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.160 Feeding the World episode, we'll be talking about many of 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:05.840 the attempts to find solutions. We have some really interesting guests, 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.160 like we've got Martin Reese, who's the world's most respected 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:12.880 water Somalia water Somalia I have to have Before this episode, 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:15.440 I did not know that job existed. Well, he's actually 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:18.320 the only one certified in the US, and he is 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:21.720 so enthusiastic. And we'll also be talking to Florence Metz, 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:24.000 who is the winner of the two thousand fifteen Dancer 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:27.880 PhD contest, which I'm just so excited to talk to 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:30.000 her as well. And have you seen this competition. I 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:33.080 love this competition. Actually you kind of have to see 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:36.120 the submissions to understand it fully, but it's pretty much 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:39.120 exactly what it sounds. You get all these PhD candidates 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:42.040 and they submit these dance videos that help explain the 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:44.560 research that they're doing. It's pretty awesome. I know, I want, 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:46.919 like PBS to do a reality show based on this. 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:48.480 And I was like, so I could think your dance. 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:52.120 So Florence's research was about government policy and its effects 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:56.320 on water quality, and it's super sophisticated. Oh that's great. 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:58.560 All right, Well, I know we'll be talking about solutions 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:00.320 in a bit, but I think we have to start 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:02.960 with the numbers and why this is a very real issue. 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:04.839 And now, Mango, I know you pulled several of these 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:06.840 so why don't you tell us what you found. Yeah, 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:09.760 So here's a quick rundown on the stats I I located. 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:13.240 So the Atlantic reported that the global middle class will 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:15.760 start from one point eight to four point nine billion 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:18.760 by which will lead to a serious rise in fresh 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:22.080 water consumption. That's a huge increase. Yeah, and combine that 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:24.880 with the fact that by there will be an estimated 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:27.639 one point eight billion people living in areas plagued by 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:31.200 water scarcity, and two thirds of the world's population will 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.320 be living in water stressed regions. Plus the demand for 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:36.840 water is expected to grow by more than fifty over 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:39.960 the next thirty years. I mean, those numbers are just staggering. 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:43.320 And these issues affect people in more ways than one, right, 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:46.160 I mean, like water scarcity can threaten the political stability 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:48.600 of regions. And we won't really get into this, but 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:52.520 water access isn't really fair. Like, right now, more than 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.840 six million people are without access to safe water, and 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:58.600 more than one point five billion or accessing a source 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:02.760 that's contaminated by feces. And this is a little different. 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:04.200 But at the end of the movie, I don't know 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:06.160 if you remember this, but the Big Short, there's this 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:09.760 ominous line about Dr Michael Blurry, one of the investors 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.320 who saw the mortgage collapse coming, and how he's only 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:16.240 investing in water, which isn't exactly true. He's not buying 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:19.200 up water rights, but he is using water scarcity as 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:22.400 a way to guide his investment decisions, which is fascinating. 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:26.080 And all those are striking and and honestly very concerning numbers. 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:28.080 But let's bring this back to the US for just 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:30.240 a minute. So a few years ago, there was this 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:33.560 really interesting book published called The Big Thirst, The Secret 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:36.320 Life and Turbulent Future of Water, and it was by 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:39.160 a reporter named Charles Fishman. You and I have talked 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:41.240 about this before, and it really helped us see what 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:43.640 water uses like in the US and how it's a 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:47.040 resource that's completely taken for granted. Yeah, there's a fascinating 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:50.000 section earlier in the book that talks about study that 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:52.960 looked at how Americans flush and the research team in 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:55.640 the study used electronic water flow sensors and over a 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:58.520 dozen cities to keep track of water and how it 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:00.680 was being used over the course of a mon And 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:03.440 even though the study is nearly two decades old now, 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:06.440 it was considered so extensive and detailed that the e 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:08.640 p A still looks at it as this like pretty 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:11.240 clear view on how we use water in the States. Yeah, 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:13.520 they looked at pretty much every way we use water, 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:17.160 whether it's taking baths or washing clothes, using the dishwasher, 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:20.400 and how often we flush the toilet, And as Fishman notes, 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:23.800 the studies overall conclusion can be summed up in four words. 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:28.120 We like to flush. I mean, it's really crazy, isn't it. Yeah, 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:30.600 for Americans, it's by far the biggest way we use 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:33.480 water in our homes, more than cooking or bathing or 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.320 even washing our clothes. The study found that the average 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:40.119 American flushes the toilet five times a day and uses 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:43.520 over eighteen gallons in this process. So, if you're gonna 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.720 like put that in perspective, that's nearly six billion gallons 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:50.039 of water flushed every day. I mean, when you consider 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:52.799 that there are six million people without access to water 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:55.960 who use only honestly, like five liters a day, and 0:05:56.000 --> 0:06:00.200 we're using seventy just to flush our toilets, it's completely insane. 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.960 And uh, it's even more insane when you consider that 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.200 the fact that the water we're flushing is cleaner than 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:09.119 most people get to drink right right. And while that's true, 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:11.280 that definitely doesn't mean we don't have our own water 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:14.360 sanitation issues to deal with here. You know, there was 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:16.880 the tragic news out a flint, of course, but a 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:20.760 report from the NRDC looked at fifty two thousand community 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:24.159 drinking water systems across the country and what they found 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:27.000 was that a third of those had reported violations of 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:30.040 the Safe Drinking Water Act. So this affects something like 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:33.880 seventy seven million people in the country, which is so troubling. 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:36.400 And by the way, all this talk of flushing made 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:38.800 me remember a story from about seven or eight years ago. 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:42.159 This guy Anton Stookie, who is the head of a 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:45.880 German sewage treatment plant, started piping in classical music while 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:49.640 he worked this yeah, and he realized that Mozart specifically 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.080 was stimulating the microbes that were cleaning the water, and 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:56.200 it made them work faster. And apparently they responded particularly 0:06:56.200 --> 0:06:59.200 well to the magic flute. I mean, who doesn't. But 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:01.560 before we leave the topic of water usage, we should 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:04.200 note that whild toilet flushing is the number one use 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:07.120 of water in the home. The biggest consumption of water 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:10.480 in the country comes from power plants like our utilities 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:14.360 use about seven times more water than Americans using their homes. 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:17.760 And this is about two billion gallons of water each day. 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:21.080 And we're not just talking hydroelectric power. This is the 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:24.840 water needed for coal and gas and nuclear power plants 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:28.320 and processes like cooling. Nearly half of the water used 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:30.680 in the US is coming from power plants. Yeah. One 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:32.640 of the things Fishman talks about in his book is 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:34.680 how a big part of the problem with water usage 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:38.080 in the US is that water is largely invisible. But 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:40.400 luckily you don't have to panic. There are some incredible 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:42.760 solutions on the horizon. But before we get to those, 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:50.440 let's break for a quiz. So, Omega, who do we 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:52.600 have the line? Today? We've got the winner of the 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:56.760 two thousand fifteen Dancer PhD contest, Florence Mets, and she's 0:07:56.840 --> 0:07:59.680 joining us from the University of Verne in Switzerland. All right, 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:02.720 well into part time genius. Florence, thank you very much 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:05.840 for having me in your So for those of you 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:09.520 who have never seen the dance your PhD contest, you've 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:12.920 definitely been missing something awesome. There's some great videos you 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:15.440 really need to google. Florence. Is that if you just 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.120 google Florence Mets. The last name is EMM E. T Z. 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.640 It's a terrific video. But we'll talk a little bit 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:23.880 about that. But Florence, before we jump into that, why 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:26.080 don't you tell us a little bit about your research. 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:28.760 You know, we've been doing this episode on the future 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:31.840 of water and and obviously your your research was relevant 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:33.839 to this, but tell us a little bit about it. Yes, So, 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:40.080 my research is about corporation in politics, and I took 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:45.560 the example of water protection policies where there's new um 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:50.320 new pollutants that are called emerging pollutants on micro pollutants 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:53.520 because they're in the water in very small concentrations, and 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:56.720 until now we didn't really know whether that they are 0:08:56.760 --> 0:09:00.400 in the water. But because technology improved, we can now 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:07.079 find pollutants in very small concentrations, for example, from um medication, 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:14.080 from cleaning agents, from all types of cosmetics. And the 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:19.160 question really is does it matter to have these pollutants 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:24.360 and water in these small concentrations, and how can we 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:28.080 agree on a political solution. So Fors, how did you 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:30.319 decide to enter this contest? Did you just feel it 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:34.520 would naturally be communicated and dance form well? I once 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:40.400 heard about a colleague who participated in the Dancer PDD contest, 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:43.520 and first of all, I could really believe that this exists. 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:46.720 The business a thing, and then um, I watched a 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:51.400 few a few videos and I just thought it's such 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:54.000 a funny idea of such a cool idea, And because 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:56.880 I love dancing and I do this since I can 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:01.080 practically walk, and I also love um research, so I 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:03.480 thought it would be a cool way of combining both 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.720 of my interests. Did you have any other favorites from 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:09.360 the from the competition that you feel we should check out. 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:15.000 There is a video on the mating behavior of fruit flies. 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:18.800 I think that is really creative because the dance that 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:22.400 they do kind of transports the well, how how this 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:26.840 can possibly work? So I also really liked the video 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:30.679 from the year before the year one, which was two thousand, 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:34.840 so from two thousand and fourteen, that was somebody explaining 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:39.880 in chemistry how to make my knees with less that 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:44.520 he's very creative. It was actually a little source of 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:48.360 inspiration for my video. Because you are clearly a talented dancer, 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:50.720 I don't think you'll have any problem with this quiz. 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:52.720 What are we playing today? With Florence Mango. It's a 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:55.280 game called So you Think you Know Dance, and it's 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:59.480 a true false about important moments in dance history. All right, 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:03.000 here we go, Florence. Are you ready? Yes? Okay? Question 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:06.640 number one. As a teenager, Bruce Lee was a Cha 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:10.960 Cha champion. True or false? Well, it's funny that you 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:14.280 mentioned Bruce Lee because all the mactual arts and kung 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:19.480 fu is really beautiful towards it's like a dance. And 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:22.520 I really like these choreographies of kong fu in the movies, 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:26.800 So I would I can very well imagine that somebody 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:30.720 who does kung fu and martial arts also is into dancings. 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:34.920 I would say, yes, Well, you're right. He was an 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:39.400 excellent dancer in he won a Hong Kong championship. Oh wow, 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:43.200 that's pretty great, alright. Question number two. The Chicken Dance 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:47.280 wasn't inspired by chickens, but by skiers. The dance was 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:50.520 invented after an accordion player noticed the way Swiss skiers 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:54.280 happily flap their arms as they came down the mountains. 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:58.280 Is this true or false? Well? I should know because 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:02.679 I live in Switzerland, but I've never really noticed anybody 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:09.760 doing after skiing. I know, I know the Chicken dance 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:13.680 more from funk Dance, which has a move called funky Chicken, 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:20.079 and this is a thing, so I would just assume, yes, 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:24.880 it's true. Alright, yea lawence provides better commentary than we 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:28.040 do for days. That's pretty great, alright. Question number three. 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:33.239 In South America, the Hokey Pokey is known as totally barotely. 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:39.880 I would say it's um, let's say it's true. Oh good, 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:42.719 guess it's actually a false though the song is known 0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:46.679 as the Hokey Coke in the UK the Hokey Coke. Alright, Well, 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:48.800 she's two for three. Still on a path toward a prize, 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:52.160 I think so. Number four slots engage in a Pooh 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:55.160 dance when they use the bathroom. Once they've climbed to 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:57.680 the base of a tree. They hold onto the trunk 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:02.240 as they slowly sway and wiggle their hips. True or false. 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:14.000 That sounds very very handy, like in relieving nature is fantastic, 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:16.679 and I would say it's true. That's right, and they 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.360 only go once a week. Wow, alright, well, I haven't 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:24.079 dance too okay. Number five last one for the big prize. 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:27.880 Michael Jackson had a line of lavender scented medicated dance 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:31.720 socks to combat stinky feet. The tagline was, you don't 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:34.240 have to be a wallflower just to smell like one 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:40.640 true or false? So I would say this, you're right, 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:44.160 all right? So how did Florence do today? Mango? So 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:46.960 Florence went an amazing four for five, which wins her 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:49.200 a note to her mom or boss sing her praises. 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:51.160 But in addition to that, we're actually gonna send her 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:54.400 Martha Graham finger puppet, which is probably the most important 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:58.840 way to honor Martha Graham's legacy. That's right, Well, congratulations Florence, 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:01.160 thanks so much for being on Part Time Genius. Thank 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:15.600 you very much. That was fun. Welcome back to Part 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:17.600 Time Genius. And I was promised we're going to talk 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.440 about some of the technological developments that will hopefully help 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:22.400 us in an effort to provide much more of the 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:25.840 Earth's population with access to clean water. But real quick, 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:28.680 can we just talk about how old Earth's water is? Yeah, 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:30.920 this is fascinating to me, and it's similar to what 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:33.120 we discussed the other day with Caesar's Last Breath, when 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:35.480 we talked about the fact that each time we take 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.080 a breath, there's a good chance that there's some molecule 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:41.360 in that breath that was breathed by Julius Caesar. It's 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.760 really weird to think about. And with water, we don't 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:46.680 think about the fact that the water we drink and 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:49.880 swim in and even wash our clothes with has been 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:52.720 around since just after the Earth was formed, that's right. 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:55.120 I mean, the Earth is somewhere around four point four 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:58.160 or four point five billion years old, which is kind 0:14:58.160 --> 0:14:59.960 of weird when something is old enough not to think 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.120 of a margin of ara of a hundred million years 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:05.360 is very pick But the solar system itself was formed 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:08.680 around four point six billion years ago. But the point 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:11.600 is when the Earth was created, water was present shortly 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:14.920 after that, and new water has been neither created nor 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:18.320 destroyed since then. So the water used today has pretty 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:20.800 much always been here. So the issue we're talking about 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:22.720 today is not really that there's a lack of water 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.200 on Earth. There's a whole lot of water on Earth. 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:28.640 It's the water that we can actually drink that's the issue. 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:31.720 And to begin, less than three of the water in 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.600 the world is fresh water, and less than one percent 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:37.480 is even accessible and most of the rest would either 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:40.320 be found underground or in glaciers. All Right, So we 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:42.040 keep saying we're going to get to the fun stuff, 0:15:42.040 --> 0:15:44.800 the science behind some of the solutions to providing access 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:47.440 to more drinkable water. So let's get to it. So 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:49.760 I'll start us off. So I know this isn't exactly 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:51.920 a new technique, but I think we should talk about 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:55.080 fog harvesting. And this is something that's been practiced in 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:58.720 several countries, even ones that get very little rainfall. But 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.600 in this case, it's not about developing a completely new idea. 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:05.680 It's about making significant improvements to existing systems to get 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:09.480 a visual of how fog harvesting works. Imagine giant tennis 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:11.960 nets being put up in the desert, except the netting 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.000 is mesh like and has much much smaller holes, so 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:17.560 it actually catches the water and fog as it passes through. 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:19.720 And the work that's being done between M I. T 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:23.040 and the researchers in Chile is it's it's really impressive. Yeah, 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:24.920 they've been working for a few years now to improve 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:28.440 the efficiency of previous nets by five or six times, 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:32.000 which may seem difficult, but it's really going from capturing 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:34.360 about two percent of the fog that passes through them 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:36.760 to about ten per and that can make a huge 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:39.440 difference if each square meter of mesh can yield several 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:41.640 more liters of water each day. Yeah, and in a 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:44.320 desert region where there are really few options for getting 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:47.800 drinkable water, I mean, this is pretty promising thing. But 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:50.080 there are other options being developed to One that I 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:52.200 think is really cool is being developed by a company 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:55.520 called Zero Mass Water. And this is another effort to 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:57.720 take water out of the air and turn it into 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:00.600 water that we can drink. And the tech ology behind 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:03.680 it is so cool. So to simplify it, it's basically 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:07.719 using solar panels to help create drinking water instead of electricity. 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.560 That's awesome. How does that work? Well, there was this 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:13.399 terrific popular science article by a guy named Jeremy Deaton 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:16.840 on this from last year, and his Deeton explains, imagine 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:20.359 a salt shaker with grains of rice interspersed among the salt. 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:24.760 The rice absorbs moisture, keeping the salt dry, and Zero 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.880 Mass Water developed a material that acts like those grains 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.760 of rice. They absorbed the water from the air, so 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:34.720 the waters extracted from that material and then purified and 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:37.600 source adds calcium and magnesium to match the flavor and 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:41.000 pH of bottled water, which produces five liters a day. 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.919 And that's enough to say the family of four. And 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:46.439 this is done using solar panels because they make it 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.520 possible to create power in developing countries and areas that 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:53.080 are far from any power grid. It's actually pretty amazing. Yeah. 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:56.640 There's also been some pretty significant advances in water generators, 0:17:56.840 --> 0:18:00.919 which use these plastic leaves that created station by cooling 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:03.159 the air around them. And on a pretty warm and 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:05.919 humid day, some of these generators can create over eight 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:09.920 gallons of water. And obviously these work better or generate 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:12.680 more water and humid climates, but they still work in 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:15.600 dry climates, even if a little more slowly. It really 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:17.959 is incredible to see all the thinking going into solving 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:20.600 these kinds of problems. I know, the other day when 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:23.480 we were talking about how exercise doesn't actually contribute that 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:26.280 much to weight loss, I made a comment that science 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:29.160 was stupid. I want to go ahead and change my mind. 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:32.199 I guess science is is pretty incredible. But anyway, so 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.080 these are just some of the ways people are trying 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:37.520 to capture more water. We should also talk about wastewater 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:40.280 and the progress scientists and engineers are making towards being 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:42.320 able to reuse it. To think about all the water 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:45.359 we talked about Americans using every day, right and once 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:47.920 it's flushed or used, there's got to be a more 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:51.280 efficient and even productive way to reuse it. I mean, 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:54.639 there is some reuse of treated wastewater, but not nearly 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:56.679 at the scale that it should be. Yeah, right now, 0:18:56.760 --> 0:19:00.639 wastewater is typically pumped pretty long distances to these centralized 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:03.520 plants to be treated, but there are efforts to figure 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:06.600 out how to have that wastewater treated more locally, then 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:09.240 it can be returned more easily to nearby users rather 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:11.960 than having to be pumped several miles. And there's also 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:14.399 the big project happening out in Modesto, which is going 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:18.080 to be California's largest wastewater to agg project. They're actually 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:22.040 building a federal canal to move recycled water to farmers nearby, 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:24.199 and you can just imagine how helpful this is going 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:26.400 to be during times of drought. This kind of thing 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:28.560 is done on much smaller scales around the country, but 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:30.919 getting this right on a much larger scale, it's going 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:33.240 to be huge. Yeah, hopefully it'll be a big success. 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:35.440 And I see here at schedule to start maybe by 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:37.080 the end of the year, which would be which would 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:40.720 be pretty incredible. All right, since we're already talking about wastewater, 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:42.760 I've got one that may take some time for people 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:44.720 to get used to. It's one thing to think about 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:47.840 reusing wastewater for farming, but what about the research going 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:52.080 into turning urine into drinkable water. I feel like that's 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:55.040 the plot point that uh made water world collapse. But 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:57.639 I can't say i'd be ready to sign up for 0:19:57.680 --> 0:19:59.720 road I'm not sure I would either. But my favorite 0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:01.440 part of about this is where some of the earliest 0:20:01.440 --> 0:20:04.200 testing was done a couple of years back. The researchers 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:07.000 in Belgium have created a solar powered machine that gets 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:09.639 rid of all the yucky stuff pretty sure that's the 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:12.720 scientific term, but the yucky stuff in urine that turns 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:15.639 it into drinkable water. And guess where they tested this, 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:17.760 I don't know, tell me. So it was at a 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:20.960 huge music festival in Belgium. They took lots and lots 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:23.800 of festival p and were able to recover over a 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:27.119 thousand liters of water and that was then available for 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:30.040 use in making Belgian beer. Again, this was all from 0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:35.240 the urine of people attending this festival. Festival, p that's right, 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:38.080 So tell me how it's possible. Well, there's a distillation 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:40.480 process where the main purpose is to get rid of 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:43.520 the ammonia in urine, and then the remaining liquid goes 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:45.720 back into this big tank and it's heated up by 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:49.080 solar power and this boiler. Then it goes through another 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:53.240 filtering system which separates things out like nitrogen and potassium, 0:20:53.520 --> 0:20:56.680 and those things can actually be reused for products like fertilizer. 0:20:57.080 --> 0:21:00.080 And then you're left with this drinkable water, which I 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:01.800 I know I was down on it earlier, but it 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:04.960 actually sounds pretty incredible. It does, and I know NASA 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:07.840 has been successful in turning urine into drinkable water too, 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:11.280 and obviously if this can eventually be executed on this 0:21:11.400 --> 0:21:14.399 larger scale, that could provide a ton of drinking water. 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:16.680 But since we're on the topic of drinking water, why 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:18.840 don't we talk to our next guest. I'm really excited 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:29.959 about having Martin on Wine. Our guest today is the 0:21:30.040 --> 0:21:33.359