Peak Water

There has been more coverage of the peak oil theory but is it possible that we may experience peak water as well? Everybody knows the importance of water but I don't think we realize the amount that is used every day. The discussion around measuring a water footprint is beginning to become more mainstream as we are starting to realize how much water is used in everything we do.

Wired magazine has another great article this month discussing the impact of water scarcity in three place around the world. They also included it in an episode of Wired Science on PBS, which I never seem to catch. To me it looks like the combination of climate change, pollution and increased consumption are overwhelming water supplies.

Wasting water and energy is currently cheap enough that we it seems like we don't have to worry about it. What if every time you flushed a toilet you knew it would cost $20? Would you change anything? $50? $100? By looking at the relationship between gas prices and demand I think we'll see that the price we are willing to pay for wasting water may be too high.