The “soft path for water” defines a new approach to managing water resources. The soft path begins with the recognition that with few exceptions people do not want to “use” water – they want complex combinations of goods and services.

People want to drink and bathe, grow food, produce and consume goods and services, and otherwise satisfy human needs and desires. While many of these things require water, achieving these ends can be done in different ways, often with radically different implications for water. The soft path recognizes that there are two primary ways of meeting water-related needs, or more poetically, two paths.

The “hard” path relies almost exclusively on centralized infrastructure and decisionmaking using technology and institutions developed in the 19th and 20th centuries: large dams and reservoirs, pipelines and treatment plants, public water departments and agencies and private companies. The objective of the hard path is to deliver water, mostly of potable quality, and sometimes to remove wastewater. Read more

Water and energy are intricately connected. Producing energy uses and pollutes large amounts of water. Likewise, providing and using water requires large amounts of energy.

Throughout the 20th century, the connections between water and energy were largely ignored. Water systems were designed and constructed with the assumption that energy would be cheap and abundant. Likewise, energy systems were developed with the assumption that water would be cheap and abundant. And while some have long argued that we would reach peak energy and more recently, peak water, assumptions about abundance were the status quo.

The era of abundance is coming to an end and is being replaced by the era of limits. Conflicts between energy production and water availability are on the rise, even in areas not traditionally associated with water-supply constraints. Additionally, rising energy costs and concerns about greenhouse gas emissions are forcing some water managers to seek ways optimize the energy efficiency of their water systems and reduce overall water use. Read more

If you want to read under water – please welcome a special electronic reader. If you need to check the water or food on toxines – just poke a stick at them. You can also brew tea in room temperature water, you won’t need an electric kettle, which makes powermeter twist like crazy, is not required.

Stick in the water.The largest Chinese search engine Baidu announced the release of the available «smart sticks» that are able to analyze the composition of food and water. Moreover, Kuaisou sticks are able to determine the quality of the oil, temperature, pH, and even the number of calories in food. After the end of the analysis data is transferred to the tablet or smartphone, where a special application isinstalled. It has already been named Baidu eye, similar to the Google Glass.

If the product is dangerous for health, a red LED will switch on the stick immediately. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, now the launch of the Chinese «magic wands» in production being discussed, the estimated price is still unknown. Read more

Across the nation, water is vital to every household and every community; to agriculture, energy production, and a productive economy; to wildlife, forests, and a healthy environment. America’s water resources are generally abundant but they are not limitless. It is vital as well that we have a comprehensive understanding of how much water is being used across the country so we can make wise choices in managing our water resources.

Tracking where water goes

Every five years the U.S. Geological Survey collects data from counties all over the Nation for the national water use report, a thorough document that provides water resource managers and private citizens with accurate information on how much water is being used in specific places for a wide variety of purposes.

“Since 1950, the USGS has tracked the national water-use statistics,” said Suzette Kimball, acting USGS director. “By providing data down to the county level, we are able to ensure that water resource managers across the nation have the information necessary to make strong water-use and conservation decisions.” Read more

Until now scientists, of course, guessed that there was water outside the solar system. But it has never been confirmed by facts. And the first time in history American astrananomers found clouds of water steam on a recently opened brown dwarf.

To tell it short, brown dwarfs are stars of «low power», where nuclear reactions are possible only with light elements such as, for example, lithium. Such stars cool down very quickly. Temperature of recently opened cosmic object «W0855» is compared to the temperature on the North pole of the Earth. It’s curious that the photos of water clouds were made not by satellites, but from the Earth. Read more