There was a very interesting article written by Mark Crawford in Mechanical Engineering recently titled “Waves, Currents & Electrical Potential.” In it he discusses the “relatively young” field of hydrokinetics, and covers its huge potential. The term hydrokinetics covers everything involving moving water, so it includes waves, ocean currents, flowing rivers and streams. He states “this form of energy tends to be more reliable than solar and wind, and is abundant in certain regions.” He quotes Christopher Mahoney, Communications Manager - Environment and Renewable Energy for the Electric Power Research Institute in Charlotte, N.C. as saying “technically recoverable wave energy alone could provide about 25% of U.S. electrical demand.”

Pretty impressive, but as a new technology, it faces challenges. The largest being how to get the energy from the source to a place where it can be either stored or distributed. Large ocean buoys with floats that rise and fall with each wave can use that motion to create electrical energy, but the necessary wire to get it back to land makes it difficult to apply. Crawford confirms “the most popular hydrokinetic device is the turbine.” Submerging these devices in a constantly flowing river can be effective. Also, the turbines can be designed to change orientation if the flow direction changes, making them capable of being positioned in a harbor, for instance, that may go through flows in both directions several times a day. Here are some examples:

Photo credits: ANDRITZ HYDRO Hammerfest (left) and Kris Unger/Verdant Power, Inc. (right)

And here is a picture of my favorite turbine, and the one Kinetico has been featuring for more than 40 years. We have been using these turbines to drive our water softener and filter valves through their regeneration for quite some time. We have studied their designs and have greatly decreased the amount of water needed to perform their work. As we look into the future, what other ways can we harness the energy of the water flowing into homes and businesses? The energy is there, we just need to learn how to use it effectively and efficiently. On a grander scale, as the power generation turbines and power collection systems evolve, will we see a growing use of that technology merge with the possible changing water flows brought on by climate changes?

 Should I put a turbine in my rain gutter? Maybe.

Contact Keith B.

I am intrigued by the ongoing advancements in water analysis technologies. Our ability to find trace quantities of specific chemicals in water and waste water, which are filled with so many other compounds, amazes me. And, as with many things, that starts my imagination running wild.

I recently read in the “Chromatography Techniques” section of the Laboratory Equipment web site that a master’s student at Texas Tech Institute for Forensic Science had studied the waste water in Lubbock, Texas specifically looking for trace amounts of illegal drugs. In particular she was looking for benzoylecgonine (BE), which is a chemical produced by humans when they ingest and metabolize cocaine. The article states that the ratio of BE produced to actual cocaine ingested is consistent enough to allow for back calculation of the amount of cocaine used over a time period in the upstream population. Her testing led to very interesting results, the weekend “amount ingested” projections were significantly higher than weekday results. (Probably obvious, but the analytical data is still valuable.)

Also noted in the article was a reference to some similar work done in Europe where specific neighborhoods were able to be pinpointed for increased drug usage, and thereby linked to increased criminal activity. So a city’s waste water stream sort of becomes like its bloodstream or its urine sample… able to be analyzed for its “health”. If we can begin to see trace quantities of today’s PPCPs (see my Blog entitled “Just in Case”) and now illegal drugs, will we soon be able to evaluate the waste water from a city, neighborhood or even a home to determine eating habits?

 Are we just a short time away from wet suited french-fry and doughnut police?

Contact Keith B.

My initial impression of a future world with runaway Global Warming was one of deserts, droughts and being really thirsty. From what I have recently learned from reading some information provided by Paul Durack and others in Science magazine April 2012, there will actually be more rain as the temperature increases. I suppose if I had taken a little time to think about it I would have reached the same conclusion. The warmer the temperature is, the more evaporation there will be, which means an increase in the water cycle.

I am not saying I fully support all the claims of the coming disasters of Global Warming (that is for another blog), but I am interested in the concept of the possible acceleration of the water cycle. Mr. Durack estimates that the water cycle could undergo as much as a 24% increase if there is a 3° C average (5.4°F) temperature increase by the end of the century as some have predicted. The problem is, and always has been, that the evaporated water is not equally distributed around the surface area of the globe. As the water cycle accelerates dryer regions could get drier and wetter regions could get a lot wetter. Overall, there will be more fresh (non-salt) water falling from the sky than today. 

So, why are we always hearing that we are running out of fresh water? Because we are. We can’t harvest all of it. Much of it just falls back into the ocean (77%) and the rest quickly runs off as surface water, returning to the ocean, in some cases, after flooding low lying areas. The scientific challenge is to think of ways to improve our “catch and hold” methods. Giant floating tankers with pipelines to land based reservoirs? More dams on land?  Large underground storage tunnels? And of course, any land storage methods of holding water would also need some ingenious methods of reducing their evaporation losses.

These are all great engineering puzzles….maybe we can ask Siri how to fix it?

Contact Keith B.

This year’s mild winter, low soil moisture and an early June heat wave have created the perfect “heat storm”. In their June “Global Analysis Report” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) has determined that this June was the warmest in U.S. history since 1880, and was the warmest month on record for the entire northern hemisphere.

A new term has been coined by the NOAA. If you are encountering a condition where there is a sudden unexpected, lingering burst of high temperatures (90+), low humidity and lots of sunshine (not a cloud in the sky), then you are in a “flash drought”.

This condition is occurring in many parts of the Midwestern United States. Hardest hit is the Corn Belt, Missouri in particular. According to the Drought Monitor (a weekly report of drought conditions throughout the United States), approximately two thirds of the Midwest is in some stage of drought.

Affected are the major staple crops such as corn and soybeans. The drought hit when the young plants were most susceptible. This has lead to decreased corn production. Forbes reports that grain prices have risen approximately 47% since mid-June on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Water Districts throughout the Midwest have asked their customers to use water wisely and implement voluntary water conservation measures. If this continues then mandatory measures won’t be far behind.

Here in Northeast Ohio, June wasn’t so bad, but July is getting nasty. Most all of the lawns are some shade of brown, and on the home front (my backyard) despite my best efforts, the zucchini are pretty much toast and the cucumbers are withering away before really bearing much fruit. The tomatoes and especially the peppers however are growing through the roof. Win some lose some I guess.

Contact Ed R.

Fasten Your Seat Belt...

How many functions do we perform each day in our lives, primarily based on a “just in case” philosophy. Our automobile seat belt is probably one of the most prevalent, and it is now required by law in most places.  Other functions that could be broadly lumped into this category might be: using hand sanitizers, carrying an umbrella, taking vitamins, changing the password frequently on our computer, locking our doors, etc. Maybe it’s “better safe than sorry”, rather than “just in case”, but whatever the term, it is a widely accepted force in our society today.

I recently read in Bloomberg Businessweek, and  in my local newspaper, that a top official of the CDC’s* National Center for Environmental Health, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is now getting involved in investigating the possible contaminants associated with fracking. Fracking is a process used in the extraction of natural gas and oil from shale. At this time, there is no proof that the chemicals used in or produced by that process might affect our health but they believe it needs to be studied. At the same time, the **EPA is looking at the subject to see if those chemicals affect our environment in any way including ending up in our drinking water.  So “just in case”, do we need to stop all fracking until more is known?  This is under serious debate in many states right now.

We already know that our water supplies contain trace quantities of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs). Individuals add PPCPs to the environment through excretion and bathing, and through the disposal of unwanted medications to sewers and trash. According to the EPA, (http://www.epa.gov/ppcp/) PPCPs have probably been present in water and in the environment for as long as humans have been using them. Although we can now measure PPCP levels at low concentrations there are more people ingesting or applying products to alter their moods, change their looks, or somehow “fix” themselves than ever before. Just as an example, the Wall Street Journal in August 2011 reported that in 2010 there were 253 million prescriptions written for antidepressants! That in itself is depressing.

If you drink water that is coming from a surface water source, you don’t have to wait for an error in gas well fracking to possibly send mystery chemicals into your drinking water. Thanks to PPCPs, you probably already have a mixed cocktail of them (albeit in very low concentrations) heading into your home and making their way into your Kool-Aid or coffee. Yet, in my recently supplied 2011 Water Quality Report from the Cleveland Division of Water, PPCPs are not even mentioned, though the report is well organized and well written.  The report does briefly explain that “Reverse osmosis filters…..remove things like fluoride and many minerals found in hard water.  Replacement filters can be expensive and several gallons of water are wasted for every gallon filtered.” 

I, for one, believe that it makes sense to process my drinking and cooking water through a reverse osmosis membrane to significantly reduce PPCPs and many other possible contaminants and have been doing so for the last 25 years - that’s longer than I have been consistently clicking my seat belt… just in case.

* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
**U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Contact Keith B.