Sunday, June 25, 2006

Science Blog: "From an environmental and cost perspective, it is a good idea to collect and purify urine separately, rather than simply allowing it to flow into the sewer, according to Delft University of Technology researcher Jac Wilsenach, who on Monday June 26 will receive his PhD degree based on this research subject. Wilsenach estimates that substantial savings on energy costs can be achieved and moreover that raw materials can be reclaimed. Applying this research can lead to revolutionary changes in waste water management. "Urine accounts for less than 1% of our waste water, but it contains 50-80% of the nutrients in the waste water. For this reason, it is extremely burdensome for our sewer water purification installations. In fact, it is illogical to allow such a dirty waste water flow to mix with other waste water, as has occurred in our sewers for more than a hundred years. There is growing support therefore for collecting and purifying urine separately. By separating urine, phosphate and nitrogen are more effectively removed. Phosphate can even be reclaimed as a raw material. Urine accounts for at least 50% of the phosphate in waster waste, (with phosphate being a raw material of limited availability), and for 80% of the nitrogen found in the waste water." Category: Colorado Water 12:25:30 PM     Who's drying up this week? Farmers are raising concerns about Thornton's planned use of the water rights they purchased by buying up farms, according to the Greeley Tribune. From the article, "In 1986, Thornton, a north Denver suburb, quietly bought $60 million worth of farms in Weld and Larimer counties for their water -- water the city planned to transfer south through a pipeline from Black Hollow Reservoir west of Ault, south to the city. It then planned to return water to the South Platte River, build another pipeline from east of Greeley to return water to Black Hollow. Neither pipelines have been built. But Thornton, through water exchanges, is in the process of drying up about between 20,000 and 21,000 acres of land on the farms it bought in northern Weld and Larimer counties 20 years ago. The majority of that land is in northern Weld. It's able to do that legally after getting its plan approved through the Division 1 Water Court in Greeley... "Jim Hall, engineer with the Division 1 office of the Colorado Division of Water Resources in Greeley, said he's looked into the situation, including charges that Thornton has illegally diverted water from Antelope Reservoir about a mile north of Tucker's dairy. Hall said he understands Tucker's concern with the flow on Lone Creek, but said the installation of sprinkler systems in that area have as much to do with the decreased flow as does Thornton, 'which has a decree to remove water from that area.' The conversion from flood irrigation to sprinkler systems results in a reduced return flow which is having an effect on Lone Tree, he explained. And the dry, hot temperatures that have been the norm this year are not helping the situation. As far as Antelope Reservoir is concerned, Hall said Thornton is using that facility for short-term retention of water the city owns... "Mark Koleber, water resources manager for Thornton, said the city has not taken any water off the farms but has started the process to do so. He said plans are to dry up blocks of land, estimating it will take five years to convert that land from irrigated farmland back to dryland. And he said the city still plans to build a pipeline to transfer the water south. But that pipeline will take water from Water Storage & Supply Co.'s No. 4 reservoir on the northside 0 of Fort Collins, instead of the original Black Hollow plan. It will go west from that reservoir before turning to the south to Thornton... "Meanwhile, Stan Sessions, Weld County assessor, said the city has continued to make payments in lieu of taxes on the land it owns in Weld to the various entities that were affected by the sale 20 years ago." Category: Colorado Water 8:59:55 AM     Greenland ice sheet Here's an article about the Greenland ice sheet and global warming from the San Jose Mercury News. From the article, "The Greenland ice sheet -- two miles thick and broad enough to blanket an area the size of Mexico -- shapes the world's weather, matched in influence only by Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere. It glows like milky mother-of-pearl. The sheen of ice blends with drifts of cloud as if snowbanks are taking flight. In its heartland, snow that fell a quarter of a million years ago is still preserved. Temperatures dip as low as 86 degrees below zero. Ground winds can top 200 mph. Along the ice edge, meltwater rivers thread into fraying brown ropes of glacial outwash, where migrating herds of caribou and musk ox graze. The ice is so massive that its weight presses the bedrock of Greenland below sea level, so all-concealing that not until recently did scientists discover that Greenland actually might be three islands. Should all of the ice sheet ever thaw, the meltwater could raise sea level 21 feet and swamp the world's coastal cities, home to a billion people. It would cause higher tides, generate more powerful storm surges and, by altering ocean currents, drastically disrupt the global climate. Climate experts have started to worry that the ice cap is disappearing in ways that computer models had not predicted." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 8:46:57 AM

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 12/29/06; 11:51:47 AM.