What is the role of water in our life, no one needs to explain - and everything is clear. Without water, any being sooner or later is doomed to death. Even animals, knowing this, do not attack each other, coming in a drought year to water. The main thing is to quench their thirst! As for humans, in fact, the same problems.

In Africa, water is the most valuable asset.

The main treasure planet

It is known that the human body is 60-70% consists of water. But such is the nature that not all have the same access to this source of life. According to the world health organization, about 40% of the world's population already suffers from water shortages, and by 2025, nearly two billion people will be living in regions with absolute scarcity of this precious product.

First of all, in the countries of Asia and Africa, whose climate is extremely arid. That is why numerous public funds, governmental and commercial organizations are sounding the alarm and scratching their heads over how to ensure a growing from year to year the population of the planet main treasure - water. Almost 97% of it is in the bowls of the seas and oceans, but there it is, alas, salt. About 2% of the content of glaciers and icebergs. And significantly less than 1% of life-giving water accounted for rivers, lakes and groundwater bodies.

For some countries, such as Brazil, Russia, USA and Canada, problems of fresh water is not there yet. But, say, in Israel or Kuwait question of its supply of the population has long been equal to the status of national security.

Sea of Galilee

In the Middle East region is home to 5% of the world's population, accounting for only 0.09% of the world reserves of fresh water. For example, most of the territory of Israel is sultry desert Negev (Hebrew word "Negev" means "burnt", "dry". - Approx. as amended). But the country is not only fully provided with fruits and vegetables, but also exports its produce in other regions of the world. And all because enterprising Israel with the help of a network of pipelines has provided individual irrigation of each tree in the desert, each patch. But in order to grow one lemon tree, takes a few cubic meters of water per year. Where to get it? The largest reservoir - the coastal aquifer, which extends from the Mediterranean coast to the Judean hills. From this underground storage annually produces about 500 million cubic meters of water. But it is almost the limit, because the uncontrolled pumping content of natural store can lead to a breakthrough in the seas of it, that will lead to disaster.

You can, of course, "drink" from the sea of Galilee, known by the biblical texts as the sea of Galilee. But here's the problem - the water level in the lake in recent times is a critical point. Once more and the extraction of drinking water should be here terminated, otherwise it will damage the ecology of the lake. There is another natural source of the Jordan river, but governments of neighbouring countries, Syria and Jordan, long wanted plans to let her water bypassing Israel. In the six day war of 1967, Israel has managed to join the Golan heights, rich springs. But these territories still remain controversial. In short, where throw - throughout the wedge! So today, Israelis, and people of other countries of the middle East region, carefully consider the daring ideas of scientists, nurtured them for years.
Here are some of such projects.

Will melt as refined sugar

The idea of transportation of icebergs to the shores of the United States and Europe appeared in the beginning of XX century. The Americans even figured, what values should be iceberg, to ensure, for example, California a year's supply of fresh water. Medium in size, which many floats in the ocean, interfering with, by the way, navigation. One only Greenland broke away thousands and thousands of ice blocks. But the largest icebergs come from Antarctica. They came from the ice shelves, which are thirteen. Their width in the Western part of the continent about two and a half thousand kilometers, and the average thickness - up to 400 meters.

Total stock of fresh water in the natural reservoirs, about 600,000 square kilometers. Such quantity of all people of the Earth is not enough for one hundred years. It would seem, use it! By itself, the iceberg melts slowly while swimming in the ocean. What a piece of "refined sugar"! Transportation of big-size of several football fields to the coast, for example, the Mediterranean sea - it is very time consuming. This is how powerful tugs need? Yes, and the path to be considerable, several thousand kilometers! The speed of movement of such goods will be only a few nautical miles (four kilometers) per hour. The caravan will be in a few months. In this case, the iceberg will need to be covered with special screen, reflecting the sunlight, otherwise begins to melt intensively. That's why as an alternative, the idea to break up the icebergs directly into the sea, and the resulting ice scrap transported by tankers.

To water and salt - separately

In many countries are seriously considering doing so. One Western European company decided to organize the delivery of spring water from the South island in New Zealand. The water is great - clean and very tasty. Already ordered tankers with special equipment which will allow to preserve the taste and freshness of the natural product. The company has a great experience in delivery of various liquids, from gasoline to wine.

Among other means not been forgotten long ago mastered the technology of desalination of sea water which is evaporated in the distillers. The salt remains in the vessel, and water vapor is condensed and collected in special tanks already in the form of fresh water. Unfortunately, this method is not suitable for industrial production. On the walls of a vessel is generated scale, worsens their conductivity, clogged pipe. To clean the tank, you must delete the old sea water and get a new one. And this is the heat loss, increase the financial costs! Suffering and ecology of areas where such work.

Anyway - you need to think!

There is another aspect - medical. Israeli scientists have discovered in desalinated sea water harmful to human health, the heavy isotopes (deuterium and oxygen-18). The technique of vacuum distillation allows the cooling water is below freezing. The resulting salt crystals are removed, and water is becoming increasingly clearer. There are plants producing up to one million gallons of desalinated this way of water per day. But it is not suitable for drinking: there are too few nutrients.

It is known that sea water can cool down slowly, then ice forming on the surface, after thawing will turn into a fresh liquid. But this method is not suitable to Israel because of the hot climate.

There is another way desalination of sea water, the so-called reverse osmosis, that is, "squeezing" of the molecules of water from brine. Sounds odd, but it works perfectly. The method is based on the action of the so-called partial pressure, when molecules salt and water at the same time put pressure on the walls of the vessel, dipped in clean water. If you increase the pressure in the vessel, the water molecules from salt mixture will easily pass through it palanimanickam the membrane, and salt will remain inside.

Accordingly, will increase the amount of clean water. However, it is completely tasteless, will not be the right person alkaline minerals. To use this is to harm their health. However, in 2005, Israel had launched the world's largest desalination plant using reverse osmosis. But other middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, while world leaders in the desalination of sea water, use it only for technical purposes. And that of their population consumes daily, brought from Iran, Iraq and New Zealand.

...And waste will be used

It seems that in the fight against hunger can not do without the whole complex of additional measures, including wastewater treatment and reduction of consumption, the use of nanofiljtrov, ion processing of the material. Fortunately, in the world still have additional sources of drinking water. For example, Turkey is ready to build a "peace conduit" and on a commercial basis to let him water from rivers Ceyhan and Seyhan in the Middle East. Israel was not slow to respond to the offer is signed with Turkey a contract to supply 50 million cubic meters of water annually.

...And restless scientists continue to search for effective and low-cost solutions to the problems, all the more acute facing humanity. In their plans the way of regeneration of water from urine and sweat through distillation. Several years ago, American astronaut Michael Barratt, who was then on Board the ISS, made the first SIP of such a "drink" in the eyes of managers NASA. But before that smiled when he read aloud the text on the label of the bottle: "Drink this, when this water is at a distance of over 200 miles."