why not build it?

[MC79]

Would it benefit the oilfield companies to invest in desalination plants? I understand they use millions of gallons of water for fracking.

[txfireguy2003]

I wonder about the steam that comes from nuclear plants. It must not be radioactive or they wouldn't be just letting it blow out into the air. For that matter, the steam that comes from regular coal or natural gas fired power plants (although on a smaller scale). Steam is pure water, that's how they make distilled water, by distilling, same process in making moonshine. So, these power plants, especially the nuclear powered ones, could they not try to recapture that steam, cool it and collect the condensate which is distilled water? I come to this thought process after working in the oil industry in California. See, one thing that the California EPA has done that is good is they forced the oil industry to actually use stuff that naturally comes out of the well that they normally would waste. It was the only oil field I've ever been around that didn't have that crude oil/natural gas/hydrogen sulfide/diesel exhaust smell. The field I worked on had zero fossil fuel engines running pumps, they were all electric. Where did the electricity come from you ask? We made it on site. We collected the natural gas that came out of the well with the oil we were actually trying to produce, cleaned and dried it, then ran it through a turbine engine which drove a generator. We actually sold power to the grid because we made way more than we needed to run the field. The only exhaust gas given off by burning natural gas is water vapor, or so I'm told. But my company took it even a step further. We pumped a lot of steam down hole into the formation to pressurize the oil and force it to the production wells. Where did that steam come from you ask? Those turbine engines produce hot exhaust (it's basically a jet engine) and the exhaust pipes were wrapped with a water jacket, the water was heated by the exhaust and turned to steam which was pumped down hole.

Why couldn't we use the steam that we're pumping out into the atmosphere from power plants, capture it and condense it back into usable water?

[westtexducks]

I am thinking that we need an interstate water pipeline system. The water from flooded areas could be moved to areas of the country that need the water. It would have to be big pipe, maybe twenty feet in diameter. The pumps would be huge. It would create lots of jobs for lots of years. They could take the money out of welfare and food stamp programs and put the poor unfortunate souls to work instead of sitting on their duffs.

Could you imagine the USA without an interstate highway system? It took lots of money and lots of time but we did it and it has paid back it's cost many times over in transportation cost savings.

Yep I agree every few years the mississippi floods, instead of trying to wall it up and in just set some big pumps and a big water line to a central hub say in colorado and then regulate it to drought stricken areas across the west. Just pump it straight into the lakes that are used as water sources. No need to filter the water or anything let the cities filter it same as they already do.

[Aggie_bowtech]

I guess I should clear up that the SAWS desalinization project and many others are pumping water from 1000' down under the ground and it's a brackish water. It's also used for a "Desal" plant.

It doesn't take a lot of water to get useable water. It just takes a lot of expensive treatment equipment because of all the materials of construction needed and lots of energy for the pumps and reverse osmosis.