migration and drinking urine...7.30 report, page-10

While the thought process is flowing....

When I was at school I loved the subject of physics and science. I only did fairly basic courses, but in the discussions over the last year or so on water in particular, and other things too like electricity, it has become very obvious to me that the general population at large has a very poor understanding of basic physics.

This displays itself in two main ways;
1. Electricity. Many seem to think their houses can be powered by solar panels. That is a huge furphy. Sure solar panels will supply a steady trickle, but even for something as simple as cooking a meal, a huge demand is made on base power from a power station. Which means that even if every house had panels, we would still need as many power stations as now to provide the heavy demand, even for short periods.

2. Water. There is a perception that water can only be 'used' once. But water is used over and over. Caesar may have bathed in the water we are drinking today.

To put it another way, leaving it in dams does not 'save' it. It will evaporate from wherever it is, the driveway after you wash your car, the garden, everywhere. And come down again as rain. Even when it soaks in to the ground it still eventually turns up for re-use.
It is obvious to me that the physics of evaporation is lost on many, and yet the same people make huge expensive decisions that affect us all, based on ignorance.

With respect, I think most farmers would be more aware of this than many so-called experts who have little experience.