Intel is using its new 3D gaming system as a way to see what people in the Rio Grande area of New Mexico might do during times of prolonged water scarcity. The game, Water Wars, was created with the help of Sandia National Labs.

Water Wars is not intended to go toe-to-toe with Call of Duty; instead Intel is asking farmers, developers, environmentalists, policy makers and others who will need to address water shortages to play the game.

The goal is to educate the users about water consumption and hopes they will all work together to create water policy that benefits everyone.

In the game, when faced with water shortages a farmer, for example, can decide to grow fewer crops, collaborate with others, buy more water, or choose to steal it. But we do wonder if people will let their true nature come out in order to see how their choices have real and lasting effects on the area’s water supply.

What’s your feeling, do you think this will help form better policy? What do you think is the best way to get people with widely varying views on the subject to work collaboratively for real solutions?

More on the game over at Treehugger.

photo credit: Intel

This week’s water-related news wrap-up has hopeful technology, a conversation about America’s water-wasting ways, struggles over who owns and controls water in Ecuador, and severe drought in Burma not being helped by the military junta.

clean water from common cactus

Treehugger brought an article about how the common prickly pear cactus could give us clean, safe, and cheap drinking water. The story was originally reported in the New Scientist. The process itself if quite simple: you just boil a bit of cactus and then drop it in the contaminated water. There’s more testing to do, but we think this is pretty cool.

photo: ah zut

america’s unquenchable thirst

Minnesota Public Radio program Midday recent guest Robert Glennon believes America’s thirst for water is “Unquenchable.” While we all think of Texas, California and Arizona, but even Minnesota other mid-west states have been facing water shortages. In fact, some cities in Minnesota weren’t able to supply enough water for ethanol refineries and Lake Superior is too low to float fully-loaded cargo ships. We’ve been using so much water that our groundwater pumping is getting out of hand. America is depleting its groundwater at a faster rate than it can be naturally replenished. Just last year, Atlanta was within 90 days of running completely dry. And that’s not all due to drought, but population expansion stressing water resources.

One of the biggest water wasters, according to Glennon, is our sanitation system. Each year America flushes 6 billions gallons of water down the toilet. This water is then sent back to the treatment plant to be used again. The problem is that downstream, say in New Orleans, their drinking water has been run through this cycle many times.

Glennon was also on The Daily Show last year where Jon Stewart points out that our energy policy, even moving to some clean energy technologies, could worsen the crisis.

protests prevent vote on water bill

Columbia University’s Earth Institute just posted an article about the growing water crisis in Ecuador. At the center of the problem is who owns the rights to the country’s water. In 2008, the constitution sited water as a fundamental human right. Since then many people feel this means that water should be a public utility and not privatized. As you can guess, that’s exactly what’s been happening. Over the years the people have been staging protests which have turned violent. Despite the outrage, the legislature has wanted to begin debate on a new “Water Act” that will give even more control to private companies with few guarantees for the population for continued access to clean, affordable water. Protests by Ecuador’s major indigenous organizations, however, seem to have resulted in the session coming to an end without a vote on the bill.

burmese drought

Once again the people of Burma are suffering. This time, record high temperatures and a late monsoon season have dried up wells and other drinking water sources. Some 60 villages are reported to be under severe water shortages. The drought is taking its toll in other ways as well. The severe heat and low water levels have caused some 100,000 fish deaths at fish farms in Rangoon. One article reported that while some local water bottling companies have donated some water, the government hasn’t responded to the crisis. In a related story, the Mekong River is at a 50-year low. Downstream countries are blaming China for building too many dams, but China blames mother nature.

What water stories are you following? Share them in our comments section below.

Something really interesting is happening down under. The Australians are encouraging people to find new ways to create a more sustainable textile industry primarily though reducing waste and textile recycling. The Technical Textiles and Nonwoven Association (TTNA) launched a program last month calling upon people and companies from all over the textile industry to apply to be a part of the new Australian Fiber & Textile Environmental and Recycling Cooperative Research Center (CRC).

The goal is for compelling, viable ideas to be research and developed around:

• Technologies for waste mitigation in manufacturing
• Fibers and polymers for sustainable manufacturing
• New products from waste
• Recycling and regeneration technologies
• Solutions for product stewardship

According to Kerryn Caulfield, TTNA’s executive manager, “one million tons of fibrous waste are buried in Australian landfills every year. Fibrous waste is an unrealized source of valuable raw materials that can be reclaimed for further use by developing frontier technology.”

The new cooperative research center hopes to become a leader in innovation and development. For those who make the cut, there will be funding and tax concessions.

Here in the U.S., the EPA estimates that we throw out over 12.3 million tons of textiles (carpet, clothing, linens, and so on) each year. While some 15 percent is recycled, that still leaves over 10 million tons making their way to the dump. Clearly our textile waste problem is much greater than Australia’s but we’re not aware of anyone, much less the industry itself, taking on this task.

We’ll follow the progress of the TTNA’s program and keep our eyes out for others. This type of initiative has the potential to not only relieve some of the burden on our landfills, but it could create green jobs as well as reduce water use, energy consumption, and CO2 generation. All worthy and necessary goals.

Are you aware of any companies or universities addressing the problems of textile waste or recycling? Post a comment below and let us know what you’ve found.

photo credit: penelopejonze

Have you ever stood in a store and wondered, “What does ‘USDA Certified Organic’ mean on that label?” As a follow up to our post on eco-friendly clothing labels, a friend pointed out a very handy iPhone app that demystifies labels on clothing, food, cleaning products, personal care items, and more. Very handy! Best of all, Label Lookup by SmartTools is free.

In the first 30 seconds playing with this app, we learned that the term “hypoallergenic” doesn’t really mean anything. There’s no third-party or government body that regulates it or verifies the claim. Good to know!

Mashable suggests 10 more iPhone apps to help you go green. What other mobile phone apps do you use to help you stay on the eco-path?

An estimated 1.2 billion people lack access to clean water worldwide. Water borne disease is one of the greatest threats to the world’s poor. Diarrhea, cholera, polio, and typhoid are common diseases spread via contaminated water. The United Nations Children’s Fund, commonly known as UNICEF, believes that in India 400,000 children die from diarrhea each year. To help address the problem, Tata Group, an Indian conglomerate perhaps best known to Americans for its purchase of Jaguar Land Rover, has developed a “water purifier for the masses.”

The Tata Swach – which means “clean” in Hindi – is a water purifier that doesn’t require running water or electricity to operate, and is priced for mass adoption – according to the Associated Press, the 19 liter device costs 749 rupees (about $16 dollars).

Speaking at the product launch, Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata, pictured above, said:

Safe drinking water is the most basic of human needs. The social cost of water contamination is already enormous and increases every year. Although today’s announcement is about giving millions more people affordable access to safe water, it is an important step in the long-term strategy to find a solution to provide affordable access to safe water for all.

The purification “filter” uses a combination of paddy husk ash, and microscopic particles of silver that, according to company executives, eliminates bacteria that cause 80 percent of waterborne diseases. The Tata Swach will purify up to 3,000 liters of water, and will automatically stop water flow after its purification limit is reached.

The Tata Group plans to initially produce one million units a year, and will distribute the purifier through a network of 30,000 rural Indian retailers. In the future, the company plans to expand distribution to Africa.

Ramakrishnan Mukundan, managing director of Tata Chemicals, said, “With the launch of Tata Swach, we are taking a small step towards fulfilling our Chairman’s vision of making safe drinking water available for all at an affordable cost…so with the launch of this product we are committing ourselves to work towards wiping out the curse of water-borne diseases.”

Some wonder why this hasn’t been done sooner, or in other markets. Perhaps the Swach will cause a price war and even western countries will benefit from this new, inexpensive alternative to the good ole Britta. If the Swach is available in your area, will you buy one?