Third Eye – Urnablog.com

My July water bill is RM5 (USD1.5).  Malaysia water tariff is here.  http://www.pba.com.my/.   I think this might be one of the lowest rate in the world.  Many countries where low water price is giving the public the wrong perception that water is cheap and abundant.  I am sad seeing some people do not know know how to appreciate water, like leaving the water tap open when brushing teeth, leaving the water tap open when combing their hair.

In fact, we shall not view water to be  a gift of nature that should basically be granted for everyone. We shall be thankful for the goverment for subsidising the water and in return we shall use our water more efficiently and effectively without waste.  Not to wait till the goverment to impose penalty by raising water price.

Some are asking, what civilisation, conservation got to do with global warming ?

Let assume there is an economy transaction between two peoples, say Tom and Jerry.

                (before )                                          (after)

            Tom + Jerry                        =         (Tom + 3) +  (Jerry – 3)

Jerry loss 3 units of wealth that gave to Tom his profits of 3 units. In the universe defined by Tom and Jerry, the units are conserved.  It is a zero sum game.

But when nature is addded into the transaction

                  (before)                                                   (after)

               Tom + Jerry + Nature  =  (Tom + 4) + (Jerry +2) + (Nature – 6) 

The stated loss of (-6) suffered by the nature may take the form of : loss of oil, loss of forest, pollution, ozone, increase greenhouse gases.  Tom gain (+4) because he pumping oil from the ground, Jerry gain (+2) because he furnished it to automobile for burning. What peoples have taken from the nature, nature has lost.  One day, the nature cannot bear the lost anymore, it has to adjust itself from the losses. What will happen to Tom and Jerry ?

Don’t think that water scarcity is only happen in rural area of India, China and Africa or only happen in under-developed countries. One example of the well developed city is in Sydney. Sydney’s water supply is one of the largest domestic water supply in the world. The capacity is as big as 9 times of London and 4 times of the New York city.  The Warragamba dam is the world largest dam.  Yet even with this capacious storage, it has proven to be insufficient. The authority still impose water restriction when the dam water reached certain level low.Ref :  http://www.sydneywater.com.au/SavingWater/WaterRestrictions/

These include restrictions on watering lawn, using sprinkler system, washing vehicles, hosing in paved areas, refilling swimming pools, etc.

Many people of the industrialised world tend to think that the technology will protect them from water scarcity like rural area.  For every degree of warm we create, we are heading toward a city like Sydney is now.