Giant Death Machine Now Giant Life Machine

[lame54]

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latest-news/aircraft-carrier-purifies-water-challenge-delivery

January 17th, 2010 8:45 AM
Aircraft Carrier Purifies Water; Challenge Is Delivery
By Nicholas Casey / Wall Street Journal
ABOARD THE USS CARL VINSON–Help is now headed to Haiti from the nuclear reactor of an aircraft carrier. And it’s not power, it’s water.
The USS Carl Vinson, a nuclear-powered vessel sitting five miles off the coast of Port-au-Prince, has begun producing purified water for the devastated country at the rate of 100,000 to 150,000 gallons a day.
The process involves using excess heat from the vessel’s reactor to evaporate sea water, separating it from the salt. “It’s absolutely pure,” said Captain William McKinley the Carl Vinson’s officer in charge of the reactor.
The Carl Vinson is equipped with four distilling units which each produce 100,000 gallons of water daily, for a total of 400,000 gallons. About three-quarters of that are used in the daily operations of the ship – the rest is considered excess and can be used for relief work.
The challenge remains in getting the water from the vessel to Haiti. “I don’t think it’s a matter of our (production) capacity, it’s a matter of our containers and the ability to transport it,” said Mr. McKinley. The Carl Vinson was beginning Saturday to evaporate the water and put it into large “bladders” to be sent by helicopter into Port-au-Prince.

[NYC_SKP]

1. Nuclear powered life-saving water for Haitians from the US Navy. Gotta love that.

K and R.

:kick:

[spanone]

7. floating desalination plant

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, lame.:thumbsup:

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Here is the part they are not telling you about this story

the crew, that is how they get their water... they are going to be on short water rations for the duration.

:-)

[niyad]

4. but won't it be a bit easier to supply the crew with water--after all, planes and helos can land on

the flight deck.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. They'll get enough but showers

once a week maybe and thirty seconds, that is what short water rations mean

The priority is sending the water to shore...

More water making capacity is coming in every day... from multiple places though.

[GMA]

6. No less than I

would expect from our servicemen.

[robinlynne]

12. according to the article, the ship keeps 75% of the water, and that is PLENTY of water for the crew.

[piedmont]

23. They will no doubt cut the crew's ration to be able to supply even more to relief. nt

[itsrobert]

5. What's the normal source of water for the Haitians?

And why isn't it available now?

[spanone]

8. no electricity, no pumps, no water

[itsrobert]

10. But what's the source?

Ground water? River? Lake? Desalination?

[Chulanowa]

11. Ground and surface water

And it's unavailable because there's no working sanitation facilities. Conceivably Haitians who live near streams and rivers could collect their own water to boil, but most of the country lives in Port Au Prince and along the coast where such sources aren't readily available.

[itsrobert]

13. Thanks for the answer

Looks like

[robinlynne]

14. and how would they boil it? electricity and fuel wont be available.

[Chulanowa]

16. It's called wood

It's a substance made by plants out of dense cellulose fibers, with the greatest producers being woody trees. When dry, wood is quite flammable - in fact it is responsible for the severity of the sweeping fires that have struck places such as London and Chicago in the past. However, properly managed, a wood fire is quite useful, able to produce light and enough heat to cook food and boil water with.

[vixengrl]

17. Although I give this answer great points for snark....

Haiti has historically had a big problem with deforestation:

http://countrystudies.us/haiti/53.htm

It's a handy answer that wood fires can be used, but only so long as the wood itself is handy.

[Codeine]

18. There is very little wood in Haiti

precisely because it has been used for firewood.

[piedmont]

25. Actually, from looking at the satellite images on Google maps, it's complicated

In many areas, even very close to Port-au-Prince, there are many trees even though there are not forests. In other places though there's nothing larger than a blade of grass. Overall it's possible for the land to be deforested but still able to supply wood and charcoal, which is what it was doing before the quake.

[robinlynne]

19. I dont know. We are told not to even use candles after earthquakes here in

California. no fire at all.

[kestrel91316]

20. Ruptured gas lines. I don't think most areas in Port-au-Prince have natural gas lines.

[Peace Patriot]

21. Haiti has been deforested, driven mostly by extreme poverty, and not helped by

interference with the development of democratic government. (This is also the reason that Haiti had NO building codes--the constant interference, removal of elected leaders, installation of puppet leaders--no good government infrastructure has ever been allowed to develop.)

98% of Haiti's once lush forests are gone. The impact on soil stability and soil fertility has been extreme.

99% of Haitian land is owned by 1% of the population.

Millions of good small farmers have been driven off the land into urban squalor--greatly exacerbating the carnage and damage from this earthquake, both because of overpopulation of Port-au-Prince and the mudsliding hills on which slum neighborhoods were built.

The going wage in Haiti is $2/day.

Most Haitians lived from meal to meal, pre-earthquake.

Where do they get wood when there are no trees?

-----------------------

Haiti’s Poverty is Directly Linked to Deforestation and Habitat Loss
Written by Amiel Blajchman
Published on May 10th, 2009
http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/05/10/haitis-poverty-is-directly-linked-to-deforestation-and-habitat-loss/

DEFORESTATION IN HAITI
AUTHOR: Kristen Picariello December 18, 1997
http://www1.american.edu/TED/ice/haitidef.htm

"Haiti is a country that is virtually deforested at the present time. If one were to fly over the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the border appears like it was drawn by an"acetylene torch" owing to massive deforestation in Haiti. The Haitian climate has, as a result of deforestation, been changed drastically."

Haiti Earthquake, Deforestation Heighten Landslide Risk
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100114-haiti-earthquake-landslides/

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. This is why water purification tablets are being distributed

since boiling might not be possible

I guess the flu is getting to me and can't type too well.

[Codeine]

22. The nuclear power so many here rail against

will be vital to keeping folks alive in Haiti.

[RC]

24. Yeah, but..., but..., but...

This is military nuclear power. You never hear about any waste from them. Why can't we use them kinds of nuclear powers to replace coal powered plants and stuff? :sarcasm: