How did we create a society where we can’t afford to live in our own country?

Re:How did we create a society where we can’t afford to live... by twobyfour on Wednesday October 25, 2017 @08:53AM (#15549614)

Right...

You realize that unless you're getting your water from a well in your backyard it's being piped from somewhere?

And the backyard well option is used virtually nowhere in the developed world, and vanishingly few places with robust economic opportunity.

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Re:How did we create a society where we can’t afford to live... by rjbwork on Wednesday October 25, 2017 @09:38AM (#15549955)

My parents, less than an hour from where I live, the center of Atlanta, have well water. They live on a street that no ISP will service, unless you consider <50KBps and 50% packet loss for 60 dollars a month reasonable, if it decides to connect at all that day.

They don't have natural gas lines either. Or sewer lines. You'd be quite surprised how things still are in some places.

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Re:How did we create a society where we can’t afford to live... by bradfa on Wednesday October 25, 2017 @09:16AM (#15549792)

I live in upstate NY, USA. Lots of people have well water and septic tanks around here. Growing up in NH, USA lots of people there had wells and septic tanks, too.

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Re:How did we create a society where we can’t afford to live... by craftyguy on Wednesday October 25, 2017 @09:37AM (#15549948)

I seriously doubt there's enough well/aquifer water in the US to sustain the entire US population for very long. As I understand it, many aquifers are being depleted right now and/or at serious risk of salination due to over usage. If you moved everyone else who gets their water from reservoirs to well/aquifers, there would be no chance.

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Re:How did we create a society where we can’t afford to live... by twobyfour on Wednesday October 25, 2017 @11:06AM (#15550714)

Right, and the other side of that is that cities couldn't exist at all if we relied on well water alone. There isn't enough concentrated in one place, even if it were clean enough to avoid continuzous cholera outbreaks. Even in relatively wet parts of the country. New York for instance uses billions of gallons daily, piped in from upstate - and has had to for over a hundred years.

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Re:How did we create a society where we can’t afford to live... by deadmetheny on Wednesday October 25, 2017 @12:31PM (#15551560)

Upstate New York is in no danger of drying out - they get plenty of rainwater from lake effect storms and snows.

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Re:How did we create a society where we can’t afford to live... by twobyfour on Wednesday October 25, 2017 @12:35PM (#15551603)

The point isn't that the area can't supply its own water, nor that upstate NY can't supply enough water for NYC. The point is that even in a water-rich region, a city like NYC (or even one the size of Albany) cannot support its population off well water. Thus the existence of modern economic centers is dependent on piping in water. Telling city dwellers that they should get their water from wells so as to avoid dependence on their neighbors for their water is an absurdity.

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Re:How did we create a society where we can’t afford to live... by dboreham on Wednesday October 25, 2017 @02:51PM (#15553007)

<raises hand> We have a well here in Montana. You need 10+ acres of land to do it that way though.

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Re:How did we create a society where we can’t afford to live... by astura on Wednesday October 25, 2017 @10:46AM (#15550556)

Well water is still common.

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Re:How did we create a society where we can’t afford to live... by jpindar on Wednesday October 25, 2017 @11:33AM (#15550960)

What? Many suburban homes in the US have wells on their property.

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