Published November 1962 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
From the Office of UNITED STATES SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD Room 342, Old Senate Office Building, Washington 25, D. C. Volume II -- Number 45 11-2-62 BYRD'S EYE VIEW A Public Service Column by U. S. SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD SALINE WATER CONVERSION IMPORTANT TO NATION'S PROGRESS A population explosion, which has changed small communities into small cities, and large cities into megalopolises embracing myriad new and expanding suburbs, has focused increased attention on the urgent need for low-cost sea water distillation. Concern for the problem has been reflected in Congressional action. Large sums of money have been appropriated for research programs designed to develop low-cost methods of producing needed supplies of potable water from sea water or from brackish river water. Two distillation pilot plants are already in operation. A third is soon to be constructed at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation also has a research contract on a phase of the problem, and is undertaking the work at its plant in San Jose, California. Remarkable progress has already been achieved. The cost of converting 1,000 gallons of sea water to fresh water has been reduced from over $4 to about $1. The goal sought is to reduce the conversion cost to about 40ยข per 1,000 gallons. Statistics point up the critical problem facing the Nation due to the growing scarcity of water suitable for municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses. The figures also tell us that we have a nearing deadline in which to meet the problem. In 1960, we were using water at a rate of 270 billion gallons a day--an increase of 12 per cent over the rate of use in 1955. By 1975, the use of water in the United States is predicted to increase to 453 billion gallons a day--almost double present consumption. Thus, the success of research work to find a low-cost method for converting sea water and brackish water into potable water is of vital importance to the progress of the Nation. However, sea water distillation should not be looked upon as a panacea for all water problems. Good conservation practices, instituted now, would do much to alleviate the pending water shortage. We are still carelessly polluting, mismanaging, and misusing the fresh water resources that are available to us. Perhaps, as a Nation, we have not come to fully understand that water is a perishable commodity. More can and should be done to improve watersheds and to properly manage them, to curb and clean up stream pollution, to plan and construct reservoirs for containment of excessive rain water runoff. --30--