Kirk‐Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology

Replenished.Water lying in deep strata for millions of years is being mined like other minerals, never to be replaced.In Libya, oil drilling found a lake 100 m below the dry sand, hundreds of square kilometers in area, and 750 m deep (3).It has been estimated that this lake will supply irrigation of 800 km 2 for 300 yr, but the pumping of this water is as final an act as the pumping of Libya's petroleum, which probably dates from the same lush geological era.Once pumped, neither resource can be replenished. Transport of FreshwaterFor centuries, containers have been used to carry freshwater, usually for longer distances than would be practical for conduits.Trucks and railways have used tanks.Ships have carried…