Water, water everywhere.

[V8Ian]

Dearer than fuel by a long chalk.


https://youtu.be/T_RxYDWPgmM?si=3fqPjWRTqXNhJQeg

[Saitch]

The only time I will purchase bottled water, is after it has been safely treated by a brewery.

[Slunnie]

I have basic water tester here.

Water from my rainwater tank is 95%
Water from my rainwater tank and filtered is 97%
Sydney water from the tap is 65% and it was the poorest rating in the key areas.

I've never tested bottle water though.

It also makes me pleased that I use a Yeti stainless water bottle.

[V8Ian]

The only time I will purchase bottled water, is after it has been safely treated by a brewery.
Safe you say?


https://youtu.be/sHYn5yqQwSg?si=9loYOPsV2tyHizvt

[incisor]

The only time I will purchase bottled water, is after it has been safely treated by a brewery.Amen...

[austastar]

Hi,
Went for a hike up to Hartz Pk years ago. Stopped at a shop near the end of the driving but for some snacks .
One of the party bought a bottle of Hartz water.
We were walking through several km of the stuff on the way up to the top.
Sigh! City kids.
Cheers

[POD]

Pay money for water. Get covered in tattoos. Can't afford a house deposit.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Safe you say?


https://youtu.be/sHYn5yqQwSg?si=9loYOPsV2tyHizvt



2 HAYS ????

anyone else find it funny this vid poo poo's artificial stuff but uses AI to do its talking??

instant unbeliever....

[NavyDiver]

2 HAYS ????

anyone else find it funny this vid poo poo's artificial stuff but uses AI to do its talking??

instant unbeliever....

AI is in the news of course as is water of several metres dropping in QLD[wink11][wink11]


The story here yesterday was massive DataCentres in Vic are on hold as we do not have enough power for them or for the Desalination plants for the extra water they would require

This morning the story that AI in Lifesaving has saved more than 2 lives shows that AI is not just for play. "An AI system used in 120 public pools across Australia analyses swimmers' movements and sends an alert to a lifeguard's smartwatch if it detects someone in trouble. The system taps into the pool's CCTV to watch if a swimmer goes underwater for too long, stops moving or..."

My fun with this and energy and water via swimming. Its an economic thing really.


"

Every summer in Australia, the same tragedy plays out in headlines. Despite strict fencing laws and vigilance, we lose an average of 35 people a year to drowning in swimming pools, with toddlers being the most vulnerable.
Technology has finally caught up. New AI systems—like Coral Manta for backyards or Lynxight for public centers—can detect a drowning swimmer in seconds and sound an alarm.
But in an era where we are increasingly conscious of our energy grid and the massive power demands of AI data centers, it begs the question: If we deployed this technology nationwide, what would it cost us in electricity?
We ran the math. Here is what an AI safety net looks like in Gigawatt-hours.
The Scale of the Challenge

To understand the energy load, we first have to look at the infrastructure. Australia is a nation of swimmers:


1.5 million+ private backyard pools.
~2,113 public aquatic facilities.

Currently, monitoring these relies on human attention—parents in the backyard and lifeguards at the center. Humans get distracted; computer vision does not.
The Energy Bill

The energy consumption comes from two places: the "edge" (the camera/processor at the pool) and the "cloud" (the data centers training the models).
1. The Backyard (Residential)

Most residential AI pool guards are surprisingly efficient. Many modern units are solar-powered with battery backups, effectively removing them from the grid entirely.
However, let’s assume a more grid-intensive scenario where 10% of all pool owners (150,000 homes) install a wired, always-on system similar to a high-end security camera (drawing ~15 Watts).


The Load: ~2.25 Megawatts continuous.
Annual Consumption: ~19.7 GWh.

2. The Public Pool (Commercial)

Public pools require heavier lifting—multiple cameras (underwater and overhead) and on-site servers to process video in real-time without latency.


The Draw: ~1 kW per facility.
The Load: If every single public pool in Australia adopted this, that’s ~2.1 MW continuous.
Annual Consumption: [B]~18.5 GWh.

The Verdict: A Small Town’s Worth of Power

When you combine these scenarios, the total energy requirement to put AI eyes on every public pool and a significant chunk of private pools is approximately 38 to 40 GWh per year.
To put that in perspective:


[B]It is roughly equivalent to the annual electricity usage of [B]5,500 to 6,000 average Australian homes.
It is a rounding error in the National Electricity Market (NEM).

The "Hidden" Cost vs. The Human Benefit

Critics might point to the hidden energy costs of the data centers required to train these AI models. While valid, this is a "sunk energy cost"—the models are trained once and updated periodically, meaning the operational carbon footprint remains low.
In the context of Australia’s energy transition, 40 GWh is a negligible price to pay for infrastructure that could virtually eliminate pool drownings. We often talk about AI "stealing" energy or threatening jobs, but this is a use case where the trade-off is starkly positive.
For the energy cost of a small country town, we could protect the most vulnerable swimmers across the entire continent. That seems like a pretty good deal.

Happy New Year all. Silver and U308 for 2026 for this black duck[biggrin][biggrin][biggrin]

Edit this was so much fun I wrote a yarn on it out tomorrow

195379

Australia - The Kilowatt Cost of Saving a Life: AI, Swimming Pools, and the Grid (https://open.substack.com/pub/australianuranium/p/australia-the-kilowatt-cost-of-saving?r=2mnr9t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true)

[scarry]

The only place i have ever bought bottled water is overseas,usually Asian countries.Although it is usually supplied by most motels free.
It was 20c (Aus) for 600Ml in Vietnam a few months ago.
Don't know about the quality,but we didn't get ill.

[Slunnie]

The only place i have ever bought bottled water is overseas,usually Asian countries.Although it is usually supplied by most motels free.
It was 20c (Aus) for 600Ml in Vietnam a few months ago.
Don't know about the quality,but we didn't get ill.

Places like that are a cash cow for the likes of Coca Cola who supply bottled water into there and companies who push that water isn't a basic human right. Its bizzare that these countrys don't have potable water facilities within, mind you the pollution and rubbish is probably a part of that problem. On the flip side, in Italy you can drink any water, even public fountains double as hydration stations!

I know this has been done in the past, and quite publically, but it would be so good to see HSC students and undergrade (or Graduate!) engineering students develop water solutions for these countries, whether they are local, community or larger scale solutions - so they don't have to pay multi-nationals for water!

[Saitch]

Safe you say?


https://youtu.be/sHYn5yqQwSg?si=9loYOPsV2tyHizvt


Uncanny. My Chrissy beer 'fridge!

195381

[V8Ian]

I did notice Coopers was not mentioned.

[ozscott]

I have basic water tester here.

Water from my rainwater tank is 95%
Water from my rainwater tank and filtered is 97%
Sydney water from the tap is 65% and it was the poorest rating in the key areas.

I've never tested bottle water though.

It also makes me pleased that I use a Yeti stainless water bottle.


I think their eskis are too dear for what they are, but their double wall bottles are excellent. They do have plastic lods but the water at least is not sitting in plastic. I do like the Nalgene bottles for light loads too but prefer stainless steel. Cheers

[loanrangie]

I did notice Coopers was not mentioned.

Not watched the video but was that " **** from up her " beer in it ?

[Saitch]

Not watched the video but was that " **** from up her " beer in it ?

Yep. It's a shocker, ay.

I'm assuming you mean the one from 'Up Here'? [bigwhistle]

[Tins]

Places like that are a cash cow for the likes of Coca Cola who supply bottled water into there and companies who push that water isn't a basic human right. Its bizzare that these countrys don't have potable water facilities within, mind you the pollution and rubbish is probably a part of that problem. On the flip side, in Italy you can drink any water, even public fountains double as hydration stations!

I know this has been done in the past, and quite publically, but it would be so good to see HSC students and undergrade (or Graduate!) engineering students develop water solutions for these countries, whether they are local, community or larger scale solutions - so they don't have to pay multi-nationals for water!

All very true, but you don't think about it when you're dealing with a case of Bangkok Belly.

[loanrangie]

Yep. It's a shocker, ay.

I'm assuming you mean the one from 'Up Here'? [bigwhistle]Yes, water has more flavour.

[V8Ian]

What would yo expect from Carlton?

[V8Ian]

Yes, water has more flavour.
Full circle. [bigrolf]

[loanrangie]

What would yo expect from Carlton?

Their other beers are much better.