>>And what about all the chemicals, heavy metals etc in our river beds and bays as a result of using waterways as chemical dumps<<

What indeed?

http://www.dhmo.org/dihydrogen-monoxide/

Cheers,

Tony

Good one, Tony, the good old DHMO (Di-hydrogen Monoxide), potential carrier, purveyor and distributor of all manner of waste products and toxins - and even occasionally deadly itself, particularly in backyard pools, rivers and ocean surf. Chemical composition - 2 Hydrogen atoms plus 1 Oxygen atom: H2O.

Ha, Ha, clever boy, had us going there for a while.

On a more serious note though, if you take a look at the very interesting and informative link provided by ybgirp near the bottom of the preceding page (12) on this thread, it becomes apparent that in the not too distant future our potable and irrigation H2O may have to be produced by distillation (due to groundwater contamination) - which would certainly poke a hole in the economic balloon (as well as being rather inconvenient). (Of course, in some areas rainwater may still be sufficiently free of contaminants and toxins to be useful to households, as long as one doesn't live too close to a mine or industrial complex.)

Brave New World, or disintegrating and very fatigued old one? (Not too late, perhaps, but the clock is ticking - or should that read 'the fuse is fast burning down'?)

I fear it's a fuse, Saltpetre. Excellent metaphor, by the way.