The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water

I loved this book. A fascinating tale of water- from its origins in space to how various cultures view and use water. Including us wasteful Americans! But offering ideas on how we can adapt to climate change and the way we view and use water. I learned an incredible amount from Fishman’s entertaining style and down to earth explanations of complex subjects. I have always thought water was amazing (a true understatement) and worth way more than the lack of respect we give it. I have already sent a copy to a like-minded friend and my boyfriend is anxious to read my copy next. If you have curiosity about the earth and our environment and the wildly different views and access the world has to the precious resource of water, read this! Everyone should. I have definitely changed my view and use of this unique and mind-bending element. 7/24. I still say EVERYONE ON THE PLANET NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK!!!! A couple times. I have!

In the US water is abundant, safe, and cheap (p. 3). The high value of water to life is known, and this book helps people appreciate the details and features of how water is necessary. Direct and indirect uses include home electricity with the average home in the US requiring 250 gallons of water per day in the electricity generation and use (p. 2). Interesting ideas in this book include the divergence of water's value as a vital part of life to its cheapness, however, both abundance and price are changing in the US. Future cities will need more desalination and already desert and semi-arid countries use desalination. Will increased microplastic pollution in the oceans, rivers, and lakes clog more desalination plants or drive up costs as filter units before reverse osmosis units are clogging up faster than in the 1980s? UN meetings will have another reason to fix the ocean plastic pollution crisis when desalination plants are damaged by excess amounts of microplastic pollution.

I came to The Big Thirst as someone who was already pretty water conscious (some think obsessed), and a definite water conservationist. But, wow, all that I had never thought about water Charles Fishman has contained in this book in a thought provoking, entertaining and instructive way. This is in no diatribe designed to make us feel guilty about our water ignorance (although Fishman does rant on Arlen Specter at one point near the end, and rightfully so), but rather a series of stories crafted to heighten our awareness, in an attempt as the author says "to change our relationship to water". From Australia to India, down the strip of Las Vegas, around the Gulf Coast of Texas to Vermont and elsewhere Fishman takes the reader on a tour of man's challenges and successes in managing our water usage, distribution systems as well as the effect on mankind, the economy and lastly gets the reader thinking about where the next million or billion gallons is coming from. This book is a treat for anyone who has stopped for even one minute to wonder where our water really flows from and if someday it might not.

Unlike many eco-warning books, Charles Fishman isn't presenting a dire admonition, but a fascinating exploration of water, as the most unique substance in the universe. You can read the ecological, economical, and even sociological impacts of water, or the current predicaments in numerous technical volumes, but Mr. Fishman presents as much hope as caution, some of it scary, some of it beautiful, all of it wondrous. Readers will likely learn more about their (our) relationship to water in this one book than in all the technical and ecological books out there--because it is, ultimately, as much about humanity as it is about the most life-sustaining substance about which it speaks. This is not a "share and scare" book, it's a warm conversation of a substantive nature. My four kids are waiting for my copy to free up, and my wife's bookmark is chasing mine through the pages. It really should be taught in every school where students depend on water to survive and to sustain the lives to which we've become accustomed. There is no political agenda here, no social-leaning to either side. Mr. Fishman's presentation is just as important to all of us, regardless of the things that sometimes divide us--as I said, it's as much about being human as it is about water. Definitely worth the read, and I'm sure you'll enjoy the excellent prose and style as much as the information. I highly recommend it!

I agree with other reviews; repetitive and sometimes strongly opinionated. I have lived on the coast, endured 3 hurricanes in South Carolina, have lived in a rural home in Georgia for 20+ years and maintained a well & septic tank , have spent a month in Malawi and watched the young harvest water. Now living in Kansas, I proudly tell everyone how delicious our tap water is. When drinking Aquafina (while living on the coast) atrial fibrillation seemed to be triggered and after reading this book I wonder if Pepsi’s Aquafina is TOO pure. The author’s disdain of devices to remind people to drink is just wrong (my opinion). Yes, not everyone needs this ‘reminder’, but humans are not programmable robots and our focus varies. Working with children in athletic and art venues, or adults intent on a project, get in trouble so easily by NOT paying attention to hydration. This is a book that should be required reading in all schools, but be warned, it is a slog to get through.

Bought this book for a science project on the global effects of water scarcity, etc but this book is far too USA-centric to be used for that. Yes, there are a few mentions of places eg Perth (Australia) but overall it’s very heavy on USA towns, people, corporations, and way of thinking. Personally found the writing style difficult to read - very fact heavy and fast paced, the mental equivalent of when someone barely stops to draw breath as they lecture you, and you’re left with your mind spinning!

Trop journalistique, pas assez technique. On a du mal à commencer et au final il est impossible de le terminer. Dommage!

A great book. Loads of information Had me shouting in anger at points. Brilliant read

The first part of the book might mislead you to think Mr. Fishman is one of those 'techno-fixies' corporate power advocate, but the more you read this book, the more it turns out to be a wake-up call to our own habits and, in the end, to the physical limits of our water use. I reccommend it.

A mind-boggling portrait of the world's water crisis. Not North-America-centric, it delves very deeply into the many world-wide problems and insufficient solutions to our thirst for water.