Wading into the world of water… who might care. Us apparently, as Jon Freedman, president of the International Desalination and Reuse Association (IDRA) said,  “With nearly 2 billion people not having clean drinking water. We need water for all!” So pleased to see representatives from 38 countries gather to consider water scarcity and discuss how we might overcome it. An encouraging theme emerged – continue to innovate, collaborate, and move toward implementation more rapidly. Utilizing advanced technologies, and even AI (where helpful) to for advancing the use of desalination and purified water (i.e., potable reuse, or more plainly; purifying wastewater to drinking water standards).

Shannon McCarthy, Secretary General of IDRA, emphasized the importance of actionable collaboration. “The future of water security will not be defined by technology or scale alone, but by how well we integrate systems, strategies, policies, and societies. True resilience happens when we all move forward together.”  

Through the series of sessions and discussions it starts to sink in:  the urgency to develop new water supplies is serious and our time for developing what will be needed is upon us. I admire IDRA because of its commitment and dedication toward providing water solutions and maximizing diverse skills, technical expertise, and collective resources to make new water resources possible.

A bonus was that one of the projects I had worked on for over ten years won “Project of the Year” during an elegant dinner in an art gallery. Our table went crazy with laughter and astonishment when this was announcement was made for One Water Monterey and their remarkable Pure Water Monterey project.

So after absorbing all of this – it was soon play time and we headed out in search of extraordinary landscapes, waterfalls, and the Northern Lights!

As it turned out we were fortunate to have seen them early on while in Reykjavik, right outside our hotel bar near the Harpa center. Dozens of us rushed outside at 10pm to capture the shimmering lights and to see them magnified through our iPhones. In awe grabbing images and videos. A couple of these I got from conference friends.

As we cruised south one morning we saw some horses close by the road, so we stopped and said hello. They were small and very inquisitive… or more likely checking to see if we had anything for them to eat. Nope, sorry guys just passing through.

 
We loved wandering around Reykjavik checking out the unique houses and wall art. They were tucked away here and there and seemed to pop up in the most unusual places.

Like so many, we visited an area where geysers erupt periodically from the geothermal wells. But we also took in a well known, family run tomato farm and had THE most amazing tomato soup.

Just incredible!

Awe inspiring… and fun too!

And of course, rainbow street leading up to the cathedral was a photo op for everyone… including us.

For more of Mark’s travel experiences, visit https://lifeintheclickstream.com/.