Euryhaline or Stenohaline

Well, that got your attention.

If you want to know what Euryhaline or Stenohaline mean, you will have to read to the end of this blog.

In the United Kingdom, a country best known for its Green and Pleasant Land, the rains are failing to fall. In Kent and Sussex there is now a hosepipe ban. No more tending those gardens with anything more than a watering can.

Since the water industry was privatized back in 1989, no new reservoirs have been built in the UK. In 1989, the UK’s population stood at 57 million. By January 2023 this had increased to 67 million. That’s another 10 million people competing for dwindling supplies of drinking water.

As I write this, I glance out my window to see my goldfish swimming happily in my well filled garden pond. (I assume they are happy; I have not heard any complaints.)

A glance at South West Water’s webpage tells us that you cannot fill or maintain a domestic pond unless it has fish in it. If you are caught doing so you can be fined up to £1,000. It is not clear how many fish are needed to make your pond legal. One assumes that a can of sardines would not be acceptable. The pond inspectors must be having a whale of a time.

Much of Israel’s drinking water comes from the Mediterranean Sea. Desalination plants, using the chemical-free reverse osmosis technique, produce fresh water.
Israeli households’ water, once used, does not go to waste. Nearly 90 percent of wastewater is used for irrigation. The US manages to reuse just 4 percent of its wastewater. The UK reuses around 0.06 percent, perhaps preferring to rely on its rather miserable climate. The annual precipitation in the UK ranges from 800 mm to 1,400 mm. In contrast, Tel Aviv gets some 413 mm.

If you have read to the end, here is your reward ……
Euryhaline organisms can be found in both freshwater and saltwater. The opposite of an euryhaline organism is a stenohaline organism, which can only survive within a narrow range of salinities.
(Don’t worry, I didn’t know that either.)