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Water Calculations - Was it Worth It?

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    Water Calculations - Was it Worth It?

    This entire episode seems like a useless gesture, and put the characters at risk for very little payoff. We see Young and Scott bring back a sled-full of ice which is transported back to the ship. We aren't shown how much they managed to bring back on the second trip, but given that the "hover platform" is being used to carry Scott, it was probably very little.

    Transporting ice is by far the least efficient method of moving water because water expands as it freezes taking up more space and becoming more bulky, but since it was all they had, lets run the math...

    1 gallon of water = ~7.65 pounds depending on the temperature and density.

    The "hover platform" allowed them to carry more... so lets assume maybe 300 pounds of ice. (could be more or less, but it wasn't a huge amount)

    300 lbs of ice = 39.21 gallons = 148.42 liters

    For human survival, the absolute minimum daily water requirement is only about 5 liters per day, whereas the daily requirement for sanitation, bathing, and cooking needs, as well as for assuring survival, is about 50 liters per person.

    Going by the barest minimum (5L) they brought back enough water for 30 people for one day. Given that the expedition is ~80 people, it doesn't appear to have been a very successful mission.

    It may be like the magical lime and last forever, but TPTB should realize that it was not even a days worth. Was the entire attempt even worth it?

    #2
    well back then, the water was dropping like a brick from space. so they needed water. especially since it takes some time to get to the next water planet.

    some water is better than no water. now that the problem is resolved, they actually have some time to breathe.

    the Lime was used to scrub CO2, the ancients probably put something in place that turns the used up lime back to useable lime, probably turning the carbonate to carbon and oxygen

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      #3
      they had a good 50,000 gallons left as well. plus they have a recycling system so i don think they are worried too much right now

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        #4
        Originally posted by escyos View Post
        they had a good 50,000 gallons left as well. plus they have a recycling system so i don think they are worried too much right now
        Agreed... that's my entire point, why even go on this mission. They could not bring back enough to make a difference, so putting Young and Scott in jeopardy on the Ice planet was just stupid. If the bugs had eaten all the water, the little bit they brought back was not going last them until they reached the next planet, so why do it.

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          #5
          Originally posted by Descended View Post
          Agreed... that's my entire point, why even go on this mission. They could not bring back enough to make a difference, so putting Young and Scott in jeopardy on the Ice planet was just stupid. If the bugs had eaten all the water, the little bit they brought back was not going last them until they reached the next planet, so why do it.
          well they didnt knwo about the bugs when they went on the mission, they might have though they could get more water then they did

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            #6
            there was ice. they wanted to see if they could get some good water.

            Water Calculations - Was it Worth It?
            initially, it was. in hindsight, it wasnt

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              #7
              The problem was the loss of water, not so much the lack of it. Now the alien(s) have gone they shouldn't have much of a problem.

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                #8
                They went into the series with 90 000 litres. That's 90 cubic metres. Even if we are generous and assume that the hover platform carried a whole cubic metre ( 1000 litres) of ice, that's absolutely meaningless compared to the several 10 000 litres they lost to the alien lifeform.

                So, in hindsight, the A-plot (bringing ice on board the Destiny) was a complete failure and they were only rescued by sucessfully completing the B-plot of getting rid of the alien lifeform and thereby closing their leak.

                Since the Destiny is a closed system which must possess some form of recycling, they probably still can survive with what they have left for quite some time. Which, ironically, brigs us back to the opening line of the episode - they'll get to drink their own waste products.

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                  #9
                  5 L a day as a minimum to live?
                  sigpic

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                    #10
                    They have to try, is it worth it? Maybe not, but nobody said it would be easy to live on the ship. This is not SG-1 or Atlantis, Carter, or McKay, will not magically solve everything in an hour or two.

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Descended View Post
                      Agreed... that's my entire point, why even go on this mission. They could not bring back enough to make a difference, so putting Young and Scott in jeopardy on the Ice planet was just stupid. If the bugs had eaten all the water, the little bit they brought back was not going last them until they reached the next planet, so why do it.
                      Well, at the time Young and Scott left to go get the ice, they were losing their water at an extremely alarming rate. They had lost half their water in a very short period of time. The ship stopped and they had an opportunity to go get water so they did. In a survival situation, you take what you can get when you can get it. Even if it was just a few hundred liters, that would be enough to keep them going or a couple more days, which would give the ship a chance to find another planet where they can get more water.
                      I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by thekillman View Post
                        there was ice. they wanted to see if they could get some good water.
                        initially, it was. in hindsight, it wasnt
                        Agree with this. Hindsight is 20/20, but you don't have the benefit of seeing into the future on the decisions you make now. They had a water problem and didn't know how much they could bring back... but it's stupid to not even try. If they didn't go, we'd be bashing them for not trying.

                        Also, they had 8 hours of air. We're not sure how long it takes to go to where the good ice was and back, but I assume they made several trips. I'm guessing at least five. It seemed like more than two in those 8 hours.

                        But waste recycling and no more rapid water loss means they should be good until the next water stop. I assume the next time they get water, it'll be a minor point in the beginning or something, showing a team actually getting water from a river or lake.

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                          #13
                          people can survive a lot longer without water than 2 days. i only drink about hald a litre of water a day

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by escyos View Post
                            people can survive a lot longer without water than 2 days. i only drink about hald a litre of water a day
                            Not much longer, you can only go about 3 or 4 days without water, 5 and you're dead.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by KEK View Post
                              Not much longer, you can only go about 3 or 4 days without water, 5 and you're dead.
                              still, that means they can stretch rations out a lot longer

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