Can Life Be Found in the Dead Sea?
In other parts of the world, a glass of clean water is often a luxury. This is illustrated in one of the most significant places in world history, the Dead Sea, located in the southern part of Israel. It is truly an exceptional spot on earth. First it is 1385 feet below sea level, the lowest place on the surface of the earth. Water cannot flow out so only through evaporation can water escape, leaving behind the dissolved salts and minerals brought in by the Jordan River and other tributaries. It is Israel’s and Jordan’s mineral and salt waste deposit.
Secondly, at 8.6 times saltier than the oceans, the Dead Sea is second saltiest body of water on earth. That means a cup of water from the Dead Sea is 33.7% salt. Deeper water is saltier so 300 feet down the salt precipitates to the bottom. Also, at 11 miles wide, 42 feet long, and 1240 feet deep, it is the deepest salt lake in the world.
Over the last several thousand years, the mineral water flowing into the Dead Sea has left vast stores of magnesium, bromine, caustic soda, potash, and sodium chloride. One estimate is that the Dead Sea area holds more than two trillion dollars worth of fertilizer compounds (presently 1.9 billion tons of potash). Ironically, what makes the Dead Sea dead has contributed to giving its homelands life.
The serious problem that has arisen, however, is that water level in the Dead Sea is dropping, presently at three feet a year. The level has dropped 72 feet since 1970. What are the reasons for this? The first reason is that very little rain feeds it directly. The northern part of the Sea only gets about 4 inches of rain throughout the year, while the southern section gets about 2 inches. Also, manufacturing in the northern part of the country, and irrigation take away 90% of the normal amount of water flowing through the Jordan River.
Some believe the salts in the Sea have therapeutic value and, for this reason, they are taken out of the Dead Sea and sold. Desalination plants located in the southern part of the Sea both remove valuable products and provide fresh, clean water. This has also lowered the water table in the country, affecting the ability to provide enough water for the citizens and increasing the need to take water from the Jordan.
The entire country has been affected by this drop in water level. The Dead Sea has actually changed its shape. The bottom third of the Sea was always very shallow compared with the rest. Perhaps the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, whose infamy is told in the Old Testament book of Genesis, were located in this area. But because of the drop in water level, this southern area is drying up and now the Lisan Peninsula (Arabic for “tongue” because of its shape) is so exposed that it entirely separates the southern from the northern part of the Sea.
The Dead Sea has been a great tourist attraction for centuries, and this drop in its level may have an effect on this. But the Dead Sea is, frankly, a healthy place to be, for it has a low level of allergens, increased air pressure, decreased ultra-violet solar radiation, and high levels of oxygen.
The “Two Seas Canal” is now being considered by Jordan and Israel. It would pump salt water from the Aqaba region of the Red Sea 125 miles over the hills to the Dead Sea. As the water falls into the Dead Sea, it would generate hydroelectricity and the water would then be desalinated, providing 850 million cubic meters of fresh water a year.
People in the west surely take for granted a glass of fresh, clean water. Other nations must go to great trouble to provide it for their people, and often must limit its use so there is enough. Though our western sources of water are at times threatened, when we are wise stewards of what we have, it will continue to provide us with this miraculous liquid for years to come.
But if you’re in a place that does not have clean water, look into the Berkey Filter. The Royal Berkey, or any of their models, ship with Black Berkey Filters that are so powerful, they are able to remove microscopic bacteria without taking out the minerals beneficial to your health. There is virtually no other water filter system that can do this.
