There is a lot of attention paid to the idea of improving communities and neighborhoods. Whether people think about it or not, much of these improvements come from industrial technology. Most people see the results of industrial improvements, but don’t consider what kind of effort goes into making them happen, especially on a large scale.
So if you want to be a better and more informed citizen, a small amount of research goes a long way. Think about how wastewater treatment affects your community. Think about how wind power can change the energy bills of an entire area. And how do you think public transportation systems are created and constructed? All of these things rely heavily on industrial technology and its application.
Wastewater Treatment
Start with the idea of wastewater treatment solutions. Do you know what happens with your greywater in your community? Depending on the size of your neighborhood, imagine how all of the wastewater systems and sewer systems connect and combine. Think about how runoff from storm drains works its way through your community. These are massive projects that have been undertaken at various points in your community’s history, and they have to regularly be updated, maintained, and transformed through the use of industrial technology. If a wastewater treatment facility malfunctions, think of the consequences!
Wind Power
What does it take to add wind power to a community? You see a lot of emotional persuasions one way or the other when it comes to wind power, but where is all of the logic? How much energy gets made by these gigantic structures, and what does it take to install them in the first place. If there 30 feet tall, how many feet below the ground do they have to be stabilized? The larger the unit, the more energy it produces, but the more difficult it is to create in the first place.
Public Transportation Systems
The creation of public transportation systems is another positive aspect of intelligent industrial technology and implementation. Maybe not so much with bus systems, but certainly for anything that has a rail as a base. As an example, what kind of planning do you think it took to get a railway system going even in a midsized city? The engineering must have been fantastic! Knowing how to approach a system and recognizing what it will look like when it’s finished is extremely important to achieve long-term goals.
Other public transportation systems that involve underground construction would be even more complicated. If the community relies on subway systems, what kinds of checks and balances do you think are in place concerning all of the necessary construction and maintenance over the years?