re: All well and good, but...
What would a bowl of Nick's "battery acid" look like to the radar instruments?
Is there a way to tell the difference between water ice/or liquid and Nick's battery acid with the current instruments orbiting Mars?
His suggestion that we extricate ourselves from a total dependence on "water" -- on or below the surface, ice or liquid -- and get away from the notion that "water" is the primary erosive agent is sound and needs to be integrated into more of the consideration.