I am putting these Newsletter for All To share.
You can see & feel yourself the important of the concern the Water issues.
Do care to download PDF documents for additional info.
News from Water for All
Stockton gets a failing grade
At the City Council meeting on Dec. 7, the Concerned Citizens Coalition
of Stockton released to the public the first Annual Service Contract
Compliance Review covering the first phase of OMI-Thames 20-year, $600
million water privatization contract in Stockton, California.
The Review details changes to the contract that benefit OMI-Thames: water
rates for Stockton residents have risen two years in a row due to the
contract; customer service requirements have been unfulfilled; a number
of staffing positions are filled with temporary or interim employees;
unaccounted for water has risen from around 3.5% under municipal
operation to nearly 7.5% under private operation; maintenance tasks are
backlogged and finally, OMI made an unauthorized dump of chlorinated
water into an irrigation canal that resulted in a $125,000 fine from
the State Water Resources Control Board. Perhaps this is why the champion
of this privatization, former mayor of Stockton Gary Podesto, failed in
his bid to win a state Senate seat.
The Concerned Citizens' lawsuit challenging the privatization deal is
still pending before the state appeals court. California Attorney
General Bill Lockyer recently filed an amicus brief in support of the
Citizens claims that the City of Stockton violated the California
Environmental Quality Act by not conducting the environmental review
required by state law. For more information see www.cccos.org
Water report from the World Social Forum
The issue of water, defending and protecting this vital natural
resource for humankind and the planet, was a key topic at the World
Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, Brazil in late January. More than
32 workshops were organized including large open sessions at the
beginning and end of the WSF where a draft global water action platform
was debated.
Public Citizen,along with many other organizations in the
inter-American water activist network (Red VIDA -Vigilancia
Interamericana para el Derecho y Desarrollo del Agua) and from Europe
organized workshops focusing on the role of the World Bank in promoting
water privatization, a speak-out on formulating a UN Treaty on water, a
special workshop to build solidarity for the struggle in El Alto,
Bolivia, a strategy session to plan for the World Water Forum in Mexico
City and much more.
There were many opportunities for networking and
learning about water struggles around the world. The Red VIDA held its
first Hemispheric Assembly prior to the WSF and developed a collective
workplan with three broad planks:
(1) challenging privatization through campaigns focused on the
transnationals, especially Suez, the international financial institutions,
and their national and localaccomplices;
(2) defending our public water systems and developing new
models of democratic water governance and management with social
responsibility and citizen oversight; and
(3) expanding our membership and building alliances with networks and
organizations across the globe. Learning about the strength and diversity
of social movements around the world made it a truly inspiring experience.
Small town residents fight Nestle Water bottling plant
Residents of McCloud, California, a small community near Mount Shasta,
have taken legal action to stop Nestle Waters North America from
building a bottled water plant in their township.
The group filed a lawsuit in March asking a Siskiyou County judge to set
aside an agreement that would allow Nestle to purchase up to 1,600
acre feet of water per year from springs that feed Squaw Valley Creek
and the McCloud River.
The group brought to the judge's attention that Nestle and the
Service District failed to file an environmental impact review before
agreeing on the contract, an extremely important report given the
potentially serious impacts the deal could have on the area's water
supply. The judge's decision on the case is expected in March or April.
The Nestle deal has spurred residents to action.
A new group, the McCloud Watershed Council, a project of the Mount
Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center (MSBEC), hopes to harness the
community's growing concern about the environmental impact of the
bottling plant and the lack of community input in the Nestle deal.
Donations earmarked for McCloud Watershed Council can be mailed to
MSBEC at PO Box 1143, 211 East Alma
St, Mount Shasta, CA 96067.
Don't Believe the Hype
On Feb. 9, Public Citizen released a new report on the largest water
company in the world, Veolia Environnement. The report focuses on the
French-owned multinational company, which operates in 84 countries and
had a 2004 net income of $2.58 billion.
Its U.S. arm is now called Veolia Water North America, formerly known
as USFilter, which operates and manages water and/or wastewater
facilities and systems in 38 states. "Despite repeated public failures in the
United States, these water companies continue to push their unwanted
vision on us," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Water for
All Campaign.
"Veolia leads this industry, and it's time that the public learned more about
how this corporation operates, particularly its shoddy
environmental record. As Veolia attempts to expand its control of the world's
water resources on every continent, in nations rich and poor, citizens,
communities and countries need to understand Veolia's purpose,
practices and track record." To read the report, please go to
http://www.citizen.org/documents/Vivendi-USFilter.pdf.
Also, in its Fall/Winter 2004 magazine, Veolia published a critical
piece about Public Citizen titled "PPPs vs. PC," where it defended its
practices and attempted to discredit the Water for All Campaign. (To
read the article, please go to
http://www.citizen.org/documents/Veolia_PPPvsPC.pdf.) In response,
Public Citizen issued a statement (To read the response, please go to
http://www.citizen.org/documents/Veolia%20vs%20Veracity.pdf.)
Read This!
There's a new book out titled Reclaiming Public Water (co-published by
Transnational Institute and Corporate Europe Observatory), available
online:http://www.tni.org/books/publicwater.htm.
Written by public water utility managers, trade unionists and civil society activists
from more than 20 countries, Reclaiming Public Water gives examples from
around the world of how urban public water delivery can be improved
through democratic reforms, such as citizens' participation. It also
draws on the experiences of anti-privatization coalitions and their
visions on making public water work.
For more information, see
www.waterjustice.org.
"Reality Tour" in Bolivia
Global Exchange, an international human rights organization, is
sponsoring a reality tour in Bolivia this month, part of a program that
was created to help people understand first-hand contemporary
political, economic, environmental, and cultural issues around the world.
The Bolivian people have been protesting privatization since they succeeded
in keeping their public water rights in 2000. But President Carlos
Mesa has been working to open up the country for international investment,
so grassroots organizations are uniting to protest the sale of their
country to multinational corporations.
Global Exchange's tour will explore Bolivia's fight to stop privatization, along
with other issues igniting the people's zeal including the drug war, with increasing
conflict over the coca trade, and workers' rights. While it's too late
to sign up for the February tour, Global Exchange is already planning
for a similar tour June 18-27, 2005.
For more information, please go to
http://www.globalexchange.org/tours/616.html or
call (800) 497-1994 ext.226.
TAKE ACTION
Plan an event in your community to celebrate World Water Day.
For ideas, visit our webpage from last year's events:
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/us/articles.cfm?ID=11100.
Or, call the Water for All Campaign at (202) 454-5178.
Juliette Beck
California Campaign Director
Water for All
Public Citizen
510-663-0888 ext. 101
SBC Yahoo! Mail - tanch89@pacbell.net
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Rocket-Fuel Chemical Found in Breast Milk
I am highlighting the major concern of both baby & mother who are going to do breast feeding.
36 women in 18 states sampled milk is with Perchlorate!!
Perchlorate would cause the Baby to have brain damage & also Thyroid-imparing effects..
The findings concern health experts because infants and fetuses are the most vulnerable to the thyroid-impairing effects of the chemical.
Breast milk from 36 women in 18 states, including California, was sampled, and all contained traces of perchlorate.
Perchlorate blocks the nutrient iodide and inhibits thyroid hormones, which are necessary for brain development and cellular growth of a fetus or infant. A baby with impaired thyroid development may have neurological defects that result in lower IQ or learning disabilities.
The researchers recommended that pregnant and nursing women block the effects of perchlorate by taking iodine supplements as a precaution.
Besides taking iodine, I strongly feel that, the authority shall be responsible to uphold the standard than lower the standard to 6 part per Billions in the drinking water. Wrting a report for infants is not going to help for the short term.
It must be quickly move in to 100% check on the drinking water source in all water district to gether the sample & ensure that it meet the minimum safety requirement.
So that to assure the residents on the Safety & Great Health.
Rocket-Fuel Chemical Found in Breast Milk
February 23, 2005
Scientists on Tuesday reported that perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel, was contaminating virtually all samples of women's breast milk and its levels were found to be, on average, five times greater than in cow's milk.
The contaminant, which originates mostly at defense industry plants, previously had been detected in various food and water supplies around the country. But the study by Texas Tech University's Institute of Environmental and Human Health was the first to investigate breast milk.
The findings concern health experts because infants and fetuses are the most vulnerable to the thyroid-impairing effects of the chemical.
Breast milk from 36 women in 18 states, including California, was sampled, and all contained traces of perchlorate.
Perchlorate blocks the nutrient iodide and inhibits thyroid hormones, which are necessary for brain development and cellular growth of a fetus or infant. A baby with impaired thyroid development may have neurological defects that result in lower IQ or learning disabilities.
The researchers recommended that pregnant and nursing women block the effects of perchlorate by taking iodine supplements as a precaution.
At the levels they found in breast milk, the scientists reported that 1-month-old infants would take in enough perchlorate to exceed a safe level, called a reference dose, that was established last month by a panel of the National Academy of Sciences.
"It is obvious that the NAS safe dose … will be exceeded for the majority of infants," the report published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology says. Some infants would ingest so much that they would exceed levels that altered the brain structure of animals in laboratory tests.
The findings come as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is developing an enforceable limit on the amount of perchlorate in drinking water based on the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences panel. Currently there is no national standard.
"This is not just another study," said Renee Sharp, a senior analyst at the Environmental Working Group, which advocated a strict national standard. "It ends the questions about whether women are passing along perchlorate to their kids through breast milk, and the sky-high levels the scientists found put more than half the kids over the safe levels the NAS now recommends."
Environmentalists have urged the EPA to set its standard based on the body weight and perchlorate intake of an infant rather than an adult. Toxicologists said that would probably mean a standard of a few parts per billion. Pentagon officials have said that would shut down many water systems across the country and cost the military and its contractors billions of dollars in cleanup costs. They have instead lobbied for a standard of about 200 parts per billion based on thyroid studies of adults.
The new findings "will practically force EPA officials to write a drinking water standard that protects infants — not just healthy adults," Sharp said.
California has set its own public health goal of 6 parts per billion but it is not an enforceable limit.
The Texas Tech researchers, led by Andrea Kirk, reported that the perchlorate in breast milk was not linked to the water the mothers drank. Instead, the main source was probably food, which apparently was tainted by irrigation water.
The finding that perchlorate is pervasive in breast milk and reaches high levels is somewhat of a surprise to toxicologists, because, unlike many other industrial chemicals, it does not build up in tissues over time.
Instead, it appears that the amount passed on to the infant in breast milk is determined by what the mother has just eaten.
Perchlorate levels are particularly high in the lower Colorado River, which supplies irrigation water to almost 2 million acres of cropland. The river, government officials believe, has been tainted by leaks from a Kerr-McGee plant near Lake Mead.
The highest perchlorate levels, one reaching 92 parts per billion, were found in the breast milk of two women from New Jersey. The average was 10.5 parts per billion, compared to 2 parts per billion in cow's milk. Forty-six of 47 samples of dairy milk purchased in 11 states, including California, contained perchlorate.
Sujatha Jahagirdar, clean-water advocate at Environment California, an advocacy group, said it was "absolutely appalling" that a component of rocket fuel was found in mother's milk.
Los Angeles Times: Rocket-Fuel Chemical Found in Breast Milk
36 women in 18 states sampled milk is with Perchlorate!!
Perchlorate would cause the Baby to have brain damage & also Thyroid-imparing effects..
The findings concern health experts because infants and fetuses are the most vulnerable to the thyroid-impairing effects of the chemical.
Breast milk from 36 women in 18 states, including California, was sampled, and all contained traces of perchlorate.
Perchlorate blocks the nutrient iodide and inhibits thyroid hormones, which are necessary for brain development and cellular growth of a fetus or infant. A baby with impaired thyroid development may have neurological defects that result in lower IQ or learning disabilities.
The researchers recommended that pregnant and nursing women block the effects of perchlorate by taking iodine supplements as a precaution.
Besides taking iodine, I strongly feel that, the authority shall be responsible to uphold the standard than lower the standard to 6 part per Billions in the drinking water. Wrting a report for infants is not going to help for the short term.
It must be quickly move in to 100% check on the drinking water source in all water district to gether the sample & ensure that it meet the minimum safety requirement.
So that to assure the residents on the Safety & Great Health.
Rocket-Fuel Chemical Found in Breast Milk
February 23, 2005
Scientists on Tuesday reported that perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel, was contaminating virtually all samples of women's breast milk and its levels were found to be, on average, five times greater than in cow's milk.
The contaminant, which originates mostly at defense industry plants, previously had been detected in various food and water supplies around the country. But the study by Texas Tech University's Institute of Environmental and Human Health was the first to investigate breast milk.
The findings concern health experts because infants and fetuses are the most vulnerable to the thyroid-impairing effects of the chemical.
Breast milk from 36 women in 18 states, including California, was sampled, and all contained traces of perchlorate.
Perchlorate blocks the nutrient iodide and inhibits thyroid hormones, which are necessary for brain development and cellular growth of a fetus or infant. A baby with impaired thyroid development may have neurological defects that result in lower IQ or learning disabilities.
The researchers recommended that pregnant and nursing women block the effects of perchlorate by taking iodine supplements as a precaution.
At the levels they found in breast milk, the scientists reported that 1-month-old infants would take in enough perchlorate to exceed a safe level, called a reference dose, that was established last month by a panel of the National Academy of Sciences.
"It is obvious that the NAS safe dose … will be exceeded for the majority of infants," the report published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology says. Some infants would ingest so much that they would exceed levels that altered the brain structure of animals in laboratory tests.
The findings come as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is developing an enforceable limit on the amount of perchlorate in drinking water based on the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences panel. Currently there is no national standard.
"This is not just another study," said Renee Sharp, a senior analyst at the Environmental Working Group, which advocated a strict national standard. "It ends the questions about whether women are passing along perchlorate to their kids through breast milk, and the sky-high levels the scientists found put more than half the kids over the safe levels the NAS now recommends."
Environmentalists have urged the EPA to set its standard based on the body weight and perchlorate intake of an infant rather than an adult. Toxicologists said that would probably mean a standard of a few parts per billion. Pentagon officials have said that would shut down many water systems across the country and cost the military and its contractors billions of dollars in cleanup costs. They have instead lobbied for a standard of about 200 parts per billion based on thyroid studies of adults.
The new findings "will practically force EPA officials to write a drinking water standard that protects infants — not just healthy adults," Sharp said.
California has set its own public health goal of 6 parts per billion but it is not an enforceable limit.
The Texas Tech researchers, led by Andrea Kirk, reported that the perchlorate in breast milk was not linked to the water the mothers drank. Instead, the main source was probably food, which apparently was tainted by irrigation water.
The finding that perchlorate is pervasive in breast milk and reaches high levels is somewhat of a surprise to toxicologists, because, unlike many other industrial chemicals, it does not build up in tissues over time.
Instead, it appears that the amount passed on to the infant in breast milk is determined by what the mother has just eaten.
Perchlorate levels are particularly high in the lower Colorado River, which supplies irrigation water to almost 2 million acres of cropland. The river, government officials believe, has been tainted by leaks from a Kerr-McGee plant near Lake Mead.
The highest perchlorate levels, one reaching 92 parts per billion, were found in the breast milk of two women from New Jersey. The average was 10.5 parts per billion, compared to 2 parts per billion in cow's milk. Forty-six of 47 samples of dairy milk purchased in 11 states, including California, contained perchlorate.
Sujatha Jahagirdar, clean-water advocate at Environment California, an advocacy group, said it was "absolutely appalling" that a component of rocket fuel was found in mother's milk.
Los Angeles Times: Rocket-Fuel Chemical Found in Breast Milk
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Cattle die from drinking contaminated lake water
New Zeland have been known for their diary farm products in the world.
Now, with the contaminations of their water, it is going to affects their earning for the Nations.
Algae is the earlier plants in the world, in the "I-Medicine Sutra" Algae & sea weeds have the applications of detoxin of our body.
The toxin of these blue green algae certainly from the contaminated water. So if the cattle can die off these contamination, so do human being!!
Cattle die from drinking contaminated lake water
22 February 2005
Nine cattle have died after drinking algae-contaminated water from Lake Rotongaro, in Raglan, Environment Waikato said today.
The seven cattle and two calves, which were found last Thursday, had access to the lakeshore and had been drinking the water.
Environment Waikato staff found high levels of the blue-green algae Microcystis and the algal toxin microcystin.
They discovered algae levels in the lake were 40 times higher than stock water standards, and toxin levels were 760 times higher.
Environment Waikato water scientist Bill Vant said algae occurred naturally in rivers, lakes and streams, and flourished in hot conditions.
Most algae was harmless, but high levels of blue-green algae were toxic to both people and animals, he said in a statement.
Mr Vant said parents should ensure that they and their children were not exposed to the toxins as they risked skin infections and serious intestinal illness.
STUFF : RURAL - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website
Now, with the contaminations of their water, it is going to affects their earning for the Nations.
Algae is the earlier plants in the world, in the "I-Medicine Sutra" Algae & sea weeds have the applications of detoxin of our body.
The toxin of these blue green algae certainly from the contaminated water. So if the cattle can die off these contamination, so do human being!!
Cattle die from drinking contaminated lake water
22 February 2005
Nine cattle have died after drinking algae-contaminated water from Lake Rotongaro, in Raglan, Environment Waikato said today.
The seven cattle and two calves, which were found last Thursday, had access to the lakeshore and had been drinking the water.
Environment Waikato staff found high levels of the blue-green algae Microcystis and the algal toxin microcystin.
They discovered algae levels in the lake were 40 times higher than stock water standards, and toxin levels were 760 times higher.
Environment Waikato water scientist Bill Vant said algae occurred naturally in rivers, lakes and streams, and flourished in hot conditions.
Most algae was harmless, but high levels of blue-green algae were toxic to both people and animals, he said in a statement.
Mr Vant said parents should ensure that they and their children were not exposed to the toxins as they risked skin infections and serious intestinal illness.
STUFF : RURAL - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Lead in Environment Causing Violent Crime - Study
Well, with the study report Zero into the cause of violents is Lead.
Then the steps we need to do is:
1. Consummer's Awareness Program.
2. Water Authorities Must Not Lower The Standard of the acceptable contaminations
3. Drinking Water Filter need To filtered the Contaminations Before Drinking
4. Reduce The Usage of Gasoline
5. Hydrogen, Solar or Other Clean Energy Source Shall Be Promote To minimism Lead emission
Yahoo! News - Lead in Environment Causing Violent Crime - Study: "Lead in Environment Causing Violent Crime - Study
Fri Feb 18, 2:08 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lead left in paint, water, soil and elsewhere may not only be affecting children's intelligence but may cause a significant proportion of violent crime, a U.S. researcher argued Friday.
He said the U.S. government needs to do more to lower lead levels in the environment and parents need to think more about where their children may be getting exposed to lead.
'When environmental lead finds its way into the developing brain, it disturbs neural mechanisms responsible for regulation of impulse. That can lead to antisocial and criminal behavior,' said Dr. Herbert Needleman, a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Needleman's team, using a technique called X-ray fluorescence, found very low levels of lead in the bones of children.
Needleman cited several studies that associate crime with high levels of lead either in the bodies of those accused or in the environments they came from, including one that showed the average bone lead levels of 190 juvenile delinquents were higher than those of adolescents not charged with crimes.
His study suggested that between 18 percent and 38 percent of delinquent crimes in the Pittsburgh area could be attributed to lead toxicity in the adolescents.
Another one tested 300 delinquents and found those with higher lead levels reported more aggressive feelings or behavior disorders.
'The brain, particularly the frontal lobes, are important in the regulation of behavior,' Needleman told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (news - web sites).
'Exposure to lead, at doses below those which bring children to medical attention, is associated with increased aggression, disturbed attention and delinquency. A meaningful strategy to reduce crime is to eliminate lead from the environment of children.'
Taking lead out of most gasoline has contributed to a sharp reduction in the level of lead in the blood of Americans over the past 30 years.
But lead is still found in paint, some types of fuel for older vehicles, older water pipes and in the soil."
Then the steps we need to do is:
1. Consummer's Awareness Program.
2. Water Authorities Must Not Lower The Standard of the acceptable contaminations
3. Drinking Water Filter need To filtered the Contaminations Before Drinking
4. Reduce The Usage of Gasoline
5. Hydrogen, Solar or Other Clean Energy Source Shall Be Promote To minimism Lead emission
Yahoo! News - Lead in Environment Causing Violent Crime - Study: "Lead in Environment Causing Violent Crime - Study
Fri Feb 18, 2:08 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lead left in paint, water, soil and elsewhere may not only be affecting children's intelligence but may cause a significant proportion of violent crime, a U.S. researcher argued Friday.
He said the U.S. government needs to do more to lower lead levels in the environment and parents need to think more about where their children may be getting exposed to lead.
'When environmental lead finds its way into the developing brain, it disturbs neural mechanisms responsible for regulation of impulse. That can lead to antisocial and criminal behavior,' said Dr. Herbert Needleman, a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Needleman's team, using a technique called X-ray fluorescence, found very low levels of lead in the bones of children.
Needleman cited several studies that associate crime with high levels of lead either in the bodies of those accused or in the environments they came from, including one that showed the average bone lead levels of 190 juvenile delinquents were higher than those of adolescents not charged with crimes.
His study suggested that between 18 percent and 38 percent of delinquent crimes in the Pittsburgh area could be attributed to lead toxicity in the adolescents.
Another one tested 300 delinquents and found those with higher lead levels reported more aggressive feelings or behavior disorders.
'The brain, particularly the frontal lobes, are important in the regulation of behavior,' Needleman told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (news - web sites).
'Exposure to lead, at doses below those which bring children to medical attention, is associated with increased aggression, disturbed attention and delinquency. A meaningful strategy to reduce crime is to eliminate lead from the environment of children.'
Taking lead out of most gasoline has contributed to a sharp reduction in the level of lead in the blood of Americans over the past 30 years.
But lead is still found in paint, some types of fuel for older vehicles, older water pipes and in the soil."
Friday, February 18, 2005
Western storms help raise Lake Mead water level
As you can see from the news below, even the 2.5 months of storm, the Water in Lake Mead still fall short the normal & it is only at 58% capacity.
Southern California have been buying water from Colorado river as well as Lake mead for the demand.
It is essential to ensure that the Water conservations shall continue, so that the people in Southern California shall not be facing the suffering of Water Rationing.
Western storms help raise Lake Mead water level
LAS VEGAS (AP) — This winter's wet storms helped raise Lake Mead water levels almost 7.5 feet in January, and the water could rise another 2.5 feet by the end of February, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation says.
But with Friday's water level at 1,140 feet above sea level, the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam remains well below normal, at about 58% capacity.
"The water's up, but it's not high yet," Bob Walsh, Bureau of Reclamation spokesman, said Friday. "We're still in a drought. That's key."
Water officials expect the lake will drop 12.5 feet by the end of the year as the region's drought continues into its sixth year and as water is pumped out to Las Vegas and other areas that use the lake's water. It would still be more than half full.
Flooding last month set records on rivers and washes feeding Lake Mead from southern Nevada, southern Utah and northwestern Arizona.
That contributed to the largest monthly rise in the lake level since 1983, and the third-largest monthly rise since the Glen Canyon Dam opened upstream in 1966, forming Lake Powell in Utah.
With precipitation above average in the mountains of the Colorado Basin, water levels at Lake Powell were expected to be higher this summer than last summer, said Barry Wirth, spokesman for the bureau's regional office in Salt Lake City.
However, water levels aren't expected to rise on Lake Powell until snow begins melting in April, Wirth said Friday.
Lake Powell is about 35% full, and should rise about 45 feet to become more than half full this year, Wirth said.
Lake Mead benefitted from storms reducing water demand from farms and cities that draw from the Colorado River, and from gushing river tributaries above and below Hoover Dam.
"It all adds up to some extra storage in Lake Mead as a result of the storm systems in the last two and a half months or so," Walsh said.
Friday's water level at Lake Mead was 14 feet above the record lowest level in recent years, set at 1,126 feet last Sept. 30.
Las Vegas draws about 90% of its drinking water from Lake Mead, with intakes at 1,000 feet above sea level.
Despite the rise, the largest man-made reservoir in North America still finished last month down about 3 feet from the year before.
USATODAY.com - Western storms help raise Lake Mead water level
Southern California have been buying water from Colorado river as well as Lake mead for the demand.
It is essential to ensure that the Water conservations shall continue, so that the people in Southern California shall not be facing the suffering of Water Rationing.
Western storms help raise Lake Mead water level
LAS VEGAS (AP) — This winter's wet storms helped raise Lake Mead water levels almost 7.5 feet in January, and the water could rise another 2.5 feet by the end of February, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation says.
But with Friday's water level at 1,140 feet above sea level, the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam remains well below normal, at about 58% capacity.
"The water's up, but it's not high yet," Bob Walsh, Bureau of Reclamation spokesman, said Friday. "We're still in a drought. That's key."
Water officials expect the lake will drop 12.5 feet by the end of the year as the region's drought continues into its sixth year and as water is pumped out to Las Vegas and other areas that use the lake's water. It would still be more than half full.
Flooding last month set records on rivers and washes feeding Lake Mead from southern Nevada, southern Utah and northwestern Arizona.
That contributed to the largest monthly rise in the lake level since 1983, and the third-largest monthly rise since the Glen Canyon Dam opened upstream in 1966, forming Lake Powell in Utah.
With precipitation above average in the mountains of the Colorado Basin, water levels at Lake Powell were expected to be higher this summer than last summer, said Barry Wirth, spokesman for the bureau's regional office in Salt Lake City.
However, water levels aren't expected to rise on Lake Powell until snow begins melting in April, Wirth said Friday.
Lake Powell is about 35% full, and should rise about 45 feet to become more than half full this year, Wirth said.
Lake Mead benefitted from storms reducing water demand from farms and cities that draw from the Colorado River, and from gushing river tributaries above and below Hoover Dam.
"It all adds up to some extra storage in Lake Mead as a result of the storm systems in the last two and a half months or so," Walsh said.
Friday's water level at Lake Mead was 14 feet above the record lowest level in recent years, set at 1,126 feet last Sept. 30.
Las Vegas draws about 90% of its drinking water from Lake Mead, with intakes at 1,000 feet above sea level.
Despite the rise, the largest man-made reservoir in North America still finished last month down about 3 feet from the year before.
USATODAY.com - Western storms help raise Lake Mead water level
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Environmentalists allege dirty water seeping into drinking supply -- Stop Drinking Recycle Water Worldwide
In the earlier report about Singapore Newater Project. Singapore have use some facts & figures of USA using recyled waste Water for drinking. These includes the Orange County of Southern California & some eastern counties as well.
Now the following report talking about Tallahassee in Florida. Therefore, Sierra Cub concern is believe to be most influencial.
In the Case of recycling of waste water to become drinking water be it following UN study or national or Local government standard.
My observations is that it is still not a safe answer to the health of the consumers, knowing that whenever the standard cannot be met, then the authority would lower the standard. That is in return bad the consumer health.
Therefore, the best is to stop drinking recycling water. The recycled water should be use only for toilets..& those usage other than drinking fot the Great Health of our people.
Environmentalists allege dirty water seeping into drinking supply
DAVID ROYSE
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The state Department of Environmental Protection allows dirty water that's injected into the ground to seep into drinking supplies, an environmental group said Thursday in a federal lawsuit. The agency responded that wells "are closely monitored to protect natural resources."
The dispute concerns the South District Wastewater Treatment Facility in Miami-Dade County, where 112 million gallons of treated wastewater per day is pumped more than 2,500 feet below the ground, according to the suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee.
The Sierra Club contends in the suit that since 1994, trillions of gallons of the treated sewage has migrated from the injection zone into the Floridan Aquifer, where drinking water is drawn from. The suit cites warnings from the federal Environmental Protection Agency going back to 1994, warning that the county could be in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.
The Sierra Club is suing the state agency because it is charged with regulating injection wells, which dispose of treated sewage by pumped it into the ground. The agency should have ordered some sort of fix upon discovering that contaminants could be moving into the aquifer, but hasn't, according to the suit.
The department responded to the lawsuit in a statement that defended its regulation of the process.
"Underground injection wells in Florida meet rigorous standards and are closely monitored to protect natural resources," the statement said.
The department implied improvements in the process were needed when it signed a consent decree last year with Miami-Dade County that requires more treatment of the water before it's injected.
"An enforceable, legal order secured by the department is improving operations at the South District Facility, requiring Miami-Dade to improve its wastewater treatment to meet drinking water standards and conduct long-term water quality monitoring," the statement said. "Additionally, an extensive groundwater study will ensure potential future supplies of drinking water remain protected."
But Sierra Club lawyer Kristin Henry said that wastewater shouldn't be injected underground at all in Florida because of the nature of the geology.
"The injection zone does not have the geological structure to prevent that sewage from migrating into drinking water," Henry said.
Sierra Club officials acknowledged there isn't any proof that anyone is being harmed by contaminated drinking water, but they said there hasn't been adequate testing on the issue.
"Sewage in drinking water is a bad idea, period," Henry said.
Environmentalists allege dirty water seeping into drinking supply
Now the following report talking about Tallahassee in Florida. Therefore, Sierra Cub concern is believe to be most influencial.
In the Case of recycling of waste water to become drinking water be it following UN study or national or Local government standard.
My observations is that it is still not a safe answer to the health of the consumers, knowing that whenever the standard cannot be met, then the authority would lower the standard. That is in return bad the consumer health.
Therefore, the best is to stop drinking recycling water. The recycled water should be use only for toilets..& those usage other than drinking fot the Great Health of our people.
Environmentalists allege dirty water seeping into drinking supply
DAVID ROYSE
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The state Department of Environmental Protection allows dirty water that's injected into the ground to seep into drinking supplies, an environmental group said Thursday in a federal lawsuit. The agency responded that wells "are closely monitored to protect natural resources."
The dispute concerns the South District Wastewater Treatment Facility in Miami-Dade County, where 112 million gallons of treated wastewater per day is pumped more than 2,500 feet below the ground, according to the suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee.
The Sierra Club contends in the suit that since 1994, trillions of gallons of the treated sewage has migrated from the injection zone into the Floridan Aquifer, where drinking water is drawn from. The suit cites warnings from the federal Environmental Protection Agency going back to 1994, warning that the county could be in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.
The Sierra Club is suing the state agency because it is charged with regulating injection wells, which dispose of treated sewage by pumped it into the ground. The agency should have ordered some sort of fix upon discovering that contaminants could be moving into the aquifer, but hasn't, according to the suit.
The department responded to the lawsuit in a statement that defended its regulation of the process.
"Underground injection wells in Florida meet rigorous standards and are closely monitored to protect natural resources," the statement said.
The department implied improvements in the process were needed when it signed a consent decree last year with Miami-Dade County that requires more treatment of the water before it's injected.
"An enforceable, legal order secured by the department is improving operations at the South District Facility, requiring Miami-Dade to improve its wastewater treatment to meet drinking water standards and conduct long-term water quality monitoring," the statement said. "Additionally, an extensive groundwater study will ensure potential future supplies of drinking water remain protected."
But Sierra Club lawyer Kristin Henry said that wastewater shouldn't be injected underground at all in Florida because of the nature of the geology.
"The injection zone does not have the geological structure to prevent that sewage from migrating into drinking water," Henry said.
Sierra Club officials acknowledged there isn't any proof that anyone is being harmed by contaminated drinking water, but they said there hasn't been adequate testing on the issue.
"Sewage in drinking water is a bad idea, period," Henry said.
Environmentalists allege dirty water seeping into drinking supply
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Water restrictions set to stay
Water Saving is a good practice for everyone on earth.
As a Kid in the 60's, I have won several Water Saving drawing Competitions.
In Singapore, using of Water Hose for washing the car may result to heavy fine by the authority.
When I travel in Australia & Canada, USA.. I found that many family like to have their own swimming pool. Perhaps it is better to convert these pools to water collection pool then swimming. My observations found most of the time, these peoplehardly use the pool. & water have been wasted.
In a report I read last year, Australia would have short of 50% of Water especially drinking Water.
Therefore, effort must be done now to ensured that enough water need to overcome these shortage.
Water restrictions set to stay
Milanda Rout 16feb05
VICTORIANS will soon face permanent water restrictions despite the recent heavy rains.
Permanent bans are expected to replace stage two restrictions on March 1. These include:
A BAN on hosing down driveways, paths and other paved areas.
PRIVATE gardens to be watered with manual watering systems between 8pm and 10am and automatic watering systems between 10pm and 10am only.
HOSES must be fitted with trigger nozzles to wash cars and water gardens.
Water Minister John Thwaites yesterday praised Victorians for conserving water, with consumption down almost 20 per cent on the 1990s average.
But he said we still needed to keep saving water despite heavy rain.
"Although we've had recent rain the challenge now is to make water saving a life-long habit, " Mr Thwaites said.
Many smaller dams are at almost 100 per cent capacity, including Maroondah, Sugarloaf and Greenvale.
But Premier Steve Bracks said the state's main catchment, the Thomson Reservoir, was only half full.
Melbourne's dams are 59.5 per cent full.
Victorians have saved almost $6 million in the two years since government water-saving rebates were introduced.
More than 91,000 Victorians have taken up the Water Smart incentives since January 2003, saving 649 million litres of water -- the equivalent of 649 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The program provides rebates for people who buy water-saving devices with a discount on their water bill.
Mr Thwaites praised Victorians who took up the rebates.
The most popular water-saving product was a high-pressure cleaning device, with more than 33,000 Victorians investing in one for a $30 rebate each.
Another 13,000 residents bought water-efficient washing machines and 5000 opted for dishwashers.
The Government announced yesterday a further $22.5 million would be spent on improving safety at Eildon Dam.
Mr Thwaites said investigations had revealed the 50-year-old dam's spillway had serious structural flaws and required a significant upgrade to ensure it could withstand an extreme flood.
Herald Sun: Water restrictions set to stay [ 16feb05 ]
As a Kid in the 60's, I have won several Water Saving drawing Competitions.
In Singapore, using of Water Hose for washing the car may result to heavy fine by the authority.
When I travel in Australia & Canada, USA.. I found that many family like to have their own swimming pool. Perhaps it is better to convert these pools to water collection pool then swimming. My observations found most of the time, these peoplehardly use the pool. & water have been wasted.
In a report I read last year, Australia would have short of 50% of Water especially drinking Water.
Therefore, effort must be done now to ensured that enough water need to overcome these shortage.
Water restrictions set to stay
Milanda Rout 16feb05
VICTORIANS will soon face permanent water restrictions despite the recent heavy rains.
Permanent bans are expected to replace stage two restrictions on March 1. These include:
A BAN on hosing down driveways, paths and other paved areas.
PRIVATE gardens to be watered with manual watering systems between 8pm and 10am and automatic watering systems between 10pm and 10am only.
HOSES must be fitted with trigger nozzles to wash cars and water gardens.
Water Minister John Thwaites yesterday praised Victorians for conserving water, with consumption down almost 20 per cent on the 1990s average.
But he said we still needed to keep saving water despite heavy rain.
"Although we've had recent rain the challenge now is to make water saving a life-long habit, " Mr Thwaites said.
Many smaller dams are at almost 100 per cent capacity, including Maroondah, Sugarloaf and Greenvale.
But Premier Steve Bracks said the state's main catchment, the Thomson Reservoir, was only half full.
Melbourne's dams are 59.5 per cent full.
Victorians have saved almost $6 million in the two years since government water-saving rebates were introduced.
More than 91,000 Victorians have taken up the Water Smart incentives since January 2003, saving 649 million litres of water -- the equivalent of 649 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The program provides rebates for people who buy water-saving devices with a discount on their water bill.
Mr Thwaites praised Victorians who took up the rebates.
The most popular water-saving product was a high-pressure cleaning device, with more than 33,000 Victorians investing in one for a $30 rebate each.
Another 13,000 residents bought water-efficient washing machines and 5000 opted for dishwashers.
The Government announced yesterday a further $22.5 million would be spent on improving safety at Eildon Dam.
Mr Thwaites said investigations had revealed the 50-year-old dam's spillway had serious structural flaws and required a significant upgrade to ensure it could withstand an extreme flood.
Herald Sun: Water restrictions set to stay [ 16feb05 ]
Monday, February 14, 2005
Senate Poised To Give Power Plants Free Ride
Yes, I can recalled that during my time in Wales, the water within the 50miles radius are not drinkable.
Therefore action must be taken as the united front to ask the Senate Committee To stop giving Power Plant Free Ride.
Senate Poised To Give Power Plants Free Ride
Waterkeeper 2/11/2005
A critical issue needs your immediate attention. Next Wednesday, the 16th of February, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will be voting on Senate Bill 131, Bush's latest incarnation of his failed "Clear Skies" legislation. For mercury contamination of all our waterways, this is a decisive moment and we need your help.
Whereas the current Clean Air Act currently requires mercury reductions at each and every power plant based on the emissions reductions achievable through affordable and proven technologies, S. 131 will amend the CAA to allow a mercury trading scheme that will enable industry to freely transfer mercury pollution credits among facilities. In other words, utility units will be able to purchase the right to pollute your air and water with toxic levels of mercury and avoid reducing these poisonous emissions. Under S. 131, some power plants will not have to reduce their mercury emissions at all; indeed, many of the older, dirtier power plants can even increase their mercury emissions, resulting in mercury hotspots across the country. Passage of this bill will mean that the coal-fired utility industry will be free to continue contaminating our air and waterways with dangerous mercury emissions for years to come.
In recent Committee hearings, Senator Barbara Boxer described S. 131 as “an industry wish list that not only fails to adequately address power plant pollution, but which would result in at least 21 million tons of additional pollution placing public health and the environment at risk.” This bill is also a dream come true for the Environmental Protection Agency - it would let them off the hook from passing a proposed mercury rule next month that would be clearly illegal under the strict, current CAA mandates and make it almost impossible for environmental organizations such as Waterkeeper and concerned citizens such as yourself to force coal-fired power plants to reduce their mercury emissions to acceptable levels.
We must act now; if this bill makes it out of Committee it will likely be passed by both the Senate and the House. Please take a moment to take action by clicking on the Act Now button on this page. By doing so, you will be able to send a message to every Senator on the Committee and make your voice heard before this important vote is cast on Wednesday.
Waterkeeper Alliance
Therefore action must be taken as the united front to ask the Senate Committee To stop giving Power Plant Free Ride.
Senate Poised To Give Power Plants Free Ride
Waterkeeper 2/11/2005
A critical issue needs your immediate attention. Next Wednesday, the 16th of February, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will be voting on Senate Bill 131, Bush's latest incarnation of his failed "Clear Skies" legislation. For mercury contamination of all our waterways, this is a decisive moment and we need your help.
Whereas the current Clean Air Act currently requires mercury reductions at each and every power plant based on the emissions reductions achievable through affordable and proven technologies, S. 131 will amend the CAA to allow a mercury trading scheme that will enable industry to freely transfer mercury pollution credits among facilities. In other words, utility units will be able to purchase the right to pollute your air and water with toxic levels of mercury and avoid reducing these poisonous emissions. Under S. 131, some power plants will not have to reduce their mercury emissions at all; indeed, many of the older, dirtier power plants can even increase their mercury emissions, resulting in mercury hotspots across the country. Passage of this bill will mean that the coal-fired utility industry will be free to continue contaminating our air and waterways with dangerous mercury emissions for years to come.
In recent Committee hearings, Senator Barbara Boxer described S. 131 as “an industry wish list that not only fails to adequately address power plant pollution, but which would result in at least 21 million tons of additional pollution placing public health and the environment at risk.” This bill is also a dream come true for the Environmental Protection Agency - it would let them off the hook from passing a proposed mercury rule next month that would be clearly illegal under the strict, current CAA mandates and make it almost impossible for environmental organizations such as Waterkeeper and concerned citizens such as yourself to force coal-fired power plants to reduce their mercury emissions to acceptable levels.
We must act now; if this bill makes it out of Committee it will likely be passed by both the Senate and the House. Please take a moment to take action by clicking on the Act Now button on this page. By doing so, you will be able to send a message to every Senator on the Committee and make your voice heard before this important vote is cast on Wednesday.
Waterkeeper Alliance
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Phoenix Water Woes Run Deepad - How Could One Blame On Luck??
Phoenix officials say a convergence of bad luck and unforeseeable circumstances is to blame for last month's water quality alert, which forced 1.5 million residents to boil water and some businesses to close.
These certainly is an excuse. Water is the basic Life line of each individual. How could that be depending on the Luck & due to Convergence of Bad Luck.
In the 80's till mid of 90's people in position's very frequently sit on the information & hold on to the informations. But now 2005, the tactics of sitting on informations is no longer works.
With the internet, informations should be available on the real time, on time & everytime, it these cannot be accomplished, then there must be something wrong with the people in command.
Think about safe water, Think about clean Water, for the People, Protect your people. then even Bad luck come , it have less impact after all.
Phoenix water woes run deep
Chaos, violations plague agency
Ginger D. Richardson, Dennis Wagner and Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 13, 2005 12:00 AM
Phoenix officials say a convergence of bad luck and unforeseeable circumstances is to blame for last month's water quality alert, which forced 1.5 million residents to boil water and some businesses to close.
But an Arizona Republic investigation - including interviews with key city officials and a review of thousands of memos, lab reports, maintenance records and e-mails - shows that the chaos surrounding the water scare was indicative of deeper, more pervasive problems that have plagued the city's Water Services Department for more than a decade.
The documents portray an agency that chronically violated state and federal water laws.
They also indicate that Water Services leaders failed to communicate with top city officials because of a belief that outsiders cannot understand the technical operations. At the same time, they cultivated an attitude that working with regulatory agencies was not a top priority. Consider:
• The department's troubling history with state and federal regulators dates to at least 1988 and includes a lawsuit, more than $1.6 million in penalties and hundreds of violations in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, which sets water quality standards.
• Top water officials' response to state and federal regulators was, at best, inconsistent. They repeatedly downplayed violations by claiming the non-compliance did not endanger public health.
• Water officials gave incorrect and false information to top city managers about problems with regulatory agencies and within the water treatment system. At one point, the director was suspended for five days for the way he handled an audit.
"They've shown an almost terminal sense of denial, a refusal to look at themselves in the mirror and say, 'We have a problem here,' " said Erik Olson, a researcher with the Natural Resource Defense Council, an environmental group that gave the city a poor grade for water quality and a failure for openness in a 2003 report.
The Republic's review shows that these systemic problems were represented in the January water contamination scare that spun quickly out of control. The situation left panicked residents jamming City Hall phone lines in search of information, resulted in a run on bottled water at grocery stores and forced top city officials to launch an internal investigation into what went wrong.
The situation evolved over three days at the end of last month, when water with a high sediment content, known as turbidity, made its way from Phoenix's Val Vista Water Treatment Plants in Mesa into the city water supply because officials could not effectively treat it.
The failure clearly stemmed from a litany of events, including heavy storm runoff from the Verde River and the lack of a backup water supply because three of the city's four other treatment facilities were closed. Two plants had been shut for routine maintenance and a third was knocked out by floodwaters.
But other evidence raises questions about how the city handled the problem:
• Workers ran out of a key treatment chemical, lime, that other cities were using to deal with turbid water.
• Phoenix's ultimate solution was to dump the "untreatable" water into a canal that flows into plants operated by Tempe and Chandler, which apparently managed to clean the water.
• Officials did not follow protocols that require workers to notify the City Manager's Office by phone of potential threats to the water supply.
• The information from Water Services to top city officials and to the public was muddled, contradictory and in some cases, wrong. At one point, residents were told to boil water until noon Wednesday, but the alert wasn't lifted until 4 p.m.
Even now, an explanation of the crisis from the city water officials raises serious questions.
Essentially, they say the plant was fouled by a buildup of microscopic dirt in the water that apparently had never before been blamed for a treatment system failure.
City Manager Frank Fairbanks stripped longtime Water Services Director Mike Gritzuk of his title two days after the debacle, saying serious changes were needed in the department.
Gritzuk, who lead the department for 16 years, did not respond to repeated interview requests for this article.
His direct supervisor, Deputy City Manager Andrea Tevlin, criticized his management style, saying he cultivated an environment of "stonewalling and denial" in the department when things went wrong.
"I think it was a culture that came from the top down."
Top city officials said the Water Department seemed to think of itself as isolated from the city because it operated using its own revenue and was so technical in nature. That mindset, Fairbanks said, contributed to communication breakdowns, a problem he said had been addressed repeatedly over the years.
Fairbanks acknowledged that the department has had problems, but he defended its daily performance.
"It isn't that the whole department is broken," he said. "There are many, many things it does right. Someone can paint the whole department as a disaster, but that isn't the case."
Tevlin also said she thinks the manager's office acted appropriately.
"I take responsibility for the things that I need to," she said Thursday. "I am not a perfect manager, but I feel that I managed this department to the best of my ability."
Tevlin has supervised Water Services for roughly three years.
But the city's feud with water regulators goes back at least 17 years.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the city failed from 1988-95 to get permits, test equipment and adequately check treated water for contaminants.
From 1993 to 2000, the city did not monitor for coliform, which would indicate the presence of fecal material in water.
In 1996, the EPA issued violation notices for excess nitrate levels, inadequate testing and a failure to monitor. That same year, workers at a city treatment plant mistakenly mixed toxic chemicals in a vat, then damaged the facility trying to neutralize the mixture. Efforts to conceal the blunder by bleeding the chemicals slowly into city water lines also failed before public exposure and federal regulators forced the city to haul 60,000 gallons to a California hazardous-waste plant.
In 1997, after being unable to force compliance for nearly a decade, the EPA and state Department of Environmental Quality sued Phoenix in a U.S. District Court complaint that contained hundreds of suspected violations covering the entire water system.
City officials have consistently said the citations involved technicalities and paperwork oversights rather than actual public safety threats.
Marvin Young, a regulator with the Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco for 18 years, disagrees.
"That's not the way we saw it," he said. "If you don't do the monitoring, you don't know if the water's unsafe."
Young said the government files suit only when there are serious problems and chronic non-compliance.
As a result of the lawsuit, Phoenix paid $350,000 in penalties and agreed to finance clean-water programs for a total cost of $1.6 million. That's the highest penalty Young said he has ever seen levied against a municipal water agency.
In 2002, more problems surfaced when two state audits of a Water Services laboratory found analysts were manipulating computer data to make it appear as if water samples had passed safety standards.
The audit also found that city equipment used to measure contaminants in water was in need of repair and the analysts falsified data to make it look as if it were operating properly.
The two technicians resigned under threat of termination in fall 2003, after the city hired an outside firm to do another audit and verify the state's findings.
The state audit resulted in a $41,750 fine and a city agreement to change training procedures, hire two new chemists and take other steps to tighten lab procedures.
It also forced city officials to take a hard look at Gritzuk.
In a July 2003 reprimand, Fairbanks wrote that Gritzuk tried to deny that there was a problem with the lab and was not forthcoming with information.
The letter in Gritzuk's personnel file reads, "Management has determined that you are ultimately responsible for this continued unacceptable performance. Despite your having received repeated instructions to the contrary, you have given the appearance of ignoring management's directives by not establishing a culture of environmental excellence . . . in your department."
He was suspended for five days without pay, an action that Fairbanks considers appropriately harsh.
Fairbanks called the action a "warning shot" in the "progressive discipline" policy the city uses for its employees.
He and Tevlin said they thought the message had gotten through, ending problems with the department and Gritzuk's communication style.
"These issues had been addressed repeatedly," Fairbanks said. "We had strong assertions that this would not happen again, and my sense was that (we) thought that progress had been made."
They were wrong.
Tevlin heard about the boil advisory not from Gritzuk, as required by city protocol, but from an early morning phone call from Gordon, who heard it on the morning television news.
"I was shocked," Tevlin said of the communication breakdown. "I really thought we had solved this."
During the water scare, three advisories were issued.
The first was issued late Monday afternoon, Jan. 24, roughly 29 hours after the water first tested high for turbidity. Federal law requires notification within 24 hours.
Next came a late-night plea for conservation, and then finally, the boil-water alert around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, as water managers anticipated a batch of murky water entering the system.
Turbidity itself is not a health threat, but it can create an environment where bacteria can grow.
The boil-water alert also was a surprise to county overseers, even though they are required to be notified by law, and city officials had worked with them days earlier when issuing the murky water advisory.
"The county should have been involved in (the decision)," Fairbanks said.
Bob Hollander, the city's administrator for compliance and regulatory affairs, said he tried to reach two county officials after midnight Monday but couldn't raise anyone.
John Kolman, manager of Maricopa County's drinking water and solid waste program, said the city should have used an on-call number that would guarantee a response from a county employee. Instead, Kolman said he awoke early Tuesday to learn of the boil-water advisory from broadcast news and to find a message from Hollander that arrived on his cellphone in the middle of the night.
Those who advised Gritzuk to issue the alert - Hollander, Water Production Superintendent Keith Greenberg and Assistant Water Services Director Wayne Janis - stand by the decision.
Greenberg said that failure to tell consumers to boil the water would have been "criminal" because of what was learned 12 years ago when 400,000 people were sickened by contaminated water in Milwaukee. The event was blamed on failure to remove turbidity, which allowed an intestinal parasite known as cryptosporidium to bloom. The episode prompted a tightening of national drinking-water standards. Read More....
Phoenix water woes run deep
These certainly is an excuse. Water is the basic Life line of each individual. How could that be depending on the Luck & due to Convergence of Bad Luck.
In the 80's till mid of 90's people in position's very frequently sit on the information & hold on to the informations. But now 2005, the tactics of sitting on informations is no longer works.
With the internet, informations should be available on the real time, on time & everytime, it these cannot be accomplished, then there must be something wrong with the people in command.
Think about safe water, Think about clean Water, for the People, Protect your people. then even Bad luck come , it have less impact after all.
Phoenix water woes run deep
Chaos, violations plague agency
Ginger D. Richardson, Dennis Wagner and Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 13, 2005 12:00 AM
Phoenix officials say a convergence of bad luck and unforeseeable circumstances is to blame for last month's water quality alert, which forced 1.5 million residents to boil water and some businesses to close.
But an Arizona Republic investigation - including interviews with key city officials and a review of thousands of memos, lab reports, maintenance records and e-mails - shows that the chaos surrounding the water scare was indicative of deeper, more pervasive problems that have plagued the city's Water Services Department for more than a decade.
The documents portray an agency that chronically violated state and federal water laws.
They also indicate that Water Services leaders failed to communicate with top city officials because of a belief that outsiders cannot understand the technical operations. At the same time, they cultivated an attitude that working with regulatory agencies was not a top priority. Consider:
• The department's troubling history with state and federal regulators dates to at least 1988 and includes a lawsuit, more than $1.6 million in penalties and hundreds of violations in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, which sets water quality standards.
• Top water officials' response to state and federal regulators was, at best, inconsistent. They repeatedly downplayed violations by claiming the non-compliance did not endanger public health.
• Water officials gave incorrect and false information to top city managers about problems with regulatory agencies and within the water treatment system. At one point, the director was suspended for five days for the way he handled an audit.
"They've shown an almost terminal sense of denial, a refusal to look at themselves in the mirror and say, 'We have a problem here,' " said Erik Olson, a researcher with the Natural Resource Defense Council, an environmental group that gave the city a poor grade for water quality and a failure for openness in a 2003 report.
The Republic's review shows that these systemic problems were represented in the January water contamination scare that spun quickly out of control. The situation left panicked residents jamming City Hall phone lines in search of information, resulted in a run on bottled water at grocery stores and forced top city officials to launch an internal investigation into what went wrong.
The situation evolved over three days at the end of last month, when water with a high sediment content, known as turbidity, made its way from Phoenix's Val Vista Water Treatment Plants in Mesa into the city water supply because officials could not effectively treat it.
The failure clearly stemmed from a litany of events, including heavy storm runoff from the Verde River and the lack of a backup water supply because three of the city's four other treatment facilities were closed. Two plants had been shut for routine maintenance and a third was knocked out by floodwaters.
But other evidence raises questions about how the city handled the problem:
• Workers ran out of a key treatment chemical, lime, that other cities were using to deal with turbid water.
• Phoenix's ultimate solution was to dump the "untreatable" water into a canal that flows into plants operated by Tempe and Chandler, which apparently managed to clean the water.
• Officials did not follow protocols that require workers to notify the City Manager's Office by phone of potential threats to the water supply.
• The information from Water Services to top city officials and to the public was muddled, contradictory and in some cases, wrong. At one point, residents were told to boil water until noon Wednesday, but the alert wasn't lifted until 4 p.m.
Even now, an explanation of the crisis from the city water officials raises serious questions.
Essentially, they say the plant was fouled by a buildup of microscopic dirt in the water that apparently had never before been blamed for a treatment system failure.
City Manager Frank Fairbanks stripped longtime Water Services Director Mike Gritzuk of his title two days after the debacle, saying serious changes were needed in the department.
Gritzuk, who lead the department for 16 years, did not respond to repeated interview requests for this article.
His direct supervisor, Deputy City Manager Andrea Tevlin, criticized his management style, saying he cultivated an environment of "stonewalling and denial" in the department when things went wrong.
"I think it was a culture that came from the top down."
Top city officials said the Water Department seemed to think of itself as isolated from the city because it operated using its own revenue and was so technical in nature. That mindset, Fairbanks said, contributed to communication breakdowns, a problem he said had been addressed repeatedly over the years.
Fairbanks acknowledged that the department has had problems, but he defended its daily performance.
"It isn't that the whole department is broken," he said. "There are many, many things it does right. Someone can paint the whole department as a disaster, but that isn't the case."
Tevlin also said she thinks the manager's office acted appropriately.
"I take responsibility for the things that I need to," she said Thursday. "I am not a perfect manager, but I feel that I managed this department to the best of my ability."
Tevlin has supervised Water Services for roughly three years.
But the city's feud with water regulators goes back at least 17 years.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the city failed from 1988-95 to get permits, test equipment and adequately check treated water for contaminants.
From 1993 to 2000, the city did not monitor for coliform, which would indicate the presence of fecal material in water.
In 1996, the EPA issued violation notices for excess nitrate levels, inadequate testing and a failure to monitor. That same year, workers at a city treatment plant mistakenly mixed toxic chemicals in a vat, then damaged the facility trying to neutralize the mixture. Efforts to conceal the blunder by bleeding the chemicals slowly into city water lines also failed before public exposure and federal regulators forced the city to haul 60,000 gallons to a California hazardous-waste plant.
In 1997, after being unable to force compliance for nearly a decade, the EPA and state Department of Environmental Quality sued Phoenix in a U.S. District Court complaint that contained hundreds of suspected violations covering the entire water system.
City officials have consistently said the citations involved technicalities and paperwork oversights rather than actual public safety threats.
Marvin Young, a regulator with the Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco for 18 years, disagrees.
"That's not the way we saw it," he said. "If you don't do the monitoring, you don't know if the water's unsafe."
Young said the government files suit only when there are serious problems and chronic non-compliance.
As a result of the lawsuit, Phoenix paid $350,000 in penalties and agreed to finance clean-water programs for a total cost of $1.6 million. That's the highest penalty Young said he has ever seen levied against a municipal water agency.
In 2002, more problems surfaced when two state audits of a Water Services laboratory found analysts were manipulating computer data to make it appear as if water samples had passed safety standards.
The audit also found that city equipment used to measure contaminants in water was in need of repair and the analysts falsified data to make it look as if it were operating properly.
The two technicians resigned under threat of termination in fall 2003, after the city hired an outside firm to do another audit and verify the state's findings.
The state audit resulted in a $41,750 fine and a city agreement to change training procedures, hire two new chemists and take other steps to tighten lab procedures.
It also forced city officials to take a hard look at Gritzuk.
In a July 2003 reprimand, Fairbanks wrote that Gritzuk tried to deny that there was a problem with the lab and was not forthcoming with information.
The letter in Gritzuk's personnel file reads, "Management has determined that you are ultimately responsible for this continued unacceptable performance. Despite your having received repeated instructions to the contrary, you have given the appearance of ignoring management's directives by not establishing a culture of environmental excellence . . . in your department."
He was suspended for five days without pay, an action that Fairbanks considers appropriately harsh.
Fairbanks called the action a "warning shot" in the "progressive discipline" policy the city uses for its employees.
He and Tevlin said they thought the message had gotten through, ending problems with the department and Gritzuk's communication style.
"These issues had been addressed repeatedly," Fairbanks said. "We had strong assertions that this would not happen again, and my sense was that (we) thought that progress had been made."
They were wrong.
Tevlin heard about the boil advisory not from Gritzuk, as required by city protocol, but from an early morning phone call from Gordon, who heard it on the morning television news.
"I was shocked," Tevlin said of the communication breakdown. "I really thought we had solved this."
During the water scare, three advisories were issued.
The first was issued late Monday afternoon, Jan. 24, roughly 29 hours after the water first tested high for turbidity. Federal law requires notification within 24 hours.
Next came a late-night plea for conservation, and then finally, the boil-water alert around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, as water managers anticipated a batch of murky water entering the system.
Turbidity itself is not a health threat, but it can create an environment where bacteria can grow.
The boil-water alert also was a surprise to county overseers, even though they are required to be notified by law, and city officials had worked with them days earlier when issuing the murky water advisory.
"The county should have been involved in (the decision)," Fairbanks said.
Bob Hollander, the city's administrator for compliance and regulatory affairs, said he tried to reach two county officials after midnight Monday but couldn't raise anyone.
John Kolman, manager of Maricopa County's drinking water and solid waste program, said the city should have used an on-call number that would guarantee a response from a county employee. Instead, Kolman said he awoke early Tuesday to learn of the boil-water advisory from broadcast news and to find a message from Hollander that arrived on his cellphone in the middle of the night.
Those who advised Gritzuk to issue the alert - Hollander, Water Production Superintendent Keith Greenberg and Assistant Water Services Director Wayne Janis - stand by the decision.
Greenberg said that failure to tell consumers to boil the water would have been "criminal" because of what was learned 12 years ago when 400,000 people were sickened by contaminated water in Milwaukee. The event was blamed on failure to remove turbidity, which allowed an intestinal parasite known as cryptosporidium to bloom. The episode prompted a tightening of national drinking-water standards. Read More....
Phoenix water woes run deep
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Environmental groups question uranium plant’s impact on water - Need To Review
Well learning from the experience of Okinawa & Hiroshima after maths of the Atomic Bombs also the Nuclear Power plant leaks in Russia.
For the Geat Health of the People, I am calling upon the authority to re-think about their decision in building the Uranium plant's in Lousiana.
For the Love of People the decision must be cancel!!!!!
Environmental groups question uranium plant’s impact on water
Last Update: 02/08/2005 8:45:57 AM
By: Associated Press
HOBBS (AP) - Two environmental groups say that if a nuclear-fuel plant is built near Eunice, it could end up releasing uranium-contaminated water into nearby aquifers.
That testimony came from officials of two Washington-based groups: Nuclear Information and Resource Service and Public Citizen. The groups were in Hobbs for the first of a weeklong series of hearings on the proposed nuclear-fuel plant.
The consortium Louisiana Energy Services has filed a license application for the plant. Officials of Louisiana Energy Services say the facility would be safe.
LES wants to build the $1.2 billion plant to refine uranium for nuclear reactors. It says the plant will be a big boost for the region’s economy. Local officials have been largely supportive.
For the Geat Health of the People, I am calling upon the authority to re-think about their decision in building the Uranium plant's in Lousiana.
For the Love of People the decision must be cancel!!!!!
Environmental groups question uranium plant’s impact on water
Last Update: 02/08/2005 8:45:57 AM
By: Associated Press
HOBBS (AP) - Two environmental groups say that if a nuclear-fuel plant is built near Eunice, it could end up releasing uranium-contaminated water into nearby aquifers.
That testimony came from officials of two Washington-based groups: Nuclear Information and Resource Service and Public Citizen. The groups were in Hobbs for the first of a weeklong series of hearings on the proposed nuclear-fuel plant.
The consortium Louisiana Energy Services has filed a license application for the plant. Officials of Louisiana Energy Services say the facility would be safe.
LES wants to build the $1.2 billion plant to refine uranium for nuclear reactors. It says the plant will be a big boost for the region’s economy. Local officials have been largely supportive.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Clean Water Fund Facing Major Cuts - Action To Call Off
This is certainly not a good news for all of us in US.
I am calling all like mind concern to write to your Congressman & State govewrnment's for the President Bush to Call off this action.
Clean Water is a important live line for American. Cutting of funds would put more lives at risk for Water Contaminations.
More people get ill because of water pollution would cause more expenses in Medical bills. Then there would be more bankruptcy in America.
More lives would be loss.
Clean Water Fund Facing Major Cuts
FELICITY BARRINGER
The discretionary budget of the Environmental Protection Agency would be cut by 5.6 percent, to $7.57 billion, under President Bush's budget.
The greatest single cuts would be in federal payments to a joint state-federal fund that underwrites projects to improve water quality.
The fund is now worth $52 billion.
The $369 million cut in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund would leave the fund with annual federal payments of $730 million, down from $1.98 billion four years ago, said Linda Eichmiller, a spokeswoman for the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators.
"The infrastructure needs that relate to clean water are well over $200 billion," Ms. Eichmiller said. "We have a fund that is not adequate to meet those needs. If we don't build up the fund to take care of those needs, there are going to be problems."
The budget proposes increasing the sum to clean up urban industrial sites, or brownfields, by $46.9 million, to $210 million.
Congress allocated $163 million to it for the current fiscal year.
The amount allocated to the Superfund, the fund established to clean up major toxic waste sites, was slightly increased, to $1.28 billion from $1.25 billion.
At the Interior Department, $90 million in cuts in the National Park Service budget for land acquisition and state grants were among the major items leading to a proposed overall 1 percent reduction.
The proposed total cut of $119 million would reduce the department's budget, to $10.65 billion from the $10.77 billion that Congress approved for the 2005. fiscal year.
In a budget briefing on Monday, Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton emphasized the administration's support to open the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve for oil and gas drilling.
Ms. Norton said the department anticipated that bids for the rights to exploit the first tracts open in the reserve would total $2.4 billion in the 2007 fiscal year.
The New York Times > Washington > Clean Water Fund Facing Major Cuts
I am calling all like mind concern to write to your Congressman & State govewrnment's for the President Bush to Call off this action.
Clean Water is a important live line for American. Cutting of funds would put more lives at risk for Water Contaminations.
More people get ill because of water pollution would cause more expenses in Medical bills. Then there would be more bankruptcy in America.
More lives would be loss.
Clean Water Fund Facing Major Cuts
FELICITY BARRINGER
The discretionary budget of the Environmental Protection Agency would be cut by 5.6 percent, to $7.57 billion, under President Bush's budget.
The greatest single cuts would be in federal payments to a joint state-federal fund that underwrites projects to improve water quality.
The fund is now worth $52 billion.
The $369 million cut in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund would leave the fund with annual federal payments of $730 million, down from $1.98 billion four years ago, said Linda Eichmiller, a spokeswoman for the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators.
"The infrastructure needs that relate to clean water are well over $200 billion," Ms. Eichmiller said. "We have a fund that is not adequate to meet those needs. If we don't build up the fund to take care of those needs, there are going to be problems."
The budget proposes increasing the sum to clean up urban industrial sites, or brownfields, by $46.9 million, to $210 million.
Congress allocated $163 million to it for the current fiscal year.
The amount allocated to the Superfund, the fund established to clean up major toxic waste sites, was slightly increased, to $1.28 billion from $1.25 billion.
At the Interior Department, $90 million in cuts in the National Park Service budget for land acquisition and state grants were among the major items leading to a proposed overall 1 percent reduction.
The proposed total cut of $119 million would reduce the department's budget, to $10.65 billion from the $10.77 billion that Congress approved for the 2005. fiscal year.
In a budget briefing on Monday, Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton emphasized the administration's support to open the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve for oil and gas drilling.
Ms. Norton said the department anticipated that bids for the rights to exploit the first tracts open in the reserve would total $2.4 billion in the 2007 fiscal year.
The New York Times > Washington > Clean Water Fund Facing Major Cuts
Monday, February 07, 2005
Understand About landed in pH
I am totally ignorance about pH of Water & Drinking Water before I live in the USA.
Now, after all these years of research, I feel to it is important to share these knowledge with everyone, in view of the danger of these highly polluted world.
pH 7 have 10 times Hydrogen ion (H+) than pH 8
Remember, if your drinking water pH is 7 that is neutral.
By the continuous blog awareness & education then we can spreadhead about Clean & Safe Drinking & Applicable Water for your Great Health.
pH Why Is it Important?
The pH of a sample of water is a measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions. The term pH was derived from the manner in which the hydrogen ion concentration is calculated - it is the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion (H+) concentration. What this means to those of us who are not mathematicians is that at higher pH, there are fewer free hydrogen ions, and that a change of one pH unit reflects a tenfold change in the concentrations of the hydrogen ion. For example, there are 10 times as many hydrogen ions available at a pH of 7 than at a pH of 8.
The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14.
A pH of 7 is considered to be neutral.
Substances with pH of less that 7 are acidic;
substances with pH greater than 7 are basic.
ph scale
The pH of water determines the solubility (amount that can be dissolved in the water) and biological availability (amount that can be utilized by aquatic life) of chemical constituents such as nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen, and carbon) and heavy metals (lead, copper, cadmium, etc.). For example, in addition to affecting how much and what form of phosphorus is most abundant in the water, pH may also determine whether aquatic life can use it. In the case of heavy metals, the degree to which they are soluble determines their toxicity. Metals tend to be more toxic at lower pH because they are more soluble.
Reasons for Natural Variation
Photosynthesis uses up dissolved carbon dioxide which acts like carbonic acid (H2CO3) in water. CO2 removal, in effect, reduces the acidity of the water and so pH increases. In contrast, respiration of organic matter produces CO2, which dissolves in water as carbonic acid, thereby lowering the pH. For this reason, pH may be higher during daylight hours and during the growing season, when photosynthesis is at a maximum. Respiration and decomposition processes lower pH. Like dissolved oxygen concentrations, pH may change with depth in a lake, due again to changes in photosynthesis and other chemical reactions. There is typically a seasonal decrease in pH in the lower layers of a stratified lake because CO2 accumulates. There is no light for plants to fix CO2 and decomposition releases CO2.
Fortunately, lake water is complex; it is full of chemical "shock absorbers" that prevent major changes in pH. Small or localized changes in pH are quickly modified by various chemical reactions, so little or no change may be measured. This ability to resist change in pH is called buffering capacity. Not only does the buffering capacity control would-be localized changes in pH, it controls the overall range of pH change under natural conditions. The pH scale may go from 0 to 14, but the pH of natural waters hovers between 6.5 and 8.5.
Expected Impact of Pollution
When pollution results in higher algal and plant growth (e.g., from increased temperature or excess nutrients), pH levels may increase, as allowed by the buffering capacity of the lake. Although these small changes in pH are not likely to have a direct impact on aquatic life, they greatly influence the availability and solubility of all chemical forms in the lake and may aggravate nutrient problems. For example, a change in pH may increase the solubility of phosphorus, making it more available for plant growth and resulting in a greater long-term demand for dissolved oxygen.
Values for pH are reported in standard pH units, usually to one or two decimal places depending upon the accuracy of the equipment used.
Since pH represents the negative logarithm of a number, it is not mathematically correct to calculate simple averages or other summary statistics.
Instead, pH should be reported as a median and range of values; alternatively the values could be converted to hydrogen ion concentrations, averaged, and re-converted to pH values.
Generally, during the summer months in the upper portion of a productive or eutrophic lakes, pH will range between 7.5 and 8.5. In the bottom of the lake or in less productive lakes, pH will be lower, 6.5 to 7.5, perhaps. This is a very general statement to provide an example of the differences you might measure.
The Case of Acid Rain
An important exception to the buffering of pH changes in lakes is the case of lakes affected by acid rain. Lakes that have received too much rain with a low pH (acid rain), lose their buffering capacity. At a certain point, it takes only a small bit of rain or snowmelt runoff for the pH to change. After that point, change occurs relatively quickly. According to the EPA, a pH of 5-6 or lower has been found to be directly toxic to fish (for additional information, see our acid rain links).
Water on the Web | Understanding | Water Quality | Parameters | pH
Now, after all these years of research, I feel to it is important to share these knowledge with everyone, in view of the danger of these highly polluted world.
pH 7 have 10 times Hydrogen ion (H+) than pH 8
Remember, if your drinking water pH is 7 that is neutral.
By the continuous blog awareness & education then we can spreadhead about Clean & Safe Drinking & Applicable Water for your Great Health.
pH Why Is it Important?
The pH of a sample of water is a measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions. The term pH was derived from the manner in which the hydrogen ion concentration is calculated - it is the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion (H+) concentration. What this means to those of us who are not mathematicians is that at higher pH, there are fewer free hydrogen ions, and that a change of one pH unit reflects a tenfold change in the concentrations of the hydrogen ion. For example, there are 10 times as many hydrogen ions available at a pH of 7 than at a pH of 8.
The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14.
A pH of 7 is considered to be neutral.
Substances with pH of less that 7 are acidic;
substances with pH greater than 7 are basic.
ph scale
The pH of water determines the solubility (amount that can be dissolved in the water) and biological availability (amount that can be utilized by aquatic life) of chemical constituents such as nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen, and carbon) and heavy metals (lead, copper, cadmium, etc.). For example, in addition to affecting how much and what form of phosphorus is most abundant in the water, pH may also determine whether aquatic life can use it. In the case of heavy metals, the degree to which they are soluble determines their toxicity. Metals tend to be more toxic at lower pH because they are more soluble.
Reasons for Natural Variation
Photosynthesis uses up dissolved carbon dioxide which acts like carbonic acid (H2CO3) in water. CO2 removal, in effect, reduces the acidity of the water and so pH increases. In contrast, respiration of organic matter produces CO2, which dissolves in water as carbonic acid, thereby lowering the pH. For this reason, pH may be higher during daylight hours and during the growing season, when photosynthesis is at a maximum. Respiration and decomposition processes lower pH. Like dissolved oxygen concentrations, pH may change with depth in a lake, due again to changes in photosynthesis and other chemical reactions. There is typically a seasonal decrease in pH in the lower layers of a stratified lake because CO2 accumulates. There is no light for plants to fix CO2 and decomposition releases CO2.
Fortunately, lake water is complex; it is full of chemical "shock absorbers" that prevent major changes in pH. Small or localized changes in pH are quickly modified by various chemical reactions, so little or no change may be measured. This ability to resist change in pH is called buffering capacity. Not only does the buffering capacity control would-be localized changes in pH, it controls the overall range of pH change under natural conditions. The pH scale may go from 0 to 14, but the pH of natural waters hovers between 6.5 and 8.5.
Expected Impact of Pollution
When pollution results in higher algal and plant growth (e.g., from increased temperature or excess nutrients), pH levels may increase, as allowed by the buffering capacity of the lake. Although these small changes in pH are not likely to have a direct impact on aquatic life, they greatly influence the availability and solubility of all chemical forms in the lake and may aggravate nutrient problems. For example, a change in pH may increase the solubility of phosphorus, making it more available for plant growth and resulting in a greater long-term demand for dissolved oxygen.
Values for pH are reported in standard pH units, usually to one or two decimal places depending upon the accuracy of the equipment used.
Since pH represents the negative logarithm of a number, it is not mathematically correct to calculate simple averages or other summary statistics.
Instead, pH should be reported as a median and range of values; alternatively the values could be converted to hydrogen ion concentrations, averaged, and re-converted to pH values.
Generally, during the summer months in the upper portion of a productive or eutrophic lakes, pH will range between 7.5 and 8.5. In the bottom of the lake or in less productive lakes, pH will be lower, 6.5 to 7.5, perhaps. This is a very general statement to provide an example of the differences you might measure.
The Case of Acid Rain
An important exception to the buffering of pH changes in lakes is the case of lakes affected by acid rain. Lakes that have received too much rain with a low pH (acid rain), lose their buffering capacity. At a certain point, it takes only a small bit of rain or snowmelt runoff for the pH to change. After that point, change occurs relatively quickly. According to the EPA, a pH of 5-6 or lower has been found to be directly toxic to fish (for additional information, see our acid rain links).
Water on the Web | Understanding | Water Quality | Parameters | pH
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Fraternity pledge died from excessive water intake
Well, remmeber, everything there is a limit.
Just thing of it, why the earth is suspended in the emptiness??
Why, at certain time one would feel hungry or thirsty, who need to eat or drink at that particular time.
In the "I-Medical Sutra" the 5 eleements , Water, Wood, Earth, Metal, Fire must be balance, any element imbalance would cause illness & eventure death.
The other thing is, it is a common sense that once too much water in the stomarch, the body would react & there is more load for the Kidney & bladder. Once these two organs give way then obviously it death.
Therefore, for your Great Heath, Never Ever Drink Excessive Water.
Fraternity pledge died from excessive water intake, coroner says
BY KELLI PHILLIPS Knight Ridder Newspapers
CHICO, Calif. - (KRT) - Coroner's officials said a 21-year-old Chico State student died from the effects of over-consumption of water, complicated by low body temperature, during a fraternity initiation.
Matthew Carrington, who grew up in Pleasant Hill, died Wednesday morning trying to become a member of Chi Tau fraternity.
He had been up all night, drinking large quantities of water from a 5-gallon jug, doing push-ups and answering trivia questions about other fraternity members, said Chico police Sgt. Dave Barrow.
During the night, a fan was used to blow air on him, family members said.
Carrington suffered a seizure and stopped breathing.
"It was just more than he could handle," said Kristi Vahl, a longtime friend.
According to the Butte County Coroner's Office, the cause of death was cardiac dysrhythmia due to electrolyte imbalance from water intoxication. A contributing factor was environmental hypothermia.
Drugs and alcohol were not a factor, police said. No arrests have been made, but it will be up to the district attorney whether to file charges, Barrow said.
On Thursday, as fraternity and sorority "rush week" activities continued, Chi Tau members refused to comment on Carrington's death or their pledge activities.
A former Chi Tau member, who asked that his name not be used because he still attends Chico, said that during a 2002 Chi Tau pledge activity, he was forced to drink milk until he threw up.
"I think for some guys there's a pressure to please," said J.W. Dell'Orto, a member of the agricultural fraternity Alpha Gamma Rho. "Seems like the younger guys are trying to impress the older frat brothers. It's like being a freshman in high school and getting invited to a senior party. You want to show them you're up for it."
Dell'Orto, a senior majoring in animal sciences, said Alpha Gamma Rho doesn't haze new members. Instead they host a barbeque and interview pledge candidates.
Molly Priest, 22, one of Carrington's roommates, said he didn't complain about the pledge activities, which included standing against a wall for hours and dressing up like a female prostitute.
"They were pushed to their limits," Priest said. "And Matt was pushed too hard."
Students said the university and police have cracked down on fraternities and alcohol-related activities since a 18-year-old fraternity pledge from Palo Alto died in 2000.
"Everyone parties here, not just the Greeks," said Dani Jimenez-Cruz, of Lambda Theta Nu. "It's what you make of it. You don't have to party if you don't want to, but the temptation is definitely there."
Two weeks ago, an 18-year-old Chico student nearly died from alcohol poisoning during a Sigma Chi pledge activity that involved drinking two 1.75 liter bottles of vodka. Butte County prosecutors said Thursday they plan to file charges against the fraternity member who provided the alcohol.
On Thursday afternoon, Erin Bixon, of Foothill Distributing Inc., wheeled cases of Budweiser into Riley's bar, a popular hangout frequented by members of nearby fraternities and sororities.
"Some kids try to find their limits and see what they can take," he said.
KRT Wire | 02/04/2005 | Fraternity pledge died from excessive water intake, coroner says
Just thing of it, why the earth is suspended in the emptiness??
Why, at certain time one would feel hungry or thirsty, who need to eat or drink at that particular time.
In the "I-Medical Sutra" the 5 eleements , Water, Wood, Earth, Metal, Fire must be balance, any element imbalance would cause illness & eventure death.
The other thing is, it is a common sense that once too much water in the stomarch, the body would react & there is more load for the Kidney & bladder. Once these two organs give way then obviously it death.
Therefore, for your Great Heath, Never Ever Drink Excessive Water.
Fraternity pledge died from excessive water intake, coroner says
BY KELLI PHILLIPS Knight Ridder Newspapers
CHICO, Calif. - (KRT) - Coroner's officials said a 21-year-old Chico State student died from the effects of over-consumption of water, complicated by low body temperature, during a fraternity initiation.
Matthew Carrington, who grew up in Pleasant Hill, died Wednesday morning trying to become a member of Chi Tau fraternity.
He had been up all night, drinking large quantities of water from a 5-gallon jug, doing push-ups and answering trivia questions about other fraternity members, said Chico police Sgt. Dave Barrow.
During the night, a fan was used to blow air on him, family members said.
Carrington suffered a seizure and stopped breathing.
"It was just more than he could handle," said Kristi Vahl, a longtime friend.
According to the Butte County Coroner's Office, the cause of death was cardiac dysrhythmia due to electrolyte imbalance from water intoxication. A contributing factor was environmental hypothermia.
Drugs and alcohol were not a factor, police said. No arrests have been made, but it will be up to the district attorney whether to file charges, Barrow said.
On Thursday, as fraternity and sorority "rush week" activities continued, Chi Tau members refused to comment on Carrington's death or their pledge activities.
A former Chi Tau member, who asked that his name not be used because he still attends Chico, said that during a 2002 Chi Tau pledge activity, he was forced to drink milk until he threw up.
"I think for some guys there's a pressure to please," said J.W. Dell'Orto, a member of the agricultural fraternity Alpha Gamma Rho. "Seems like the younger guys are trying to impress the older frat brothers. It's like being a freshman in high school and getting invited to a senior party. You want to show them you're up for it."
Dell'Orto, a senior majoring in animal sciences, said Alpha Gamma Rho doesn't haze new members. Instead they host a barbeque and interview pledge candidates.
Molly Priest, 22, one of Carrington's roommates, said he didn't complain about the pledge activities, which included standing against a wall for hours and dressing up like a female prostitute.
"They were pushed to their limits," Priest said. "And Matt was pushed too hard."
Students said the university and police have cracked down on fraternities and alcohol-related activities since a 18-year-old fraternity pledge from Palo Alto died in 2000.
"Everyone parties here, not just the Greeks," said Dani Jimenez-Cruz, of Lambda Theta Nu. "It's what you make of it. You don't have to party if you don't want to, but the temptation is definitely there."
Two weeks ago, an 18-year-old Chico student nearly died from alcohol poisoning during a Sigma Chi pledge activity that involved drinking two 1.75 liter bottles of vodka. Butte County prosecutors said Thursday they plan to file charges against the fraternity member who provided the alcohol.
On Thursday afternoon, Erin Bixon, of Foothill Distributing Inc., wheeled cases of Budweiser into Riley's bar, a popular hangout frequented by members of nearby fraternities and sororities.
"Some kids try to find their limits and see what they can take," he said.
KRT Wire | 02/04/2005 | Fraternity pledge died from excessive water intake, coroner says
Friday, February 04, 2005
NSF International Releases Final Report On Testing of Arsenic Treament Technologies
NSF is a Not-for-Profit Certification organization that research & report includes Water Contaminations & Drinking Water Safety standard..
The following press release is beneficial for all that concern about the Arsenic Treament in our Drinking Water System.
NSF Releases Final Reports on Testing of Arsenic Treatment Technologies
Helping Protect the Public from Exposure to High Levels of Arsenic in Drinking Water
(ANN ARBOR, MI USA) – To ensure drinking water technologies are available for consumers to reduce exposure to arsenic, the not-for-profit NSF International today announced the release of four final verification reports through the EPA/NSF Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Drinking Water Systems (DWS) Center. These new reports were produced to specify testing results of drinking water treatment technologies that help consumers avoid exposure to arsenic, which can increase cancer risk and cause other serious health problems.
“These reports are an important step in protecting the public from arsenic exposure,” said Bruce Bartley, NSF’s technical manager in the ETV DWS Center. “By providing consumers with proven results of product evaluations, these evaluation reports accelerate the implementation of new drinking water technologies into the marketplace.”
The ETV DWS Center reports demonstrate a significant reduction of arsenic in drinking water. These tests were performed in small communities in three states in conjunction with Delta Industrial Services and the University of Alaska at Anchorage in Anchorage, Alaska; Watts Premier and MWH in Thermal, California; Kinetico, Inc. and Alcan Chemicals with Gannett Fleming in Carroll Township, Pennsylvania; and ADI International with Gannett Fleming in Sellersville, Pennsylvania.
In 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new arsenic maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 micrograms per liter (µg/L). Since that time, public health officials throughout the United States have detected varying amounts of arsenic in many drinking water supplies, some well above EPA's new MCL. As of January 23, 2006, all public water systems will be required to comply with the 10 µg/L MCL.
With assistance through an EPA grant, NSF International entered into an agreement on October 1, 2000 with the EPA to form the ETV DWS Center. The ETV DWS Center is dedicated to providing independent performance evaluations of drinking water technologies and helping small communities comply with the 10 µg/L MCL.
The reports can be accessed at the following web pages:
Delta Industrial Services, Anchorage, Alaska Full Report: http://www.nsf.org/business/drinking_water_systems_center/pdf/Delta_Report.pdf
Watts Premier, Thermal, California Full Report:
http://www.nsf.org/business/drinking_water_systems_center/pdf/Watts_Report.pdf
Kinetico, Inc. and Alcan Chemicals, Carroll Township, Pennsylvania Full Report: http://www.nsf.org/business/drinking_water_systems_center/pdf/Kinetico-Alcan_ETV_Report.pdf
ADI International, Sellersville, Pennsylvania Full Report:
http://www.nsf.org/business/drinking_water_systems_center/pdf/ADI_Phase1_Report.pdf
“NSF expects the release of three additional reports on arsenic reduction technologies for drinking water in 2005,” concluded Bartley.
For additional information on these final reports, please contact Bruce Bartley at 1-800-NSF-MARK ext. 5148, (734) 769-5148, or bartley@nsf.org.
NSF International : Newsroom : News and Press Releases
The following press release is beneficial for all that concern about the Arsenic Treament in our Drinking Water System.
NSF Releases Final Reports on Testing of Arsenic Treatment Technologies
Helping Protect the Public from Exposure to High Levels of Arsenic in Drinking Water
(ANN ARBOR, MI USA) – To ensure drinking water technologies are available for consumers to reduce exposure to arsenic, the not-for-profit NSF International today announced the release of four final verification reports through the EPA/NSF Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Drinking Water Systems (DWS) Center. These new reports were produced to specify testing results of drinking water treatment technologies that help consumers avoid exposure to arsenic, which can increase cancer risk and cause other serious health problems.
“These reports are an important step in protecting the public from arsenic exposure,” said Bruce Bartley, NSF’s technical manager in the ETV DWS Center. “By providing consumers with proven results of product evaluations, these evaluation reports accelerate the implementation of new drinking water technologies into the marketplace.”
The ETV DWS Center reports demonstrate a significant reduction of arsenic in drinking water. These tests were performed in small communities in three states in conjunction with Delta Industrial Services and the University of Alaska at Anchorage in Anchorage, Alaska; Watts Premier and MWH in Thermal, California; Kinetico, Inc. and Alcan Chemicals with Gannett Fleming in Carroll Township, Pennsylvania; and ADI International with Gannett Fleming in Sellersville, Pennsylvania.
In 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new arsenic maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 micrograms per liter (µg/L). Since that time, public health officials throughout the United States have detected varying amounts of arsenic in many drinking water supplies, some well above EPA's new MCL. As of January 23, 2006, all public water systems will be required to comply with the 10 µg/L MCL.
With assistance through an EPA grant, NSF International entered into an agreement on October 1, 2000 with the EPA to form the ETV DWS Center. The ETV DWS Center is dedicated to providing independent performance evaluations of drinking water technologies and helping small communities comply with the 10 µg/L MCL.
The reports can be accessed at the following web pages:
Delta Industrial Services, Anchorage, Alaska Full Report: http://www.nsf.org/business/drinking_water_systems_center/pdf/Delta_Report.pdf
Watts Premier, Thermal, California Full Report:
http://www.nsf.org/business/drinking_water_systems_center/pdf/Watts_Report.pdf
Kinetico, Inc. and Alcan Chemicals, Carroll Township, Pennsylvania Full Report: http://www.nsf.org/business/drinking_water_systems_center/pdf/Kinetico-Alcan_ETV_Report.pdf
ADI International, Sellersville, Pennsylvania Full Report:
http://www.nsf.org/business/drinking_water_systems_center/pdf/ADI_Phase1_Report.pdf
“NSF expects the release of three additional reports on arsenic reduction technologies for drinking water in 2005,” concluded Bartley.
For additional information on these final reports, please contact Bruce Bartley at 1-800-NSF-MARK ext. 5148, (734) 769-5148, or bartley@nsf.org.
NSF International : Newsroom : News and Press Releases
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Salt water and waste heat equal drinking supply - Shall Consider Alternative Energy
Obviously, these is a significant development for Country like Middle East, Australia, Singapore. Hong Kong, .... those country that short of Drinking Water Supply.
But 3 issue that shall address is :-
1. Distilled Water is not Suitable for Human Drinking
2. Reverse Osmosis removed all the minerals is not Suitable for Drinking Either.
3. The cost of Productions.
Using Waste heat may be a better solution. However, the electrical plant that use coal or gasoline or even Bio-Mass may emit more polluted air to the atmosphere. Therefore, the environment factor & a Air, filtrations system shall be part of these system , so as to prevent further polluting the air.
Salt water and waste heat equal drinking supply
By John K. Borchardt, The Christian Science Monitor
HOUSTON — Every day, some 10,350 plants around the world create more than 8.3 billion gallons of drinking water for a growing thirsty population.
High-pressure plant pumps, such as these in Apollo Beach, Fla., desalinate salt water via forced filtration. By Scott Martin, AP
They do it by turning salt water into fresh, using steadily cheaper techniques. Now, two engineering professors at the University of Florida have taken that technology a step further with a novel idea.
Since power plants need water for cooling purposes and desalination plants need heat, why not combine the needs of both? The professors — James Klausner and Renwei Mei — calculate that their process would shave a sixth of the cost from today's most efficient technology.
"Water is critical to power production which requires a large amount of it," says Barbara Carney, desalination project manager with the National Energy Technology Laboratory, an arm of the United States Department of Energy in Morgantown, W.Va. Now, "instead of power plants being a net user of water, they will be producers of water."
Currently, desalination plants — most of them located in the Middle East — use one of two processes to turn salt water into fresh. One involves boiling salt water and condensing the vapor to produce fresh water, a process called distillation. The other uses high-pressure pumps to force salt water through fine filters that trap and remove waterborne salts and minerals in a process called reverse osmosis. Both technologies are energy intensive and not cost-effective on a large scale, except in areas such as Saudi Arabia where water is short and energy is cheap.
The new technique — called diffusion-driven desalination or DDD — uses heat wasted by electrical power plants.
Since that heat lacks the intensity to boil salt water, Klausner and Mei simply use it to heat the water. The water is then sprayed into the top of a diffusion tower — a column packed with a matrix that creates a kind of slow-motion waterfall. Meanwhile, warm air is pumped up from the bottom of the tower. As the trickling salt water meets the air, evaporation occurs. The evaporated — and now salt-free — water is captured. "Instead of releasing the evaporated water, it will be condensed to produce fresh water," explains Carney.
Thermoelectric power plants consume about 39% of the water used in the U.S., second only to agriculture. Most of the water is used for cooling to condense steam. Each kilowatt-hour of electricity requires about 25 gallons of water to produce. So indirectly, Americans may be using as much water when they turn on lights and run appliances as they do when taking showers and watering lawns.
So far, a prototype DDD plant is producing about 500 gallons of fresh water daily. Klausner and Mei calculate that a DDD plant tapping the waste heat from an average 100-megawatt power plant could produce 1.5 million gallons of fresh water daily. The estimated cost: $2.50 per thousand gallons, compared with $10 per thousand gallons for conventional distillation and $3 per thousand gallons for reverse osmosis.
Though DDD plants designed to produce up to 5 million gallons of fresh water daily appear reasonable, "market studies suggest that we have less barriers to market entry when working with smaller facilities," Klausner says. He estimates the cost to build a facility producing 1 million gallons per day would be about $2 million.
Utilities could build DDD plants next to their power stations and take advantage of their waste heat to produce fresh water for sale, he adds. Other industries that produce waste heat and use lots of fresh water — such as refineries, pulp and paper plants, and chemical- and food-processing plants — could also build their own DDD plants and supply themselves.
"We are very interested in moving the technology out of the laboratory into the commercial sector," Klausner says. To do this, the University of Florida is working with Global Water Technologies Inc. (GWT), a water purification company in Golden, Colo., and seeking to license the technology to other firms.
USATODAY.com - Salt water and waste heat equal drinking supply
But 3 issue that shall address is :-
1. Distilled Water is not Suitable for Human Drinking
2. Reverse Osmosis removed all the minerals is not Suitable for Drinking Either.
3. The cost of Productions.
Using Waste heat may be a better solution. However, the electrical plant that use coal or gasoline or even Bio-Mass may emit more polluted air to the atmosphere. Therefore, the environment factor & a Air, filtrations system shall be part of these system , so as to prevent further polluting the air.
Salt water and waste heat equal drinking supply
By John K. Borchardt, The Christian Science Monitor
HOUSTON — Every day, some 10,350 plants around the world create more than 8.3 billion gallons of drinking water for a growing thirsty population.
High-pressure plant pumps, such as these in Apollo Beach, Fla., desalinate salt water via forced filtration. By Scott Martin, AP
They do it by turning salt water into fresh, using steadily cheaper techniques. Now, two engineering professors at the University of Florida have taken that technology a step further with a novel idea.
Since power plants need water for cooling purposes and desalination plants need heat, why not combine the needs of both? The professors — James Klausner and Renwei Mei — calculate that their process would shave a sixth of the cost from today's most efficient technology.
"Water is critical to power production which requires a large amount of it," says Barbara Carney, desalination project manager with the National Energy Technology Laboratory, an arm of the United States Department of Energy in Morgantown, W.Va. Now, "instead of power plants being a net user of water, they will be producers of water."
Currently, desalination plants — most of them located in the Middle East — use one of two processes to turn salt water into fresh. One involves boiling salt water and condensing the vapor to produce fresh water, a process called distillation. The other uses high-pressure pumps to force salt water through fine filters that trap and remove waterborne salts and minerals in a process called reverse osmosis. Both technologies are energy intensive and not cost-effective on a large scale, except in areas such as Saudi Arabia where water is short and energy is cheap.
The new technique — called diffusion-driven desalination or DDD — uses heat wasted by electrical power plants.
Since that heat lacks the intensity to boil salt water, Klausner and Mei simply use it to heat the water. The water is then sprayed into the top of a diffusion tower — a column packed with a matrix that creates a kind of slow-motion waterfall. Meanwhile, warm air is pumped up from the bottom of the tower. As the trickling salt water meets the air, evaporation occurs. The evaporated — and now salt-free — water is captured. "Instead of releasing the evaporated water, it will be condensed to produce fresh water," explains Carney.
Thermoelectric power plants consume about 39% of the water used in the U.S., second only to agriculture. Most of the water is used for cooling to condense steam. Each kilowatt-hour of electricity requires about 25 gallons of water to produce. So indirectly, Americans may be using as much water when they turn on lights and run appliances as they do when taking showers and watering lawns.
So far, a prototype DDD plant is producing about 500 gallons of fresh water daily. Klausner and Mei calculate that a DDD plant tapping the waste heat from an average 100-megawatt power plant could produce 1.5 million gallons of fresh water daily. The estimated cost: $2.50 per thousand gallons, compared with $10 per thousand gallons for conventional distillation and $3 per thousand gallons for reverse osmosis.
Though DDD plants designed to produce up to 5 million gallons of fresh water daily appear reasonable, "market studies suggest that we have less barriers to market entry when working with smaller facilities," Klausner says. He estimates the cost to build a facility producing 1 million gallons per day would be about $2 million.
Utilities could build DDD plants next to their power stations and take advantage of their waste heat to produce fresh water for sale, he adds. Other industries that produce waste heat and use lots of fresh water — such as refineries, pulp and paper plants, and chemical- and food-processing plants — could also build their own DDD plants and supply themselves.
"We are very interested in moving the technology out of the laboratory into the commercial sector," Klausner says. To do this, the University of Florida is working with Global Water Technologies Inc. (GWT), a water purification company in Golden, Colo., and seeking to license the technology to other firms.
USATODAY.com - Salt water and waste heat equal drinking supply
NRDC: What's on Tap? - The Karma of Health??
Ignorance is always the cause of the health concern later.
That is exactly the "Cause - Effect" rather call "Karma"
This article is produced by NRDC.
This is a useful reference for all concern.
What's on Tap?
Grading Drinking Water in U.S. Cities
Executive Summary
Every day more than 240 million of us in this country turn on our faucets in order to drink, bathe, and cook, using water from public water systems. And as we do, we often take the purity of our tap water for granted. We shouldn't. Before it comes out of our taps, water in most cities usually undergoes a complex treatment process, often including filtration and disinfection. As good as our municipal water systems can be (and they can be very good), they also can fail -- sometimes tragically. In 1999, for example, more than 1,000 people fell ill at a county fair in upstate New York after ingesting an extremely virulent strain of E. coli bacteria; a three-year-old girl and an elderly man died when their bodies could not fight off the pathogen.
1 This is just one incident; health officials have documented scores of similar waterborne disease outbreaks in towns and cities across the nation during the past decade.
So, just how safe is our drinking water? In a careful and independent study, NRDC evaluated the quality of drinking water supplies in 19 cities around the country.
2 We selected cities that represent the broadest range of American city water supplies and reviewed tap water quality data, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) compliance records, and water suppliers' annual reports (material required by law in order to inform citizens of the overall health of their tap water; also called "right-to-know reports").
3 In addition, we gathered information on pollution sources that may contaminate the lakes, rivers, or underground aquifers that cities use as drinking water sources. Finally, we evaluated our findings and issued grades for each city in three areas:
* water quality and compliance
* right-to-know reports
* source water protection
NRDC found that, although drinking water purity has improved slightly during the past 15 years in most cities, overall tap water quality varies widely from city to city. Some cities like Chicago have excellent tap water; most cities have good or mediocre tap water. Yet several cities -- such as Albuquerque, Fresno, and San Francisco -- have water that is sufficiently contaminated so as to pose potential health risks to some consumers, particularly to pregnant women, infants, children, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems, according to Dr. David Ozonoff, chair of the Environmental Health Program at Boston University School of Public Health and a nationally known expert on drinking water and health issues.
While tap water quality varies, there is one overarching truth that applies to all U.S. cities: unless we take steps now, our tap water will get worse. Two factors pose imminent threats to drinking water quality in America:
* First, we are relying on pipes that are, on average, a century old. The water systems in many cities -- including Atlanta, Boston, and Washington, D.C. -- were built toward the end of the 19th century. Not only is our water supply infrastructure breaking down at alarming rates (the nation suffered more than 200,000 water main ruptures in 2002), but old pipes can leach contaminants and breed bacteria in drinking water.
* Second, regulatory and other actions by the Bush administration threaten the purity of American tap water. These actions include: weakening legislative protections for source waters, stalling on issuing new standards for contaminants, delaying the strengthening of existing standards, and cutting and even eliminating budgets for protective programs. Read More...
NRDC: What's on Tap? - Executive Summary
That is exactly the "Cause - Effect" rather call "Karma"
This article is produced by NRDC.
This is a useful reference for all concern.
What's on Tap?
Grading Drinking Water in U.S. Cities
Executive Summary
Every day more than 240 million of us in this country turn on our faucets in order to drink, bathe, and cook, using water from public water systems. And as we do, we often take the purity of our tap water for granted. We shouldn't. Before it comes out of our taps, water in most cities usually undergoes a complex treatment process, often including filtration and disinfection. As good as our municipal water systems can be (and they can be very good), they also can fail -- sometimes tragically. In 1999, for example, more than 1,000 people fell ill at a county fair in upstate New York after ingesting an extremely virulent strain of E. coli bacteria; a three-year-old girl and an elderly man died when their bodies could not fight off the pathogen.
1 This is just one incident; health officials have documented scores of similar waterborne disease outbreaks in towns and cities across the nation during the past decade.
So, just how safe is our drinking water? In a careful and independent study, NRDC evaluated the quality of drinking water supplies in 19 cities around the country.
2 We selected cities that represent the broadest range of American city water supplies and reviewed tap water quality data, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) compliance records, and water suppliers' annual reports (material required by law in order to inform citizens of the overall health of their tap water; also called "right-to-know reports").
3 In addition, we gathered information on pollution sources that may contaminate the lakes, rivers, or underground aquifers that cities use as drinking water sources. Finally, we evaluated our findings and issued grades for each city in three areas:
* water quality and compliance
* right-to-know reports
* source water protection
NRDC found that, although drinking water purity has improved slightly during the past 15 years in most cities, overall tap water quality varies widely from city to city. Some cities like Chicago have excellent tap water; most cities have good or mediocre tap water. Yet several cities -- such as Albuquerque, Fresno, and San Francisco -- have water that is sufficiently contaminated so as to pose potential health risks to some consumers, particularly to pregnant women, infants, children, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems, according to Dr. David Ozonoff, chair of the Environmental Health Program at Boston University School of Public Health and a nationally known expert on drinking water and health issues.
While tap water quality varies, there is one overarching truth that applies to all U.S. cities: unless we take steps now, our tap water will get worse. Two factors pose imminent threats to drinking water quality in America:
* First, we are relying on pipes that are, on average, a century old. The water systems in many cities -- including Atlanta, Boston, and Washington, D.C. -- were built toward the end of the 19th century. Not only is our water supply infrastructure breaking down at alarming rates (the nation suffered more than 200,000 water main ruptures in 2002), but old pipes can leach contaminants and breed bacteria in drinking water.
* Second, regulatory and other actions by the Bush administration threaten the purity of American tap water. These actions include: weakening legislative protections for source waters, stalling on issuing new standards for contaminants, delaying the strengthening of existing standards, and cutting and even eliminating budgets for protective programs. Read More...
NRDC: What's on Tap? - Executive Summary
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Tallevast's toxic plume gets bigger
The issue of Ground water contaminations is not happening over night or yesteryear.
You see due to the industrailization & blooming populations especially the baby bloomer's era, the heavy use of chemical fertilizer & also years of using animal waste can add up altogether.
Therefore, the issue of Contaminations, if it is checked earlier, it would not be having a major issue today..
In my opinion, the whole mother earth ground water are contaminated.. The thing for us to do is to size up the contaminations & take step to put things right for our Great health.
Tallevast's toxic plume gets bigger
SCOTT RADWAY Herald Staff Writer
TALLEVAST - Groundwater contamination from the old American Beryllium plant has spread across 50 acres in this small community.
That area is double the size of the most recent estimate of the plume, according to a report released Tuesday.
"We were originally told the plume was contained to the (plant) site and had seeped off-site just a bit," said Laura Ward, president of the Tallevast community group FOCUS.
"And look at where they report put it today," she said.
It was in late 2003 that residents here were told not to worry, the cancer-causing solvents from the old plant had remained mostly on site.
The old plant sits like a hub of a wheel with spokes of homes running out in nearly every direction. But experts said only a few properties adjacent to the plant might be impacted, if any.
Then in 2004, state tests showed the plume was three times larger and some resident wells were contaminated. The report released Tuesday aims to finally map the plume, except for three remaining edges.
Lockheed Martin, which is responsible for cleaning up the contamination, prepared the report as part of a state consent order. The deadline for the report was Tuesday.
"I think we were all surprised the plume got as far as it did," said Gail Rymer, spokeswoman for Lockheed. "But now we know what we are dealing with and we can move very quickly to the (clean-up) phase."
Lockheed did not include a map of the plume with its report. Once the final three areas of contamination are plotted a map will be prepared, officials said.
Rymer explained that this round of tests was aimed primarily at determining the exact area of the contamination so it could be remediated.
If the Florida Department of Environmental Protection reviews and approves the report, Lockheed can begin hammering out the clean-up plan. Lockheed would have 45 days to offer a plan and then another 15 days to finalize it, said DEP Tallevast project manager William Kutash.
Rymer said some drilling continues in three areas of Tallevast where the last three edges of the plume need to be defined. Those areas - one northeast in a wooded area, one southwest on a golf course, and one southeast on farmland - still show small traces of contaminants and Lockheed will stop drilling only when no traces are found, she said.
The report on that work is expected to be sent to the DEP in early March. But a clean-up plan can be developed when DEP approves Tuesday's report, she said.
Kutash said a review usually takes 30 days, but this one will be expedited.
Rymer said even though the plume is larger, Lockheed believes no one in the community is still at risk to exposure. In May of 2004, the remaining residents using wells for drinking water were put on county water.
The plume runs out about 500 feet north of the plant on Tallevast Road, about 2,000 feet east, 1,000 feet west and 1,500 feet south of the site, Rymer said. A half mile is 2,640 feet.
County health officials said they could not comment on the report - which runs to more than 2,000 pages - until they had time to review it. County health officials have said on several occasions that drinking water wells in a half-mile radius around the plant were tested in 2004 to ensure no one was being exposed to contamination in the area.
Tim Varney, a health and environmental consultant for Tallevast residents, said once the report is reviewed, it can help the state ensure a cleanup is done properly and it can help county officials study what the health impact on the community has been.
"But there is an awful lot of work that has been done and it will take a while to review it," Varney said.
Manatee County was also awaiting the report to help it design an overlay district for Tallevast that could potentially require builders to take special care because of the contamination. The county also needs the data to evaluate a planned road widening project for Tallevast.
County planners and commissioners received copies Tuesday as well.
The main contaminant being tracked is trichloroethylene, or TCE.
Drinking or breathing high levels of TCE may cause damage to the nervous system, damage to the liver and lungs, abnormal heart beat, coma and possible death, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Lockheed has spent $3 million so far testing for it, Rymer said. TCE was found in highest concentration near the plant site and then its levels tapper off.
TCE is heavier than water and generally sinks until it hits an impermeable layer then moves horizontally, unless it finds a passageway to go deeper.
Rymer said the TCE is generally contained to the upper aquifer which runs down to about 30 to 40 feet where often clay layers prevent it from sinking further. The TCE in the upper aquifer was generally found at 20 feet or deeper because of its weight.
In some areas closer to the source, TCE was found deeper in the water table, going as deep as 278 feet in one site. In what is called the intermediate aquifer, Rymer said the majority of the contamination went down to 150 feet.
The deepest aquifer, called the Floridan aquifer, starts at about 300 feet and the contamination is not believed to have penetrated that layer.
As part of the report, Lockheed also did extensive soil testing. The report summary noted that sampling found low-levels of such things as arsenic in some samples. But Rymer said those levels did not present a health risk to residents.
Tallevast's toxic plume gets bigger
You see due to the industrailization & blooming populations especially the baby bloomer's era, the heavy use of chemical fertilizer & also years of using animal waste can add up altogether.
Therefore, the issue of Contaminations, if it is checked earlier, it would not be having a major issue today..
In my opinion, the whole mother earth ground water are contaminated.. The thing for us to do is to size up the contaminations & take step to put things right for our Great health.
Tallevast's toxic plume gets bigger
SCOTT RADWAY Herald Staff Writer
TALLEVAST - Groundwater contamination from the old American Beryllium plant has spread across 50 acres in this small community.
That area is double the size of the most recent estimate of the plume, according to a report released Tuesday.
"We were originally told the plume was contained to the (plant) site and had seeped off-site just a bit," said Laura Ward, president of the Tallevast community group FOCUS.
"And look at where they report put it today," she said.
It was in late 2003 that residents here were told not to worry, the cancer-causing solvents from the old plant had remained mostly on site.
The old plant sits like a hub of a wheel with spokes of homes running out in nearly every direction. But experts said only a few properties adjacent to the plant might be impacted, if any.
Then in 2004, state tests showed the plume was three times larger and some resident wells were contaminated. The report released Tuesday aims to finally map the plume, except for three remaining edges.
Lockheed Martin, which is responsible for cleaning up the contamination, prepared the report as part of a state consent order. The deadline for the report was Tuesday.
"I think we were all surprised the plume got as far as it did," said Gail Rymer, spokeswoman for Lockheed. "But now we know what we are dealing with and we can move very quickly to the (clean-up) phase."
Lockheed did not include a map of the plume with its report. Once the final three areas of contamination are plotted a map will be prepared, officials said.
Rymer explained that this round of tests was aimed primarily at determining the exact area of the contamination so it could be remediated.
If the Florida Department of Environmental Protection reviews and approves the report, Lockheed can begin hammering out the clean-up plan. Lockheed would have 45 days to offer a plan and then another 15 days to finalize it, said DEP Tallevast project manager William Kutash.
Rymer said some drilling continues in three areas of Tallevast where the last three edges of the plume need to be defined. Those areas - one northeast in a wooded area, one southwest on a golf course, and one southeast on farmland - still show small traces of contaminants and Lockheed will stop drilling only when no traces are found, she said.
The report on that work is expected to be sent to the DEP in early March. But a clean-up plan can be developed when DEP approves Tuesday's report, she said.
Kutash said a review usually takes 30 days, but this one will be expedited.
Rymer said even though the plume is larger, Lockheed believes no one in the community is still at risk to exposure. In May of 2004, the remaining residents using wells for drinking water were put on county water.
The plume runs out about 500 feet north of the plant on Tallevast Road, about 2,000 feet east, 1,000 feet west and 1,500 feet south of the site, Rymer said. A half mile is 2,640 feet.
County health officials said they could not comment on the report - which runs to more than 2,000 pages - until they had time to review it. County health officials have said on several occasions that drinking water wells in a half-mile radius around the plant were tested in 2004 to ensure no one was being exposed to contamination in the area.
Tim Varney, a health and environmental consultant for Tallevast residents, said once the report is reviewed, it can help the state ensure a cleanup is done properly and it can help county officials study what the health impact on the community has been.
"But there is an awful lot of work that has been done and it will take a while to review it," Varney said.
Manatee County was also awaiting the report to help it design an overlay district for Tallevast that could potentially require builders to take special care because of the contamination. The county also needs the data to evaluate a planned road widening project for Tallevast.
County planners and commissioners received copies Tuesday as well.
The main contaminant being tracked is trichloroethylene, or TCE.
Drinking or breathing high levels of TCE may cause damage to the nervous system, damage to the liver and lungs, abnormal heart beat, coma and possible death, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Lockheed has spent $3 million so far testing for it, Rymer said. TCE was found in highest concentration near the plant site and then its levels tapper off.
TCE is heavier than water and generally sinks until it hits an impermeable layer then moves horizontally, unless it finds a passageway to go deeper.
Rymer said the TCE is generally contained to the upper aquifer which runs down to about 30 to 40 feet where often clay layers prevent it from sinking further. The TCE in the upper aquifer was generally found at 20 feet or deeper because of its weight.
In some areas closer to the source, TCE was found deeper in the water table, going as deep as 278 feet in one site. In what is called the intermediate aquifer, Rymer said the majority of the contamination went down to 150 feet.
The deepest aquifer, called the Floridan aquifer, starts at about 300 feet and the contamination is not believed to have penetrated that layer.
As part of the report, Lockheed also did extensive soil testing. The report summary noted that sampling found low-levels of such things as arsenic in some samples. But Rymer said those levels did not present a health risk to residents.
Tallevast's toxic plume gets bigger
Monday, January 31, 2005
Researcher finds fluoride levels in tea can affect drinkers - Fluorosis
The fluoride level in Tap water is the main cause of the the patient faced - Fluorosis!!
From my research into tea production. It is unlikely due to the tea.
For these instants, it is best to check with the city authority; about their fluorosis contents.
The consummer need to know that the best thing for them to do is install a NSF certified Water Filter system, and also make sure that the replacement filter need to be change when it is due.
Researcher finds fluoride levels in tea can affect drinkers
By ALAN BAVLEY Kansas City Star
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Take it easy, tea drinkers.
A researcher at Washington University in St. Louis has found that some instant teas contain startlingly high concentrations of fluoride. When the tea is mixed with fluoridated tap water, the fluoride reaches levels that would set off alarms at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Brewed tea contains comparable amounts of fluoride, studies show.
"For someone drinking two or three glasses a day, I don't think it's a problem," said Michael Whyte, a professor at Washington University's School of Medicine. "But you can imagine somebody in Florida or Arizona drinking two or three quarts of tea a day."
That kind of imbibing caused big trouble for one of Whyte's patients.
The 52-year-old woman had a chronic backache. Her spine and hip bones were unusually thick.
Whyte determined she had fluorosis, a condition manifest by dense and dangerously brittle bones caused by excess fluoride consumption. But he couldn't figure out the source until his patient told him how much instant tea she had been drinking: 1 to 2 gallons a day. Double strength. Her entire adult life.
Whyte bought 10 kinds of instant tea, prepared it at regular strength and sent it to two labs. The fluoride ranged from 1 part per million to 6.5 parts per million. The EPA safety limit for drinking water is 4 parts per million, and the limit for bottled beverages is 1.4 parts per million to 2.4 parts per million.
Whyte wants to alert other doctors that they also may have patients with tea-induced fluorosis. "I reckon there's more cases of this," he said.
The Tea Council of the USA, reacting to Whyte's study, said that "when consumed as part of a healthy diet, tea poses no health risks and likely even provides health benefits."
KRT Wire | 01/30/2005 | Researcher finds fluoride levels in tea can affect drinkers
From my research into tea production. It is unlikely due to the tea.
For these instants, it is best to check with the city authority; about their fluorosis contents.
The consummer need to know that the best thing for them to do is install a NSF certified Water Filter system, and also make sure that the replacement filter need to be change when it is due.
Researcher finds fluoride levels in tea can affect drinkers
By ALAN BAVLEY Kansas City Star
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Take it easy, tea drinkers.
A researcher at Washington University in St. Louis has found that some instant teas contain startlingly high concentrations of fluoride. When the tea is mixed with fluoridated tap water, the fluoride reaches levels that would set off alarms at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Brewed tea contains comparable amounts of fluoride, studies show.
"For someone drinking two or three glasses a day, I don't think it's a problem," said Michael Whyte, a professor at Washington University's School of Medicine. "But you can imagine somebody in Florida or Arizona drinking two or three quarts of tea a day."
That kind of imbibing caused big trouble for one of Whyte's patients.
The 52-year-old woman had a chronic backache. Her spine and hip bones were unusually thick.
Whyte determined she had fluorosis, a condition manifest by dense and dangerously brittle bones caused by excess fluoride consumption. But he couldn't figure out the source until his patient told him how much instant tea she had been drinking: 1 to 2 gallons a day. Double strength. Her entire adult life.
Whyte bought 10 kinds of instant tea, prepared it at regular strength and sent it to two labs. The fluoride ranged from 1 part per million to 6.5 parts per million. The EPA safety limit for drinking water is 4 parts per million, and the limit for bottled beverages is 1.4 parts per million to 2.4 parts per million.
Whyte wants to alert other doctors that they also may have patients with tea-induced fluorosis. "I reckon there's more cases of this," he said.
The Tea Council of the USA, reacting to Whyte's study, said that "when consumed as part of a healthy diet, tea poses no health risks and likely even provides health benefits."
KRT Wire | 01/30/2005 | Researcher finds fluoride levels in tea can affect drinkers
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Chlorine factories a mercury mess?
This is serious!!!!!!
I am sure as a Businessmen , they ought to think about their social responsibility about people. Just imagine, if all their customer died of mercury poisoning. Then, their business have no customer's. What is the end result??
When I visit My parents home town in China again during the early 90's, I was sad to knew that the family Drinking well have to shut down after my 1st ancestor set up the 1st drinking water well in this island. The Well history is over 2,000 years. This Drinking water well actually served for the township with 5,000 population. I am told by the official that the well shut down due to Mercury poisoning.
Therefore, the coast of the that island is also affected as well. The fishes that along the straight opposite Taiwan may also contaminated. So you can imagine, if the action were not taken, the island total population of 600,000 may all be affect by mercury.
So, be it in China..Europe or USA..there must be a high standard & enforcement on contamination to our drinking water.
Chlorine factories a mercury mess?
Activists, industry spar over toxic metal emissions
The Associated Press Updated: 3:33 p.m. ET Jan. 26, 2005
WASHINGTON - Environmentalists on Wednesday released a report claiming that the nine factories in the United States still making chlorine with mercury are emitting dangerous amounts of the toxic metal. The industry acknowledged that tons of mercury are unaccounted for each year, but did not believe that the mercury is being dumped into the air or water.
Chlorine at such plants is made by pumping electrically charged salty water through a vat of mercury, a process devised more than 100 years ago. Environmentalists say these plants are a largely ignored and unchecked source of mercury pollution.
Mercury settles in waterways and accumulates in fish. In humans who eat those fish, the metal can cause neurological and developmental problems, particularly in fetuses and children.
Citing chlorine factories as a “major global source of mercury,” the Washington, D.C.-based environmental group Oceana called on the Environmental Protection Agency to require all the plants to convert to mercury-free technology by 2008.
“Fifteen years ago, Congress amended the Clean Air Act, which requires companies like these to continually improve to cut down releases of hazardous chemicals like mercury,” Andrew Sharpless, Oceana’s chief executive officer, said at a news conference. “But rather than enforce this law, the EPA is still giving these chlorine plants a pass and letting them continue to release tons of mercury every year with their 19th century technology.”
Industry's response
Arthur Duncan, vice president of safety and health for The Chlorine Institute, a trade group based in Arlington, Va., said emissions have been significantly reduced in the past decade.
“Certainly mercury has been a concern for a long time to people and it’s an environmental issue that we’re working to address,” he said.
The calculations of how much mercury is dispersed into the environment are in dispute. The industry, in reports to the EPA, says eight tons — about three 50-gallon barrels — were emitted in 2003.
For example, the companies said a plant in Muscle Shoals, Ala., emitted 1,757 pounds of mercury that year; another, in New Castle, Del., released 2,863 pounds.
But the environmentalists say these calculations may be wrong, because while the companies monitor the amount of mercury that goes out of their smokestacks, they merely estimate the amount that evaporates and leaves the factories through vents.
In addition, industry officials acknowledge that they cannot account for an additional 30 tons a year. They say that it could be stuck in factory pipes, and they are trying to find it.
The environmentalists are skeptical. They think even more mercury is missing, pointing out that more mercury is delivered to the plants each year than is going out — 65 tons more in 2000 alone, said Oceana’s Jacqueline Savitz, co-author of the report.
But industry officials say that mercury purchases do not necessarily equal mercury use, because some of it is simply stored to be used later.
EPA spokeswoman Cynthia Bergman said the question of where all this mercury went is very important to her agency, but that the EPA’s “best information indicates that the mercury is not being emitted into the air.”
Curbs on power plants
While total mercury emissions in the United States have fallen substantially since 1990, power plants remain the largest remaining human-caused source. They released 90,370 pounds of mercury into the air in 2002, the most recent year for which EPA data are available.
Federal guidelines released last February place strict limits on the amount of mercury that power plants can release.
They place no similar caps on chlorine plants, but do require more frequent emission measurements and equipment inspections, “significantly more stringent requirements” than had been in force before, said Vito Fiore, a vice president of Vulcan Chemicals, which has a plant in Port Edwards, Wis.
MSNBC - Chlorine factories a mercury mess?
I am sure as a Businessmen , they ought to think about their social responsibility about people. Just imagine, if all their customer died of mercury poisoning. Then, their business have no customer's. What is the end result??
When I visit My parents home town in China again during the early 90's, I was sad to knew that the family Drinking well have to shut down after my 1st ancestor set up the 1st drinking water well in this island. The Well history is over 2,000 years. This Drinking water well actually served for the township with 5,000 population. I am told by the official that the well shut down due to Mercury poisoning.
Therefore, the coast of the that island is also affected as well. The fishes that along the straight opposite Taiwan may also contaminated. So you can imagine, if the action were not taken, the island total population of 600,000 may all be affect by mercury.
So, be it in China..Europe or USA..there must be a high standard & enforcement on contamination to our drinking water.
Chlorine factories a mercury mess?
Activists, industry spar over toxic metal emissions
The Associated Press Updated: 3:33 p.m. ET Jan. 26, 2005
WASHINGTON - Environmentalists on Wednesday released a report claiming that the nine factories in the United States still making chlorine with mercury are emitting dangerous amounts of the toxic metal. The industry acknowledged that tons of mercury are unaccounted for each year, but did not believe that the mercury is being dumped into the air or water.
Chlorine at such plants is made by pumping electrically charged salty water through a vat of mercury, a process devised more than 100 years ago. Environmentalists say these plants are a largely ignored and unchecked source of mercury pollution.
Mercury settles in waterways and accumulates in fish. In humans who eat those fish, the metal can cause neurological and developmental problems, particularly in fetuses and children.
Citing chlorine factories as a “major global source of mercury,” the Washington, D.C.-based environmental group Oceana called on the Environmental Protection Agency to require all the plants to convert to mercury-free technology by 2008.
“Fifteen years ago, Congress amended the Clean Air Act, which requires companies like these to continually improve to cut down releases of hazardous chemicals like mercury,” Andrew Sharpless, Oceana’s chief executive officer, said at a news conference. “But rather than enforce this law, the EPA is still giving these chlorine plants a pass and letting them continue to release tons of mercury every year with their 19th century technology.”
Industry's response
Arthur Duncan, vice president of safety and health for The Chlorine Institute, a trade group based in Arlington, Va., said emissions have been significantly reduced in the past decade.
“Certainly mercury has been a concern for a long time to people and it’s an environmental issue that we’re working to address,” he said.
The calculations of how much mercury is dispersed into the environment are in dispute. The industry, in reports to the EPA, says eight tons — about three 50-gallon barrels — were emitted in 2003.
For example, the companies said a plant in Muscle Shoals, Ala., emitted 1,757 pounds of mercury that year; another, in New Castle, Del., released 2,863 pounds.
But the environmentalists say these calculations may be wrong, because while the companies monitor the amount of mercury that goes out of their smokestacks, they merely estimate the amount that evaporates and leaves the factories through vents.
In addition, industry officials acknowledge that they cannot account for an additional 30 tons a year. They say that it could be stuck in factory pipes, and they are trying to find it.
The environmentalists are skeptical. They think even more mercury is missing, pointing out that more mercury is delivered to the plants each year than is going out — 65 tons more in 2000 alone, said Oceana’s Jacqueline Savitz, co-author of the report.
But industry officials say that mercury purchases do not necessarily equal mercury use, because some of it is simply stored to be used later.
EPA spokeswoman Cynthia Bergman said the question of where all this mercury went is very important to her agency, but that the EPA’s “best information indicates that the mercury is not being emitted into the air.”
Curbs on power plants
While total mercury emissions in the United States have fallen substantially since 1990, power plants remain the largest remaining human-caused source. They released 90,370 pounds of mercury into the air in 2002, the most recent year for which EPA data are available.
Federal guidelines released last February place strict limits on the amount of mercury that power plants can release.
They place no similar caps on chlorine plants, but do require more frequent emission measurements and equipment inspections, “significantly more stringent requirements” than had been in force before, said Vito Fiore, a vice president of Vulcan Chemicals, which has a plant in Port Edwards, Wis.
MSNBC - Chlorine factories a mercury mess?
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Danone takes a hit from US water business
It is very obvious that from commercial research. Water is business is going to be huge in US & the world.
With giant corporation's like Nestle, Danone, even GE are into the business of Water.
On the issue of Cooler, according to the "I-Medicine Sutra", "Chilled Water" is considered as Cool or Cold effect for the body, our internal body temperature is at boilding point. with the cold water into the body, that would cause conflict of "Chi".
Therefore, for your great Health avoid drink Cold or Chilled Water.
Danone takes a hit from US water business
27/01/2005 - Danone’s rapid expansion into the home and office delivery (HOD) bottled water market has given it a global market share to match that of rival Nestlé in recent years, but the growth has not come without a price, writes Chris Jones.
The French group this week announced that it was taking a charge of around €600 million relating to its US and EU partnership with Japan’s Suntory group, a result of increasing competition and an inevitable slow-down in growth.
The company, which also produces a wide range of dairy products and biscuits, said that it would take a one-off charge of €450 million in its 2004 consolidated accounts relating to its holding in DS Waters, the US joint venture that it formed with Suntory in late 2003.
This one-time charge relates to the writing–off of the goodwill of Danone’s holding in DS Waters, as well as a provision for its commitment to buy out Suntory’s share of the business by 2008 should the Japanese firm decide to sell – a move considered likely by the French group.
Danone, which has owned the Evian and Volvic bottled water brands (among others) for many years, is a relative newcomer to the HOD sector, making its first US acquisition (McKesson Water Products, the leading HOD player on the West Coast), in early 2000.
Since then, the French company has added a number of other HOD operators in both the US and Europe, and merged its US business with the Suntory Water Group in 2003, creating the US HOD market leader with leading positions in many of the top 25 cities in the United States.
But there are signs that the glory days for HOD operators - driven by the aggressive acquisitions of both Danone and Nestlé on the back of growing awareness of the health benefits of water consumption - may finally be nearing an end. Danone cited “slower volume growth patterns for the HOD industry, an increasingly aggressive pricing environment on HOD formats and faster-than-expected erosion of cooler rental revenues” as the principal reasons for the charge.
“These negative factors have thus far more than offset the cost synergies generated by the combination of Danone and Suntory's HOD businesses,” the French firm said.
DS Water Danone has sales of around $800 million, but a book value of less than $400 million following the write down.
Danone has set itself the deadline of “the end of the first half of 2005” to find a solution for the problems facing DS Waters, but restructuring has been underway there for some time, with a significant reduction in the number of production plants already underway.
Danone’s problems are not limited to the US. West European HOD volumes increased 18 per cent in 2003 according to analysts Zenith International, but Danone continues to struggle there as well, taking a charge of €150 million relating to Danone Springs of Eden, its joint venture with Britain’s Eden Springs.
The problem in both the US and Europe is that increasing numbers of users are buying their water coolers outright, a much more cost-effective strategy for them but one which means that DS Waters and Danone Springs of Eden are losing out on significant rental revenues.
The market is also being impacted by growing sales of point-of-use coolers, which purify and then chill or heat simple tap water. Growth in this market has been more than 30 per cent a year since 1999 in Europe alone, according to Zenith, and now accounts for over 10 per cent of total cooler placements in Europe.
Tellingly, most of this growth has come at the expense of traditional coolers. “In 2003, some 52 per cent of new POU installations were converted from bottled cooler contracts,” said Zenith research director Gary Roethenbaugh, underling the cost-effectiveness of this system.
Danone takes a hit from US water business
With giant corporation's like Nestle, Danone, even GE are into the business of Water.
On the issue of Cooler, according to the "I-Medicine Sutra", "Chilled Water" is considered as Cool or Cold effect for the body, our internal body temperature is at boilding point. with the cold water into the body, that would cause conflict of "Chi".
Therefore, for your great Health avoid drink Cold or Chilled Water.
Danone takes a hit from US water business
27/01/2005 - Danone’s rapid expansion into the home and office delivery (HOD) bottled water market has given it a global market share to match that of rival Nestlé in recent years, but the growth has not come without a price, writes Chris Jones.
The French group this week announced that it was taking a charge of around €600 million relating to its US and EU partnership with Japan’s Suntory group, a result of increasing competition and an inevitable slow-down in growth.
The company, which also produces a wide range of dairy products and biscuits, said that it would take a one-off charge of €450 million in its 2004 consolidated accounts relating to its holding in DS Waters, the US joint venture that it formed with Suntory in late 2003.
This one-time charge relates to the writing–off of the goodwill of Danone’s holding in DS Waters, as well as a provision for its commitment to buy out Suntory’s share of the business by 2008 should the Japanese firm decide to sell – a move considered likely by the French group.
Danone, which has owned the Evian and Volvic bottled water brands (among others) for many years, is a relative newcomer to the HOD sector, making its first US acquisition (McKesson Water Products, the leading HOD player on the West Coast), in early 2000.
Since then, the French company has added a number of other HOD operators in both the US and Europe, and merged its US business with the Suntory Water Group in 2003, creating the US HOD market leader with leading positions in many of the top 25 cities in the United States.
But there are signs that the glory days for HOD operators - driven by the aggressive acquisitions of both Danone and Nestlé on the back of growing awareness of the health benefits of water consumption - may finally be nearing an end. Danone cited “slower volume growth patterns for the HOD industry, an increasingly aggressive pricing environment on HOD formats and faster-than-expected erosion of cooler rental revenues” as the principal reasons for the charge.
“These negative factors have thus far more than offset the cost synergies generated by the combination of Danone and Suntory's HOD businesses,” the French firm said.
DS Water Danone has sales of around $800 million, but a book value of less than $400 million following the write down.
Danone has set itself the deadline of “the end of the first half of 2005” to find a solution for the problems facing DS Waters, but restructuring has been underway there for some time, with a significant reduction in the number of production plants already underway.
Danone’s problems are not limited to the US. West European HOD volumes increased 18 per cent in 2003 according to analysts Zenith International, but Danone continues to struggle there as well, taking a charge of €150 million relating to Danone Springs of Eden, its joint venture with Britain’s Eden Springs.
The problem in both the US and Europe is that increasing numbers of users are buying their water coolers outright, a much more cost-effective strategy for them but one which means that DS Waters and Danone Springs of Eden are losing out on significant rental revenues.
The market is also being impacted by growing sales of point-of-use coolers, which purify and then chill or heat simple tap water. Growth in this market has been more than 30 per cent a year since 1999 in Europe alone, according to Zenith, and now accounts for over 10 per cent of total cooler placements in Europe.
Tellingly, most of this growth has come at the expense of traditional coolers. “In 2003, some 52 per cent of new POU installations were converted from bottled cooler contracts,” said Zenith research director Gary Roethenbaugh, underling the cost-effectiveness of this system.
Danone takes a hit from US water business
Friday, January 28, 2005
Specialized News and How To Tips - Ozone
I had read many report about the Chlorine have cause miss-carriage & other issue like skin cancer or cancer... Therefore, the industry now have shifted to ward using Ozon as a dis-infectants of Water & other products.
Here is the writing I attache for the awareness purpose.
Traditional methods revolve around the use of chemicals such as chlorine in the sanitizing of produce, specifically in rinsing and washing. Chlorine is widely used in these processes but it has a limited effect in killing bacteria on fruit and vegetables surfaces. There is also wide concern with regards to the by-products of chlorine and its effects on health and the environment.
Ozone is becoming a popular alternative solution to traditional sanitizing agents and providing additional benefits. Ozone is an oxidizing agent, 1.5 times more powerful than chlorine and effective over a much wider spectrum of microorganisms. Ozone kills viruses and bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Listeria much faster than chlorine and other chemical agents and is free of chemical residues as it decomposes into simple oxygen.
Disinfection of Process Water
Raw water can contain traces of pesticides and toxic organic compounds which when combined with chlorine can produce harmful chlorinated compounds. Process water may also become contaminated by bacteria in storage tanks or piping. In both cases, poor water quality may have an effect on the overall quality and safety of the final product. Ozone as been proven to be an effective treatment for these contaminants without the formation of by-products. Ozone has also been shown to be effective against chlorine-resistant microorganisms such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia, which have caused several deaths in recent years.
Produce Washing and Rinsing
Spray and fume washing systems using ozonated water can be used to greatly reduce microbial counts on the surface of the produce. Contamination of produce arises in the field as a result of pesticides as well as during storage, transport and packaging. Ozone is particularly effective against E. Coli, the food pathogen of most concern in the food industry.
Process Water Recycling
It is estimated that more than 50 billion gallons of fresh water are used by the produce industry each year in the US. With the increasing difficulty in sourcing large quantities of water as well as wastewater treatment costs, a need exists to decrease the amount of water used. Ozone is very effective in the treatment of water for recycling as it can be used to remove color, odor, and organic load.
Specialized News and How To Tips
Here is the writing I attache for the awareness purpose.
Traditional methods revolve around the use of chemicals such as chlorine in the sanitizing of produce, specifically in rinsing and washing. Chlorine is widely used in these processes but it has a limited effect in killing bacteria on fruit and vegetables surfaces. There is also wide concern with regards to the by-products of chlorine and its effects on health and the environment.
Ozone is becoming a popular alternative solution to traditional sanitizing agents and providing additional benefits. Ozone is an oxidizing agent, 1.5 times more powerful than chlorine and effective over a much wider spectrum of microorganisms. Ozone kills viruses and bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Listeria much faster than chlorine and other chemical agents and is free of chemical residues as it decomposes into simple oxygen.
Disinfection of Process Water
Raw water can contain traces of pesticides and toxic organic compounds which when combined with chlorine can produce harmful chlorinated compounds. Process water may also become contaminated by bacteria in storage tanks or piping. In both cases, poor water quality may have an effect on the overall quality and safety of the final product. Ozone as been proven to be an effective treatment for these contaminants without the formation of by-products. Ozone has also been shown to be effective against chlorine-resistant microorganisms such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia, which have caused several deaths in recent years.
Produce Washing and Rinsing
Spray and fume washing systems using ozonated water can be used to greatly reduce microbial counts on the surface of the produce. Contamination of produce arises in the field as a result of pesticides as well as during storage, transport and packaging. Ozone is particularly effective against E. Coli, the food pathogen of most concern in the food industry.
Process Water Recycling
It is estimated that more than 50 billion gallons of fresh water are used by the produce industry each year in the US. With the increasing difficulty in sourcing large quantities of water as well as wastewater treatment costs, a need exists to decrease the amount of water used. Ozone is very effective in the treatment of water for recycling as it can be used to remove color, odor, and organic load.
Specialized News and How To Tips
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Oil Spill Contained To Kentucky River
The issue of cleaning is appeared to be in control. But one thing need to be thorough not only on the surface of the River.
Test must carry out on the ground & the surround area along the river banks & also the inner sufface of the water pipe.
My friend David Gosegood was working a cleaning robot in the 80's. I wonder, whether his cleaning robot is commercially available.
At the meantime, for prevention, the Drinking water filter must be use ...for your Great Health.
Oil Spill Contained To Kentucky River
Cleanup Could Take About A Week
POSTED: 3:07 pm EST January 26, 2005
UPDATED: 12:30 am EST January 27, 2005
WORTHVILLE, Ky. -- A race to keep 63,000 gallons of crude oil from moving into the Ohio River after a major oil spill in the Kentucky River appears to have been successful, officials said late Wednesday.
The spill occurred in the area near where Henry, Carroll and Owen counties meet. An early-morning pipeline rupture created the spill, said Art Smith, a spokesman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The spill traveled about 12 miles from its origin, and five miles from the Ohio River.
The break appeared to have occurred about 50 feet from the river bank, said Jim Gipson, a spokesman for Sunoco Logistics, the pipeline operator.
Four containment booms are now in the river, three from Sunoco and one from the EPA, officials said.
The pipeline and the river are usually farther apart, but recent rain and snow swelled the waterway. The pipeline runs 1,072 miles from the Gulf of Mexico to refineries in northwest Ohio. It carries about 180,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
It took cleanup crews about 12 hours to get boats on the river to battle the spill. Recent flooding left boat docks and ramps covered in mud, which had to be cleaned away before the boats could launch. Bulldozers had to be brought in to clear the mess away.
Water quality experts at the site are evaluating the spill's effects. As of late Wednesday, drinking water does not appear to be affected, they said. If the spill reaches the Ohio River, a treatment plan is in place. Booms are being set up, mainly at Lock One on the Kentucky River, a few miles from the Ohio.
The Louisville Water Co. said Wednesday that its customers should not be affected by the spill.
The impact on wildlife should be minimal, because of the time of year and by the thickness of the oil, which means it will probably float, said Mark Marraccini, a spokesman with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Savannah Hall, who lives near the Kentucky River, said, "I'm just hoping they get it fixed (and) get the oil out and get the smell away."
News
Test must carry out on the ground & the surround area along the river banks & also the inner sufface of the water pipe.
My friend David Gosegood was working a cleaning robot in the 80's. I wonder, whether his cleaning robot is commercially available.
At the meantime, for prevention, the Drinking water filter must be use ...for your Great Health.
Oil Spill Contained To Kentucky River
Cleanup Could Take About A Week
POSTED: 3:07 pm EST January 26, 2005
UPDATED: 12:30 am EST January 27, 2005
WORTHVILLE, Ky. -- A race to keep 63,000 gallons of crude oil from moving into the Ohio River after a major oil spill in the Kentucky River appears to have been successful, officials said late Wednesday.
The spill occurred in the area near where Henry, Carroll and Owen counties meet. An early-morning pipeline rupture created the spill, said Art Smith, a spokesman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The spill traveled about 12 miles from its origin, and five miles from the Ohio River.
The break appeared to have occurred about 50 feet from the river bank, said Jim Gipson, a spokesman for Sunoco Logistics, the pipeline operator.
Four containment booms are now in the river, three from Sunoco and one from the EPA, officials said.
The pipeline and the river are usually farther apart, but recent rain and snow swelled the waterway. The pipeline runs 1,072 miles from the Gulf of Mexico to refineries in northwest Ohio. It carries about 180,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
It took cleanup crews about 12 hours to get boats on the river to battle the spill. Recent flooding left boat docks and ramps covered in mud, which had to be cleaned away before the boats could launch. Bulldozers had to be brought in to clear the mess away.
Water quality experts at the site are evaluating the spill's effects. As of late Wednesday, drinking water does not appear to be affected, they said. If the spill reaches the Ohio River, a treatment plan is in place. Booms are being set up, mainly at Lock One on the Kentucky River, a few miles from the Ohio.
The Louisville Water Co. said Wednesday that its customers should not be affected by the spill.
The impact on wildlife should be minimal, because of the time of year and by the thickness of the oil, which means it will probably float, said Mark Marraccini, a spokesman with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Savannah Hall, who lives near the Kentucky River, said, "I'm just hoping they get it fixed (and) get the oil out and get the smell away."
News
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Water Physical Properties & Weight Control
The following article is provide good general knowledge about water.
You see "Water has a very high surface tension. In other words, water is sticky and elastic, and tends to clump together in drops rather than spread out in a thin film. Surface tension is responsible for capillary action, which allows water (and its dissolved substances) to move through the roots of plants and through the tiny blood vessels in our bodies."
That is the reason you can understand, why those weight loss institute.. or supplement, used the diet pills to discharge water out of the body is wrong. No wonder, there are report that, people died after taking slimming pills. They could have die of dehydration. Also not enough water to discharge the waste out of the body.
So for your great health, drink 8 big glass of Water & must be filtered water a day.
Water's Physical Properties
* Water is unique in that it is the only natural substance that is found in all three states -- liquid, solid (ice), and gas (steam) -- at the temperatures normally found on Earth. Earth's water is constantly interacting, changing, and in movement.
* Water freezes at 32o Fahrenheit (F) and boils at 212o F (at sea level, but 186.4� at 14,000 feet). In fact, water's freezing and boiling points are the baseline with which temperature is measured: 0o on the Celsius scale is water's freezing point, and 100o is water's boiling point. Water is unusual in that the solid form, ice, is less dense than the liquid form, which is why ice floats.
* Water has a high specific heat index. This means that water can absorb a lot of heat before it begins to get hot. This is why water is valuable to industries and in your car's radiator as a coolant. The high specific heat index of water also helps regulate the rate at which air changes temperature, which is why the temperature change between seasons is gradual rather than sudden, especially near the oceans.
* Water has a very high surface tension. In other words, water is sticky and elastic, and tends to clump together in drops rather than spread out in a thin film. Surface tension is responsible for capillary action, which allows water (and its dissolved substances) to move through the roots of plants and through the tiny blood vessels in our bodies.
* Here's a quick rundown of some of water's properties:
o Weight: 62.416 pounds per cubic foot at 32�F
o Weight: 61.998 pounds per cubic foot at 100�F
o Weight: 8.33 pounds/gallon, 0.036 pounds/cubic inch
o Density: 1 gram per cubic centimeter (cc) at 39.2�F, 0.95865 gram per cc at 212�F
By the way:
1 gallon = 4 quarts = 8 pints = 128 ounces = 231 cubic inches
1 liter = 0.2642 gallons = 1.0568 quart = 61.02 cubic inches
1 million gallons = 3.069 acre-feet = 133,685.64 cubic feet
Water properties
You see "Water has a very high surface tension. In other words, water is sticky and elastic, and tends to clump together in drops rather than spread out in a thin film. Surface tension is responsible for capillary action, which allows water (and its dissolved substances) to move through the roots of plants and through the tiny blood vessels in our bodies."
That is the reason you can understand, why those weight loss institute.. or supplement, used the diet pills to discharge water out of the body is wrong. No wonder, there are report that, people died after taking slimming pills. They could have die of dehydration. Also not enough water to discharge the waste out of the body.
So for your great health, drink 8 big glass of Water & must be filtered water a day.
Water's Physical Properties
* Water is unique in that it is the only natural substance that is found in all three states -- liquid, solid (ice), and gas (steam) -- at the temperatures normally found on Earth. Earth's water is constantly interacting, changing, and in movement.
* Water freezes at 32o Fahrenheit (F) and boils at 212o F (at sea level, but 186.4� at 14,000 feet). In fact, water's freezing and boiling points are the baseline with which temperature is measured: 0o on the Celsius scale is water's freezing point, and 100o is water's boiling point. Water is unusual in that the solid form, ice, is less dense than the liquid form, which is why ice floats.
* Water has a high specific heat index. This means that water can absorb a lot of heat before it begins to get hot. This is why water is valuable to industries and in your car's radiator as a coolant. The high specific heat index of water also helps regulate the rate at which air changes temperature, which is why the temperature change between seasons is gradual rather than sudden, especially near the oceans.
* Water has a very high surface tension. In other words, water is sticky and elastic, and tends to clump together in drops rather than spread out in a thin film. Surface tension is responsible for capillary action, which allows water (and its dissolved substances) to move through the roots of plants and through the tiny blood vessels in our bodies.
* Here's a quick rundown of some of water's properties:
o Weight: 62.416 pounds per cubic foot at 32�F
o Weight: 61.998 pounds per cubic foot at 100�F
o Weight: 8.33 pounds/gallon, 0.036 pounds/cubic inch
o Density: 1 gram per cubic centimeter (cc) at 39.2�F, 0.95865 gram per cc at 212�F
By the way:
1 gallon = 4 quarts = 8 pints = 128 ounces = 231 cubic inches
1 liter = 0.2642 gallons = 1.0568 quart = 61.02 cubic inches
1 million gallons = 3.069 acre-feet = 133,685.64 cubic feet
Water properties
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Day of MY Remembrance -- My Belove Dad
The Luna Day of Remembrance
Today is The Luna Day of Remembrance for my late Dad
His merits of Upbringing & shares…Love….is always in MY heart.
Just Praying for his Rebirth at the Higher Plane!!!!!
Peace Peace Peace!!!!!!!!!
Today is The Luna Day of Remembrance for my late Dad
His merits of Upbringing & shares…Love….is always in MY heart.
Just Praying for his Rebirth at the Higher Plane!!!!!
Peace Peace Peace!!!!!!!!!
Monday, January 24, 2005
Water properties - Chemical Properties
I am appending the acticle on Water, so that every one can refresh on the knowledge of Water.
Basically Water H2O is consist of 2 Hydrogen Atom & 1 Oxygen Atom.
That suppose to be the basic elements of the pure water.
Looking at today market place, marketiers' attempted to claim their water is pure water. But with the pollutions on the Air & in the ground, how could our water that we have today are pure??
Water's Chemical Properties
You probably know water's chemical description is H2O. That is one atom of oxygen bound to two atoms of hydrogen. The hydrogen atoms are "attached" to one side of the oxygen atom, resulting in a water molecule having a positive charge on the side where the hydrogen atoms are and a negative charge on the other side, where the oxygen atom is. Since opposite electrical charges attract, water molecules tend to attract each other, making water kind of "sticky." As the right-side diagram shows, the side with the hydrogen atoms (positive charge) attracts the oxygen side (negative charge) of a different water molecule. (If the water molecule here looks familiar, remember that everyone's favorite mouse is mostly water, too).
All these water molecules attracting each other mean they tend to clump together. This is why water drops are, in fact, drops! If it wasn't for some of Earth's forces, such as gravity, a drop of water would be ball shaped -- a perfect sphere. Even if it doesn't form a perfect sphere on Earth, we should be happy water is sticky.
Water is called the "universal solvent" because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid. This means that wherever water goes, either through the ground or through our bodies, it takes along valuable chemicals, minerals, and nutrients.
Pure water has a neutral pH of 7, which is neither acidic nor basic.
Water properties
Basically Water H2O is consist of 2 Hydrogen Atom & 1 Oxygen Atom.
That suppose to be the basic elements of the pure water.
Looking at today market place, marketiers' attempted to claim their water is pure water. But with the pollutions on the Air & in the ground, how could our water that we have today are pure??
Water's Chemical Properties
You probably know water's chemical description is H2O. That is one atom of oxygen bound to two atoms of hydrogen. The hydrogen atoms are "attached" to one side of the oxygen atom, resulting in a water molecule having a positive charge on the side where the hydrogen atoms are and a negative charge on the other side, where the oxygen atom is. Since opposite electrical charges attract, water molecules tend to attract each other, making water kind of "sticky." As the right-side diagram shows, the side with the hydrogen atoms (positive charge) attracts the oxygen side (negative charge) of a different water molecule. (If the water molecule here looks familiar, remember that everyone's favorite mouse is mostly water, too).
All these water molecules attracting each other mean they tend to clump together. This is why water drops are, in fact, drops! If it wasn't for some of Earth's forces, such as gravity, a drop of water would be ball shaped -- a perfect sphere. Even if it doesn't form a perfect sphere on Earth, we should be happy water is sticky.
Water is called the "universal solvent" because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid. This means that wherever water goes, either through the ground or through our bodies, it takes along valuable chemicals, minerals, and nutrients.
Pure water has a neutral pH of 7, which is neither acidic nor basic.
Water properties
Sunday, January 23, 2005
The Consumer Perspective - Water & Sanitation
The Great Health condition can only be happen. Only all people understand about the "Clean Water" be it for
Cleaning
Washing
Showering
Drinking
These would be more stringent for the HIV/AIDS homes based patients & care assistant's.
I am appending the following report from IRC for Consumer awareness
The Consumer Perspective
Good access to safe water and sanitation is indispensable for people living with HIV/AIDS and for the provision of home-based care to AIDS patients. Water is needed for bathing patients and washing soiled clothing and linen. Safe drinking water is necessary for taking medicines. Nearby latrines are necessary for weak patients. Finally, water is needed to keep the house environment and latrine clean in order to reduce the risk of opportunistic infections. Water and sanitation provision increases the sense of dignity of both patients and caregivers.
Public health systems in many high prevalence countries can no longer cope with the increased demand for health services. This reality, together with cultural preferences, contributes to the majority of AIDS patients being cared for within their local communities. The following powerful speech by the director of the South African National Association of People living with AIDS (NAPWA), Nkululeko Nxesi, is an advocacy for better water and sanitation services. It was presented at a national sanitation workshop convened by the South African NGO, Mvula Trust, in August 2002 and has been slightly shortened.
The consumer perspective - IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre
Cleaning
Washing
Showering
Drinking
These would be more stringent for the HIV/AIDS homes based patients & care assistant's.
I am appending the following report from IRC for Consumer awareness
The Consumer Perspective
Good access to safe water and sanitation is indispensable for people living with HIV/AIDS and for the provision of home-based care to AIDS patients. Water is needed for bathing patients and washing soiled clothing and linen. Safe drinking water is necessary for taking medicines. Nearby latrines are necessary for weak patients. Finally, water is needed to keep the house environment and latrine clean in order to reduce the risk of opportunistic infections. Water and sanitation provision increases the sense of dignity of both patients and caregivers.
Public health systems in many high prevalence countries can no longer cope with the increased demand for health services. This reality, together with cultural preferences, contributes to the majority of AIDS patients being cared for within their local communities. The following powerful speech by the director of the South African National Association of People living with AIDS (NAPWA), Nkululeko Nxesi, is an advocacy for better water and sanitation services. It was presented at a national sanitation workshop convened by the South African NGO, Mvula Trust, in August 2002 and has been slightly shortened.
The consumer perspective - IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre
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