water supply

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Toxin Plagues Brockovich Town, Again

Cancer-causing material spreads through wells

(Newser) - A toxic plume of chromium continues to trouble the California desert town that Erin Brockovich put on the map—and the pollution is getting worse, reports the AP . High levels of the material, which can cause cancer, have spread through wells near Hinkley. “Because of the widespread nature of...

49M Americans Drink Contaminated Water
 49M Americans Drink 
 Contaminated Water 
EPA LAPSES
Dec 8, 2009 5:02 AM CST

49M Americans Drink Contaminated Water

EPA fails to enforce water safety laws

(Newser) - Illegal concentrations of arsenic, radioactive materials like uranium, or bacteria have been found in more than a fifth of American water supplies in the last five years. Regulators were notified of the violations but penalties were imposed in only 6% of cases, according to a New York Times analysis of...

IBM Bets on Water 'Smart Grid'
 IBM Bets on Water 'Smart Grid' 
Sep 4, 2009 11:07 AM CDT

IBM Bets on Water 'Smart Grid'

(Newser) - IBM is developing a set of water grid technologies, designed to revamp the world’s badly outdated fresh water delivery systems in much the same way many countries are trying to upgrade their energy grids, CNET reports. IBM projects the water management business could be worth $20 billion within 5...

Let's Start Paying for Water&mdash;Or Lose It
 Let's Start Paying 
 for Water—Or Lose It 
OPINION
Aug 30, 2009 11:54 AM CDT

Let's Start Paying for Water—Or Lose It

Solution to 'crisis' may be controversial, but problem will only worsen

(Newser) - You may receive a water bill every month, but you’re not actually paying for water. You’re paying for the cost of service, and this free-rider problem is contributing to the worsening water crisis that threatens to dehydrate the US, author and law professor Robert Glennon argues in the...

Pee in the Shower, Save the World: Brazilian Group

(Newser) - A Brazilian environmental group is running TV ads encouraging citizens to save water by urinating in the shower, the AP reports. SOS Mata Atlantica says a household can save more than 1,000 gallons a year by going No. 1 straight into the drain. The humorous ad is “a...

World's Rivers Running Low: Study

(Newser) - The world’s rivers are drying up as climate change worsens and the demand for water increases, the BBC reports. Researchers studying 925 major waterways—from the Ganges to the Colorado—found significantly less fresh water flowing into oceans in 2004 than 50 years earlier. If the trend continues, the...

Companies Leak Drugs Into US Drinking Water

(Newser) - Federal regulators have consistently looked away as Big Pharma and other manufacturers poured at least 271 million pounds of drugs into waterways that supply US drinking water, the AP reports. Records kept unintentionally by the FDA and EPA show that 22 compounds, some considered dangerous by scientists, have leaked into...

5 Drought-Stopping Inventions
 5 Drought-Stopping Inventions 
GLOSSIES
Dec 14, 2008 6:08 PM CST

5 Drought-Stopping Inventions

Creating more water is the answer with 1.8B facing extreme shortage by 2025

(Newser) - One UN study estimates 1.8 billion people will face extreme water shortage by 2025; the US government projects 36 states could face a similar fate by 2013. Doug Cantor, in Esquire, examines potential shortage solutions:
  • PlayPump: A pump attached to a children’s merry-go-round extracts water from the ground
...

Water-Neutral Campaign Is Nothing but Eco-Guilt
Water-Neutral Campaign
Is Nothing but Eco-Guilt
OPINION
Aug 24, 2008 3:07 PM CDT

Water-Neutral Campaign Is Nothing but Eco-Guilt

If rich countries were really water-neutral, we'd all be dead

(Newser) - A new UK campaign urging people to be more “water wise” lays bare a flaw in the environmental movement, Brendan O’Neill writes in Spiked. The campaign urges people to be conscious of the “virtual water” used on their behalf to carry out tasks like growing coffee beans...

Diabetes Linked to Arsenic in Tap Water

Study suggests millions may face serious risk from their tap

(Newser) - Arsenic in the drinking water of millions of Americans may be contributing to the diabetes epidemic, Bloomberg reports. Researchers found that people with high levels of arsenic in their urine were nearly four times more likely to have type 2 diabetes. Higher rates of diabetes occurred even with trace amounts...

Emergency H20 Flows Into Parched Barcelona

Water tanker arrives as Spain suffers severe drought

(Newser) - Barcelona is having to ship in emergency supplies of drinking water as Spain suffers its worst drought since records began 60 years ago, the Guardian reports. The first shipment of 5 million gallons arrived yesterday and dozens more are scheduled. The city's reservoirs are down to a quarter of capacity...

Senate to Hold Drug Water Hearings
Senate to Hold Drug Water Hearings
Mar 11, 2008 6:50 AM CDT

Senate to Hold Drug Water Hearings

Lawmakers press EPA to establish task force on contaminants

(Newser) - Alarmed by an AP story, two top senators vowed yesterday to probe drug traces in US drinking water. Sen. Barbara Boxer and Sen. Frank Lautenberg plan to lead hearings next month to "protect our residents and clean up our water supply," Lautenberg said. The first of AP's three...

Bowl Games Not Just for Dogs Anymore

Calif. county launches 'toilet-to-tap' water-purification plan

(Newser) - As contamination, overconsumption, and drought sap Southern California's already limited supply of potable water, Orange County has just adopted an effective, if unpalatable, solution. Starting today, flushed toilet water will gush through a $490 million network of pipes and filters, return to the groundwater basin, then find its way home...

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