Harder water heads to local taps: Residents may find spotty glasses and need more soap because of harder water, which is being distributed because of a statewide water shortage

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 3, 2008 at 6:38 am

From the O.C. Register:

Bathers may need more soap. Spots may stick to glasses. And cars may look a little filmy after being washed. That’s because Orange County’s water is harder these days.

For two weeks, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has sent only Colorado River water to Orange County. Because of the statewide shortage, the district for now has stopped allocating water that it gets from the State Water Project to local areas.

The state water from Northern California usually is blended with Colorado River water and sent to the Diemer Treatment Plant in Yorba Linda, which processes 400 million gallons of water daily. The water then is distributed to local cities and districts, most of which further mix it with other sources and making the water softer.

As a precaution on Oct. 19, the Metropolitan Water District began reserving the state water for the other areas of Southern California that rely solely on that source. That need became even greater this week when the state announced that it will initially supply just 15 percent of what is normally needed for the coming year.

“It’s certainly not helping matters. In order to adjust that blend of water, we’re going to need to access to more water from the state project,” said Bob Muir, Metropolitan Water District spokesman.

Read more from the O.C. Register by clicking here.

November 3, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water, Orange County

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Agencies ordered to cut arsenic in water: Eleven face fines, including three in the Valley

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 29, 2008 at 6:26 am

From the Fresno Bee:

The federal government has ordered three Valley water agencies to cut arsenic levels by 2010 or face hefty fines.

The order, made public Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, comes as small water systems struggle to comply with tighter standards to control arsenic, a naturally occurring mineral known to cause cancer.

Eleven California water agencies face fines, including Tranquillity Irrigation District and Riverdale Public Utility District in Fresno County and Armona Community Service District in Kings County. The three central San Joaquin Valley agencies provide drinking water to a combined 6,559 residents.

Public water supplies must contain no more than 10 parts of arsenic per billion. The new rule was issued in 2001 as federal scientists concluded that the old standard of 50 parts per billion did not do enough to protect public health.

More from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.

October 29, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water

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Where have all the water fountains gone?

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 29, 2008 at 6:20 am

Are public drinking fountains going the way of public telephones? Apparently so. Here’s an article from AlterNet:

People are turning away from bottled water as fast as they turned onto it. Municipalities across Canada and the United States are limiting the sale and purchase of bottled water in city buildings, bottled water free zones are popping up on college and university campuses, community groups are phasing out the use of bottled water, and the message about the ills of this product is all over the mainstream media.

I was recently asked in an interview about the next steps for the movement away from bottled water given that the backlash had spread so widely. The interviewer mentioned that he wasn’t sure what people would do at his local hockey arena when the only access to water was from an old dusty water fountain. His question struck a chord and confirmed my belief that the success of the anti-bottled water movement must more and more be accompanied with stronger demands for the renewal of public access to potable drinking water.

Municipal leaders have shown that there is a strong political will for increased use and promotion of tap water. However, we continuously hear of new buildings being constructed without water fountains and existing buildings decommissioning older water fountains without replacing them.

One example comes from the University of Central Florida (UCF) where a $55 million football stadium was constructed with no water fountains.

Read more from AlterNet by clicking here.

October 29, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water

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Fix agreed for landfill fouling California drinking water

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 23, 2008 at 6:19 am

From NBC San Diego:

The operator of a closed landfill near Las Vegas that has been leaking contaminants into the lake that provides drinking water to Las Vegas, Phoenix and southern California has agreed to construct and operate a $36 million remedy for the site and to pay a $1 million civil fine.

Republic Services of Southern Nevada is the current operator of the Sunrise Mountain Landfill, an unlined 440-acre closed municipal solid waste landfill located three miles outside the Las Vegas city limits. It contains over 49 million cubic yards of municipal solid waste, medical waste, sewage sludge, asbestos, construction waste and soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons.

The landfill cover failed during a series of storms in September 1998, sending waste into the Las Vegas Wash, which discharges directly into Lake Mead.

In a consent decree, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, Republic Services agreed to implement extensive stormwater controls, an armored engineered cover, methane gas collection, groundwater monitoring, and long-term operation and maintenance, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

“Today’s settlement will minimize the risk to Clark County residents from polluted water runoff and hazardous waste discharges from the Sunrise Mountain landfill,” said Ronald Tenpas, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

“This settlement reflects the federal government’s commitment to protecting valuable natural resources like Lake Mead and its watershed,” Tenpas said.

Read more from NBC San Diego by clicking here.

October 23, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water

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Proper disposal of old drugs is changing; but just what is best way to dispose of them?

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 6, 2008 at 7:58 am

Thanks to Diana for sending me this one! From the Sacramento Bee:

Hoping to keep streams and groundwater cleaner, the people who run sewage plants around California want to change the way we get rid of old medicines.

The toilet is out. The hazardous-waste site is in. Except where it’s not. Then there’s the trash.

Advocates hoping to deliver the message “No Drugs Down the Drain” are struggling with exactly where else unwanted medications should go. “Everybody is trying to do the right thing, and right now our laws just haven’t caught up with what the right thing is,” said Jen Jackson, the effort’s statewide coordinator.

To help people navigate the legal morass, the campaign is coordinating special drop-off events statewide, including two planned for Saturday in Auburn and Roseville. It’s also publicizing hazardous-waste sites that routinely accept medications, including four in the Sacramento region.

Just what to do with the old drugs is a perplexing problem:

If a pharmacy collects unused medications, it is considered medical waste, and that’s expensive to get rid of. If a waste site takes it, technically a law enforcement officer has to be there, because controlled substances make up about 10 percent of discarded medicine.

Federal drug law forbids passing along to others painkillers such as Vicodin, which contains hydrocodone. The same law restricts handling of things people might not think of as controlled substances, including Ritalin and other medications with methylphenidate, and even cough syrups that contain codeine.

Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

October 6, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water

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EPA seeks comment on preliminary perchlorate drinking water decision - agency plans to issue a perchlorate health advisory

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 5, 2008 at 5:59 am

Thanks to Cookie Jill for sending me this! From the Environmental Protection Agency:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted extensive review of scientific data related to the health effects of exposure to perchlorate from drinking water and other sources and found that in more than 99 percent of public drinking water systems, perchlorate was not at levels of public health concern. Therefore, based on the Safe Water Drinking Act criteria, the agency determined there is not a “meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction” through a national drinking water regulation.

The agency is seeking comment on its preliminary determination not to regulate perchlorate in drinking water at a national level. EPA will make a final determination for perchlorate after considering information provided in the 30-day public comment period.

While fewer than one percent of the drinking water sources have perchlorate levels above the health reference level, EPA is committed to working with states and localities to ensure public health is protected. States have the right to establish and enforce drinking water standards and EPA encourages state-specific situations to be addressed at the local level. EPA intends to issue a health advisory at the time it issues its final regulatory determination for perchlorate, to assist states with their local response.

A regulatory determination is a formal decision by EPA as to whether it should initiate development of a national primary drinking water regulation for a specific contaminant under the Safe Drinking Water Act. EPA has drinking water regulations for more than 90 contaminants. Every five years, EPA develops a Contaminant Candidate List of contaminants to consider for regulation and then makes regulatory determinations on some of the contaminants based on scientific information on health effects, occurrence in drinking water and the opportunity for risk reduction.

A health advisory provides technical guidance to federal, state, and other public health officials on health effects, analytical methods and treatment technologies associated with drinking water contamination. Health advisories also contain guidance values that are concentrations of a contaminant in drinking water that are likely to be without adverse health effects.

Find out more information by clicking here.

October 5, 2008 · Filed Under Perchlorate

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San Gabriel Valley likely to get millions for water cleanup

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 2, 2008 at 6:46 am

From the Whittier Daily News:

Efforts to rid San Gabriel Valley water of harmful chemicals and to increase supplies in the face of a statewide drought are likely to get a $10 million boost thanks to legislation signed by the governor. The money is part of an $842 million water package approved by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Tuesday.

“This is an historic moment, the first time ever any bond money has been allocated to the San Gabriel Valley for groundwater cleanup,” said Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-El Monte.

The measure partially distributes funds from two bond initiatives passed by voters in 2006 for water infrastructure projects. Though local water agencies are eager to apply for the funds, leaders are frustrated with how long it has taken for the voter-approved funding to be distributed.

“This demonstrates how woefully slow these funds are being distributed throughout state - two years after they were approved by voters,” said Peter Rodriguez, who is responsible for community and government affairs for the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District.

The San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority will likely get $10.4 million for its efforts to clean groundwater of perchlorate and other contaminants that stem from the San Gabriel Valley’s aerospace industry.

Read more from the Whittier Daily News by clicking here.

October 2, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water, Groundwater

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Activists fight for clean water, burn drugs

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 30, 2008 at 8:22 am

From the Oakland Tribune:

Hoping to prevent mutated and sex-altered fish and other aquatic life in Bay Area waters, a crew of environmentalists set up shop in Jack London Square Sunday to collect several pounds of unwanted personal medication for proper incineration.

Many people who find themselves with expired or unwanted meds will simply throw them in the trash or flush them down the toilet not realizing the chemicals are likely to end up in our groundwater, rivers and lakes, or even San Francisco Bay, said Luis Frigo, a spokesman for the Teleosis Institute, a Berkeley-based nonprofit group specializing in green health care issues.

“Ninety percent of senior citizens in this country are taking between one and 10 regular medications,” Frigo said. “And they sometimes switch prescriptions or don’t finish treatments, which leaves all these extra drugs left over. They flush them down, and they have no idea the damage it can do.”

The drug drop-off table was a one-day event leading into No Drugs Down the Drain Week, which will team state and local officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from Oct. 4 to 11.

Read more from the Oakland Tribune by clicking here. For more information on No Drugs Down the Drain Week, visit: http://www.nodrugsdownthedrain.org/

September 30, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water

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California warns people not to flush pharmaceuticals

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 28, 2008 at 5:00 am

From the New York Times:

The state of California has a warning for its 36 million residents: Do not flush pharmaceuticals down the toilet or drain, or they may end up in a river near you.

Or, it turns out, even in the drinking water.

State and local officials are teaming with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a ”No Drugs Down the Drain Week,” starting with events Oct. 2. The program recommends that drugs be dropped at special collection sites or tossed in the trash.

The event comes less than two weeks after The Associated Press published an investigative report about the dangers of flushing millions of pounds of unused pharmaceuticals annually by the American health care industry and consumers. The ongoing AP investigation has revealed that tests show the drinking water supplies of at least 46 million Americans contain minute concentrations of pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics, anti-convulsants and mood stabilizers.

Read more from the New York Times by clicking here.

September 28, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water

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EPA drops ball again, says editorial

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 24, 2008 at 6:02 am

From the Contra Costa Times, this editorial:

THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY has, once again, played ball with the White House while threatening public health. The latest case is about perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel that has been linked to thyroid problems in pregnant women, newborns and young children nationwide. The toxic component, also contained in fireworks, is showing up much too often in water supplies.

Yet while the ingredient has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at levels high enough to pose health risks, the EPA, according to a report in the Washington Post, caved in to pressure from the Bush administration and the Pentagon, a la emission standards, and decided there’s no need to eliminate perchlorate from drinking water.

The EPA’s conclusion in a draft claims the clean-up level for perchlorate would not result in a “meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public water systems.”

What the report doesn’t say is this avoids potentially costing the government billions of dollars in cleanup costs and it keeps the Defense Department away from nasty lawsuits with upset contractors. Who wants to go through all of that trouble just for the sake of public health concerns?

Read the rest of this editorial from the Contra Costa Times by clicking here.

September 24, 2008 · Filed Under Perchlorate

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Antelope Valley water agency to use chloramines to disinfect water

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 24, 2008 at 5:54 am

From the Antelope Valley Press:

Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency has announced it plans to switch from chlorine to chloramines to disinfect drinking water early next year. AVEK decided to use chloramines to comply with Environmental Protection Agency regulations mandating lower levels of potential carcinogens called trihalomethanes, but some AVEK customers, most notably Rosamond Community Services District, oppose the switch, citing other potential health risks.

“As with chlorine, chloramines will be safe for residents and pets like dogs and cats,” said a Sept. 12 AVEK letter to Antelope Valley businesses. “But as with chlorine, chloramines must be removed or neutralized for kidney dialysis and aquatic animals. Chloramines may also affect swimming pool water, emergency water drums, some businesses and private water storage tanks.” The switch is expected to take place between January and March, the letter said.

Chloramines form when ammonia is mixed with chlorine. AVEK’s switch to chloramines is intended to lower the levels of trihalomethanes, or THMs, which form in water from the California Aqueduct when chlorine, used as a disinfectant, comes into contact with natural organic substances, such as decaying plant matter. THMs have been correlated to a high incidence of certain types of cancer. Studies on the use of chloramines have not produced that same conclusion.

But Rosamond Community Service District officials say they will refuse to accept water treated with chloramines. Rosamond’s board members met people who claim assorted health concerns, including red, burning watering eyes; breathing difficulties; and skin rashes. “Working with AVEK, we can solve the problem,” said Jack Stewart, general manager of Rosamond Community Service District.

Read more from the Antelope Valley Press by clicking here.

September 24, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water

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EPA decides not to limit perchlorate in tap water

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 23, 2008 at 7:47 am

From the Associated Press:

The Environmental Protection Agency has decided there’s no need to rid drinking water of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that has fouled public water supplies around the country. EPA reached the conclusion in a draft regulatory document not yet made public but reviewed Monday by The Associated Press.

The ingredient, perchlorate, has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at levels high enough to interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and fetuses, according to some scientists.

The EPA document says that mandating a clean-up level for perchlorate would not result in a “meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public-water systems.”

The conclusion, which caps years of dispute over the issue, was denounced by Democrats and environmentalists who accused EPA of caving to pressure from the Pentagon. “This is a widespread contamination problem, and to see the Bush EPA just walk away is shocking,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate’s environment committee.

More from the Associated Press by clicking here.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Some perchlorate occurs naturally, but most perchlorate contamination in U.S. drinking water stems from improper disposal by rocket test sites, military bases and chemical plants. A nationwide cleanup could cost hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars, and several defense contractors have threatened to sue the Defense Department to help pay for it if one is required.

The new EPA proposal - which assumes the maximum allowable perchlorate contamination level is 15 times above what the EPA suggested in 2002 - was heavily edited by officials of the White House Office of Management and Budget, who eliminated key scientific passages and asked the EPA to use a new computer modeling approach to calculate the chemical’s risks.

“They have distorted the science to such an extent that they can justify not regulating” the chemical, said University of Massachusetts Professor Robert Zoeller, an endocrinologist who specializes in thyroid hormone and brain development, and who has a copy of the EPA proposal. “Infants and children will continue to be damaged, and that damage is significant.”

Read the rest of this article in the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.

September 23, 2008 · Filed Under Perchlorate

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Associated Press report on pharmaceuticals in drinking water prompts more tests

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 12, 2008 at 5:25 am

From the Associated Press:

At least 46 million Americans are supplied drinking water that has tested positive for trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals, an increase from the 41 million people reported by The Associated Press in March. Since then, more communities have tested and several disclosed earlier test results.

Protocols varied widely. Some researchers looked only for one pharmaceutical or two; others looked for many.

Both prescription and nonprescription drugs were detected. Because coffee and tobacco are so widely used, researchers say their byproducts are good indicators of the presence of pharmaceuticals. Thus, they routinely test for, and often find, both caffeine and nicotine’s metabolite cotinine more frequently than other drugs.

Click here for a list of metropolitan areas and the pharmaceuticals or byproducts detected.

September 12, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water

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More than just water coming from your tap

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 2, 2008 at 6:41 am

From the Arizona Republic:

America’s latest drinking problem isn’t about alcohol. Concerned about the cost of bottled water - and its environmental consequences - many people are turning back to tap water to quench their thirst. But as evidence mounts of contaminants in public systems, unease about the water supply is growing.

Engineers say that U.S. water quality is among the world’s best and is regulated by some of the most stringent standards. But as detection technology improves, utilities are finding more contaminants in water systems.

Earlier this year, media reports of trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in water across the country drew attention from U.S. senators and environmental groups, who are now pushing for regulation of these substances in water systems.

Of particular concern, experts say, are endocrine-disrupting compounds - found in birth-control pills, mood-stabilizers and other drugs - which are linked to birth defects in wildlife. Also alarming are antibiotics, which if present in water systems, even in small amounts, could contribute to the rise of drug-resistant strains of bacteria.

Read more from the Arizona Republic by clicking here.

September 2, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water

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What if your tap water is not safe to drink?

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 2, 2008 at 6:39 am

Here’s another story about tap water, this one from Alter Net:

It’s easy to be disdainful of bottled water if you’ve got no problem with tap. I live in a city with excellent municipal water. I’ve got lead-free pipes, a nice reusable bottle (which I almost always remember to bring with me), and I have no qualms about refilling it from public spigots or sinks. But not everyone is so lucky, and despite the airtight arguments against bottled water- it costs thousands of times more than tap, it often tastes no different, and it has a significant carbon footprint — it isn’t so easy for everyone to quit the habit.

And that’s the dirty little secret behind the bottled-water wars. Not all tap water is perfect. It may meet all federal and state requirements but smell like rotten eggs or a swimming pool. The Environmental Protection Agency calls many taste and odor problems an “aesthetic,” not health, issue, in which case a decent filter may solve the problem. But what if your water contains high levels of carcinogenic disinfection byproducts, which can result when organic matter mixes with chlorine? What if you live near an industrial plant or an army base that’s contaminated your groundwater? It’s happened around Binghamton, Minneapolis, Las Vegas, and dozens of cities around the nation. A countertop filter isn’t going to protect you from perchlorate, perfluorochemicals, or trichloroethene.

The fact is, 89.3 percent of the nation’s community water systems met or exceeded federal standards in 2007 (down from 92 percent in 2006). It sounds good, but that still leaves more than 29 million people drinking water that missed the mark on either health or reporting standards.

Read more from Alter Net by clicking here.

September 2, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water

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Arsenic in drinking water may be disease culprit

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 1, 2008 at 6:56 am

From the Fresno Bee:

Valley communities coping with arsenic in their water may have one more thing to worry about — diabetes.

Arsenic, a toxic element long known as a cancer-causing agent, is found in rocks and soil — and underground water — in parts of the country and around the world. Now doctors at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, suggest a connection between low-level exposure to arsenic and Type 2 diabetes. In an article in the Aug. 20 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA, Dr. Ana Navas-Acien and her co-authors reported their analysis of nearly 800 American adults who had urine tests for arsenic in a 2003-04 government health survey.

Their study indicated patients whose urine contained higher levels of arsenic — most likely from long-term exposure to the chemical in their drinking water — had nearly four times greater odds of having Type 2 diabetes than those with the lowest arsenic levels. The results “suggest that inorganic arsenic may have a role in diabetes development,” the article states.

The JAMA article caught the eye of public health professionals in the Valley, where arsenic and diabetes are both prevalent. “I think it has a lot of implications,” said Dr. Michael MacLean, health director for Kings County and formerly the health director in Tulare County. “We have a lot of diabetes in the Valley, but there are also a lot of risk factors, too.”

Arsenic has been found in the drinking water of many San Joaquin Valley communities. Read the full text of this article from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.

September 1, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water

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Creating drinking water out of thin air: it’s not as crazy as you might think

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 16, 2008 at 6:15 am

From Science on the Environmentalist:

According to U.S. Government estimates, at least 36 states will face water shortages in the next five years, as available supplies decrease due to drought, rising temperatures, population and inefficient management. Tensions created by mandatory conservation restrictions have turned neighbors against each other by reporting to the water police suspected illegal watering based on a lawn that was simply too green.

However, there is some good environmental news. Companies and individuals have developed technologies to capture water vapors in our air to create drinking water or to capture and collect dew.

These water makers may not end the severe water shortage, but they can decrease the demand on our shrinking potable water supplies by providing useful conservation measures for drought-ridden communities. Water makers are providing drinking water to some of our troops in Iraq and have the capability to provide entire small villages with potable water when natural supplies are nonexistent or polluted.

The idea is not new, as throughout history, there have been civilizations that have figured this out. The article discusses the latest technologies that are literally creating water out of thin air. Check it all out from Science on the Environmentalist by clicking here.

August 16, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water

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Knock, knock–they’re coming to take your softener!

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 12, 2008 at 6:41 am

From Capitol Weekly:

There’s a threatening-looking man in a dark suit is at the door holding a very large plumber’s wrench. “Knock, knock!” says the graphic. “Who’s there?” “Sacramento politicians coming to take you water softener away,” reads the answer. “Don’t let them!”

This ominous web ad has been running on numerous California political websites, including Capitol Weekly’s The Roundup. It’s part of the late-stage battle over a water recycling bill that has been moving forward with bipartisan support.

AB 2270 by Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, would expand the targets set out in the Water Recycling Act of 1991. It would also expand the powers of the Department of Water Resources and local water agencies to control what is going into the water system. This is where the opposition comes in. The bill “would authorize any local agency that maintains a community sewer system to take action to control residential salinity inputs, including those from water softeners.”

Water softener systems use salts to remove minerals, mainly calcium and magnesium, which “harden” water. These systems run anywhere from a few hundred dollars to over $4,000 according to Gene Erbin, a lobbyist representing Culligan International Company with the firm Nielsen Merksamer. Erbin estimates between 10 and 15 percent of Californians households have these systems.

Hard water, Erbin said, reduces the life of appliances, causes buildup on sinks and showers, leaves dishes spotty when they come out of the dishwasher, can worsen skin conditions like eczema, and damages clothing when it’s washed. It can even raise bills for heating water, because mineral-rich in hard water has a higher thermal mass than softer water.

The problem, Laird said, it the amount of salt water softeners are adding to the water supply. For instance, he said, without this bill, the city of Dixon, population 15,000, will have to spend $20 million on a reverse osmosis filtering plant to take out these salts. AB 2270 allows local agencies to decide whether they want to build large, centralized facilities, or go the route of buying out water softeners from homes.

“One percent of water users are creating 10 percent of the salinity that 100 percent of us have to pay to clean up,” Laird said.

Read more from Capitol Weekly by clicking here.

August 12, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water, Groundwater

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Privatizing U.S. drinking water: costly and eco-unfriendly

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 12, 2008 at 2:08 am

From People’s World Weekly, this commentary:

We turn on the tap, and clean water flows. Most of us take this service for granted because we consider water, necessary for life, a basic right. In fact, this notion stems back to an ancient Roman legal precedent called the public trust doctrine. This fundamental tenet says that crucial natural resources, especially water, belong to everyone.

But 1.1 billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water, according to the United Nations. Waterborne diseases such as cholera and dysentery kill 2.2 million a year. This was true in the United States until government took over our water infrastructure as a public health measure.

However, now many aging U.S. municipal water systems are deteriorating. One-fifth of our drinking water is lost to leaks, while overworked treatment plants release 1.2 trillion gallons of raw sewage into waterways annually, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Stark estimates show that Americans will need to spend up to $1 trillion by 2019 to make necessary upgrades. Unfortunately, federal funding for water systems has plummeted, and some strapped communities have turned their facilities over to private companies, hoping the private sector will make water system improvements government hasn’t.

Thirteen percent of U.S. municipal water systems have been privatized already, mostly turned over to European multinational companies with misleading names such as American Water Works and United Water.

Privatization advocates argue that corporations can best provide and update water infrastructure. However, early adopters, including Atlanta; New Orleans; Indianapolis; Jersey City, N.J.; and Lexington, Ky., have seen privatization fail by a number of measures.

Read more of this commentary from the People’s World Weekly by clicking here.

August 12, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water, General Water Issues

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Antelope Valley water firms clash over chloramines; could they be harmful?

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 29, 2008 at 9:49 pm

From the Antelope Valley Press:

Do chloramines, when used as a disinfectant to treat drinking water, pose a health risk? Some people say “no problem” and others shout, “beware.” Ever since the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency began revamping its four water treatment plants last year to prepare for the conversion from chlorine to chloramines, the change has fueled some heated discussions.

AVEK supplies California Aqueduct water to farmers and to municipal and industrial customers, including Los Angeles County Waterworks District 40, the Quartz Hill Water District, Palm Ranch Irrigation District and Rosamond Community Services District.

AVEK planned the switch for its treatment plants in Quartz Hill, Acton, Pearblossom and Rosamond in order to comply with an Environmental Protection Agency order to lower levels of trihalomethanes in drinking water. THMs form when chlorine makes contact with decaying plant material in water, and some studies have indicated their formation with an increased risk for certain types of cancer. Use of chloramines has not been linked to those cancers.

But some people on a system that uses chloraminated water complained that they developed respiratory problems, skin rashes and irritation of the eyes and nose. “We don’t know how many people can be affected,” Kathy Spoor, vice president of the Rosamond Community Services District board, told AVEK administrators during a meeting in early June.

Read more from the Antelope Valley Press by clicking here.

July 29, 2008 · Filed Under Drinking Water

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