| Food & water - two subjects that are closely related, and dear to me, for without either we're dead ducks. When a resource is as basic as clean water, it can be easy to take for granted. This week I've been sifting through a number of email alerts and checking water sites for a modicum of good water news. This was prompted by the excellent news from the Obama administration, who has announced new budget proposal containing an unprecedented commitment to funding water and wastewater infrastructure. Kudos to the indefatigable folks at Food & Water Watch for championing the cause.
Let's not forget this fact: of all the water on earth, only 2,5% is fresh water. Fresh water is either groundwater (0,5%), or readily accessible water in lakes, streams, rivers, etc. (0,01%), and less than 1% of the water supply on earth can be used as drinking water.
The Big Orange has it too. Eventually. |
| And as one of the many parting shots from the abominable Bush administration we have this, from Senator Dianne Feinstein:
Last Congress, Senator Russell D. Feingold (D-WI) introduced the "Clean Water Restoration Act" (S. 1870), which would have restored the scope of areas and activities subject to federal regulation under the Clean Water Act that existed prior to the Supreme Court's decisions Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Rapanos v. United States. The 110th Congress adjourned on January 2, 2009 without passing this bill. Accordingly, the "Clean Water Restoration Act" must be reintroduced to be considered in the 111th Congress.
I've written about reverse osmosis in the past, and I've been getting mixed signals from posters here and from our sister site, La Vida Locavore, via emails. Let me say that like all technologies, the reverse osmosis process contains several downsides which makes it a somewhat inefficient and ineffective means of purifying drinking water. To wit:
The small pores in the membrane block particles of large molecular structure like salt, but more dangerous chemicals like pesticides, herbicides, and chlorine are molecularly smaller than water. These chemicals can freely pass through the porous membrane. For this reason, a carbon filter must be used as a complimentary measure to provide safe drinking water from the reverse osmosis process. Such chemicals are the major contaminants of drinking water after municipal treatment.
Another downside to reverse osmosis as a method of purifying drinking water is the removal of healthy, naturally occurring minerals in water, not something to sniff at. The membrane of a reverse osmosis system is impermeable to natural trace minerals. These minerals not only provide a good taste to water, but they also serve a vital function in the body's system. Water, when stripped of these trace minerals, can actually be unhealthy for the body. Another factor to bear in mind is that it also wastes a large portion of the water that runs through its system. According to various manufacturers, it generally wastes two to three gallons of water for every gallon of purified water it produces. Having said that the pluses are quite formidable. Additionally reverse osmosis technology is widely used in the dairy industry and oddly enough in wine making for taint removal such as acetic acid.
Two excellent news from my favorite research outfit, OZ's CSIRO:
Farmers around the world are expected to benefit from the successful trial of an enzyme that breaks down the herbicide, atrazine, in run-off water. "When we added the enzyme to a holding dam filled with run-off contaminated with atrazine, more than 90 per cent of it was removed in less than four hours," says CSIRO Entomology's Dr Colin Scott. Source
And:
a CSIRO summer scholarship student, Tim Warren, has developed an automated water sampler of such high quality it is now being considered for a provisional patent. Source
A must see video about ocean acidification, sent to me by my good friend Luc Girard, a French photographer and ecologist:
Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are acidifying the oceans and threaten a mass extinction of sea life, a top ocean scientist has warned. The volcanic island of Ischia, off the Italian coast, has natural CO2 vents meaning the sea in this area has been naturally more acidic.
This should give scientists a very good idea of how species will adapt to acidity or not, as Roger Harrabin has been finding out. Source
It's not all bad news as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities asks members to ban bottled water:
The federation board of directors passed the anti-bottle resolution at a meeting in Victoria on Saturday. The move carries no legal weight and aims simply to encourage municipalities to speak out against bottled water and avoid distributing it when possible. Source
And even better news from Europe: Bottled water sales starting to run dry!
A revolt against bottled water in restaurants is growing. Last year, figures showed that, after more than three decades of year-on-year growth, bottled water sales dropped by 9 per cent. Now a survey shows more people prefer tap water when they dine out. Yay! Source
And more good news: Professor Gatze Lettinga from The Netherlands has been awarded this year's Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize for his environmentally sustainable solution for the treatment of used water using anaerobic technology. His revolutionary treatment concept, which stood out among 39 international nominations, enables industrial used water to be purified cost-effectively and produces renewable energy, fertilizers and soil conditioners. Source
And finally a word from the celebrated writer of "The Little Prince":
"Water, thou hast no taste, no colour, no odour; canst not be defined, art relished while ever mysterious. Not necessary to life, but rather life itself ... Of the riches that exist in the world, thou art the rarest and also the most delicate thou so pure within the bowels of the earth!".
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
For those who have missed my not so good news water diary two weeks ago, here it is. |
