Britain scraps desalination plant

 After completing the two-year trial, British scientists say that a pilot desalination plan at Newhaven Harbor in East Sussex desalination shows costs up to 10 times as much as water from traditional sources.  The process uses too much power and creates a highly concentrated brine that is not environmentally acceptable.

This illustrates our conviction  that we have no technology or magic bullet to deal with the speeding train of water scarcity coming at us. Either we will go thirsty or we need to pay a lot more whilst conserving at the same time.
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Does ordinary tap water cause birth defects?

154 women in Chesapeake, VA, have recently filed suit against the city claiming that spikes in the amount of the disinfection by-products (DBPs) in their water caused their pregnancies to terminate in miscarriages in the 1980s and 1990s. They seek $1 billion in damages.

Municipal disinfection of drinking water has brought a century of health benefits in reducing illness from pathogenic biological contaminants such as virus and bacteria. For decades, scientists have however also warned about the dangers to health of (DBPs) more specifically of the type Trihalomethanes – THMs.

 Read more here (.pdf)

Test reveal new technology kills bacteria and removes THM

Trihalomethanes, THM the deisinfection by products found in drinking water are thought by researchers to cause cancer.

Swedish development firm Purity has come up with a combined purifier and kettle to remove THMS and kill bacteria through a controlled boiling process (degassing).

Read more about the tests on Purity’s home page.

 Tests carried out in HONG KONG and Australia reveal their new range removes all THMS and that drinking water is stil bacteria- free after 48 hours.

Sewage overflows into groundwater are making too many people ill

Intakes for drinking water are not sufficiently shielded. Sewage spillages as the result of flooding or  ruptures in ageing pipe networks present a serious challenge to water purification plants.

And climate change is not helping any. For example, in the summer of 2004, 1,450 people reported being ill in a resort community in northern Ohio with campylobacter, norovirus, giardia and salmonella. That summer was marked by rainfall that was 150 percent above the 50-year average.

 Joan Rose, Michigan State University ’s Nowlin Chair in water research, told the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting Friday. Her talk, “Drinking Water and Health: Forecasting Pathogen Risks in the Great Lakes,” focused on ways to identify health threats before an outbreak.

 Read more in the Water Online article

Australian expert refuses to drink recycled sewage

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA — The scientist who set Australian drinking water standards is speaking out against the recent plan to use recycled water to boost supplies, saying, “This is one bloke who isn’t going to drink it,” a January 29 story in The Advertiser of Adelaide reported.Prof. Don Bursill  said there are too many risks involved with drinking recycled water, according to the story.
“You can turn anything wet into drinking water if you have enough money … The risk is orders of magnitude higher than when dealing with conventional sources.” Areas throughout Australia have faced serious water restrictions due to the worst drought in the past century. And it does not look like it is going to get any better.

We believe a complete re-thinking of how society uses water will be needed to avoid crop failures, spread of diseases and economic growth stagnation.

 To read the entire story, click here.

Bottled water leaches toxins

“Recent tests of water quality have found significant levels of antimony, a toxic chemical element, in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles” says Professor William Shotyk, director of the Institute of Environmental Geochemistry at the University of Heidelberg, said The study, involving 132 brands, found increasing levels in bottled water that had been stored for six months at room temperature. Some results reached close to 2,000 parts per trillion, which is the Japanese limit for drinking water.

Mr. Shotyk said the findings raise questions about the purity of bottled water, but the industry is growing fast with limited public scrutiny.

Read more here