time for stricter drinking water standards?

The quality, or lack thereof, of drinking water in America has been put front and center with media coverage such as the New York Time’s Toxic Waters series. Fortunately, the government is listening and today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it’s planning on stepping up drinking water system monitoring and action when a problem is found. The revised rule should reduce the amount of waterborne pathogens that make their way into the fresh water supply causing a variety of ailments from abdominal discomfort to kidney failure to hepatitis. There’s a 60 day pubic comment period, so if you’re concerned about the quality of your water, perhaps you should let the EPA know you support stronger regulations.

the quest for clean drinking water

Now consider for a moment, the plight of the Iraqi people. Despite fact that America has poured billions into the country, Reuter’s Aseel Kami explains that for 7.5 million Iraqis there is no safe, clean drinking water, and it’s certainly not coming out of the kitchen sink. The fact is that the infrastructure is just not there and what is there is broken or heavily damaged. The International Red Cross delivers hundreds of thousands of liters of water each day. Some neighborhoods were even built without being connected to the city’s water system. While the Baghdad government says they’ll end water scarcity in two years, many aren’t so sure.

learning from australia’s never-ending drought

It’s safe to say that Australia’s 12-year drought is one of the worst in the world right now. Lakes have dried up, rivers are always at least 40 percent lower than before, crops are failing, and the forecasts are not optimistic. Water scarcity is now a way of life for folks Down Under. Of course, it’s not like the country is going to pick up and move, so they’re finding ways to manage their water resources. In New South Wales, the most populous state in Australia, they’re investing in water recycling projects. For example, they plan to increase recycled water use in agricultural irrigation. And it’s not like the Aussies aren’t well ahead of other developed nations, they already use 27 billion liters of recycled water for farming, industrial, and households. As water scarcity effects more and more regions, no doubt governments will be looking to Australia to see what’s worked.

coke’s reducing water, using recycled plastic and getting greener

Last year Coca-Cola announced it was making a commitment to reducing its carbon footprint. As one of the largest multinational corporations, and one which often operates in water-scarce areas, Coke’s improvements stand to have a significant impact. This week, Coke has issued an update. Via the company’s Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CRS) Report, Coke shows advances in reducing energy use, water use, increased recycling, and an overall drop in the company’s carbon footprint. Of course, we’re always looking at water management, and it now takes 1.67 liters of water to produce a single liter of soda (or any other of their products). That’s down 3.5 percent over two years ago. In addition to their own improved efficiencies, Coke invested invested $12.7 million in a global partnership with U.S. Agency for International Development to support water scarcity and quality in Africa.

keeping linens clean with less water

The Bellingham Herald shares a story of a small business in Washington state used to use 50,000 gallons of water each day to clean and sterilize hospital linens. But Sterile Surgical Systems President Greg Gicewicz wanted to save water and money. Gicewicz installed a $115,000 water treatment and recycling system the company installed in November and recently added a rainwater capture system to his roof. Now, the business only needs 15,000 gallons a day. On top of all the water he’s not paying for, the company’s sewer bills are also lower. Gicewicz expects the systems to pay for itself in only a year. Well done, Sterile Surgical Systems!

photo credits: dirty tap water Jenny Lee Silver/Flickr, dry Murray River Shovelling Son/Flickr

preparing for rising seas

The city planners in Boston are looking ahead to a future where rising ocean levels flood significant portions of the city. While Boston has benefited from the ocean, throughout its history Beantown has added to its footprint with landfill, leaving much of the city just above sea level. City leaders are considering a variety of ideas such as changing the entrances to the underground subway and newly built freeways, moving electrical equipment out of downtown basements and onto the roofs, updating zoning laws to discourage construction in high-risk areas, even building massive gates in the bay. And Boston isn’t the only city beginning to this about rising seas. Venice is building sea gates to hold back the tides already.

singapore: a model for water management

Water expert Dr. Peter Gleick takes readers to Singapore for a look at how this small country with 4.5 million people manages its water. For years Singapore has purchased about 40 percent of the water it needs from Malaysia. While the monetary cost of the water hasn’t been a burden, the political and security situation has been. To address the situation and reduce reliance on imported water, Singapore has been working for the last few years to increase conservation, eliminate waste, increase local fresh water capture, and recycle or desalinate water. The country is a model of efficiency; an average citizen of Singapore uses around 40 gallons each day. For comparison, the average Californian uses 130 gallons per day. On the supply side, they are heavily investing in wastewater treatment and recycling plants which could supply as much as 30 percent of their needs. Clearly, the U.S. and other countries could learn a lot from Singapore’s model.

water-caused wedding woes

Wedding-venue wish lists usually include features such as: has a great view, beautiful gardens, or is eco-friendly. Rarely have our readers had to worry if the hall would have enough clean drinking water for the joyous occasion. But this is just what’s happening in some parts of India where water shortages have become all too common. Families in central India are going halls to villages miles away just to ensure there’s plenty of water. According to the Times of India, the family of the groom will specifically ask for a venue that has ample water. And you thought your family had tough requests.

the ocean needs your attention

This past Tuesday was World Oceans Day. Of course, we’re all pretty darn focused on what’s happening with the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, so this year people were actually talking about the state of the oceans already. Chevy and Jayni Chase have been educating themselves and others about the perils facing the oceans for a lot longer than the 50 plus days since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20. This week on CNN.com, the Chases wrote an editorial spelling out the issue quite plainly: “Our lack of attention is killing the oceans.” Chevy and Jayni point out that we often don’t consider where our fish come from, what happens when trash makes its way to the open water, or the simple fact that we know more about the moon than we do about the depths of the oceans. They encourage you to take the time and give some of your attention to the oceans. After all, they oceans account for more than 71 percent of the surface of the planet.

Which stories caught your eye this week? Please share them in our comments below.

The crazy thing is, that this is a problem the world can solve. While there are no shortage of organizations working to bring safe drinking water and sanitation to everyone, we have a very long way to go. Even now, in 2010, every 15 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease.

A group we’d like you to know about is the British non-governmental organization (NGO) WaterAid. Since 1981, the organization works on both a local level, in areas without clean water or sanitation, and on legislative issues in the U.K.. WaterAid’s vision “is a world where everyone has access to safe water and sanitation.” Throughout the years, they’ve had some influential help. During the 1990s, Prince Charles became WaterAid’s first president and he continues to support their work today. In 2008/09 they raised about $62.7 million dollars (£43.8 million).

This year they are working on raising awareness of the upcoming world-wide summit reviewing the progress of the Millennium Development Goals. WaterAid want to keep the pressure on international leaders to make real and significant improvements for water quality and sanitation. So, they launched a contest for young filmmakers in association with Cannes Lions and YouTube. Entrants had 48 hours to create a one minute ad to show people why it is important for the Millennium Development Goals to be achieved. The films had to be specifically about water and sanitation.

The winning ad will be announced on May 31, and the lucky filmmakers will win a trip to Cannes. Here is our favorite from the over 500 submissions:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD6xtDF94GM

We can’t even imagine a life without clean, abundant water. What do you think it will take to see the Millennium Development Goals make progress? Will we ever have a world where everyone has access to clean water and good sanitation? Post your thoughts below. Oh, and if you thought one of the other videos from the Cannes Lion / YouTube selection is better than our pick, share the link with us in the comments.

In the large cities, there is some water treatment, but for millions who live in areas not served by any infrastructure, they do best they can. In some cases, their “filtration” system is a dirty sock pulled over the spigot. The people know the water is polluted and are careful to boil it before they will drink the water. While that removes the bacteria, it does little to nothing about the heavy metals (such as copper, arsenic, and and 72 other toxic chemicals found in textile dyeing runoff).

CNN has been investigating polluted water around the world, and ran this story on their website about the Citarum River.

Unfortunately, this is not the only river in the world suffering from textile and industrial pollution. You can find toxic levels of pollution along the Pearl River in China, the Tehuacán Valley in Mexico, and the rivers around Dhaka, Bangladesh to name a few.

While the Citarum River has been labeled the world’s most polluted for years now, the situation in Indonesia is not being ignored. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a major water resources management project in December of 2008. The project spans 15 years and 500 million dollars for water resources development projects such as establishing water delivery infrastructure, creating water planning institutions, and building sanitation facilities, to name a few.

To see more of the river, watch this photo essay created by the ADB.

As you may know, our company headquarters are in sunny California. A state that has plenty of problems, one of them is perpetual water shortages. The last three years have been very, very dry. This past winter, however, we’ve had well above average rainfall.

Indeed, it’s raining as we speak, which is pretty unusual for May. As of this week, the National Drought Mitigation Center, part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says that 83 percent of the Golden State has normal water levels.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought back in June 2008. Indeed, over the last few years, we’ve seen reservoirs go nearly dry and battles over water allocations for the Central Valley farms. What a difference a few months can make. Since the rainy season began in October, we’ve had ample rain leaving us with a snowpack in the Sierra of 143 percent of normal.

Where does that leave us? Some say it’s time to declare the drought over and others, such as the governor, aren’t quite so sure. Leaving politics aside for a moment, perhaps it would be good to recall that 2006 was one of the wettest years on record, but we went right into drought conditions afterwards. Plus, despite all the rain and snow, none of the reservoirs are at 100 percent capacity.

When you think about it, isn’t the time to save water is when we have lots of it and not when we’re down to the last drop?

What’s the situation where you live? Are people concerned about the quantity and quality the water supply?

photo credit: Aquafornia

clean water from common cactus

Treehugger brought an article about how the common prickly pear cactus could give us clean, safe, and cheap drinking water. The story was originally reported in the New Scientist. The process itself if quite simple: you just boil a bit of cactus and then drop it in the contaminated water. There’s more testing to do, but we think this is pretty cool.

photo: ah zut

america’s unquenchable thirst

Minnesota Public Radio program Midday recent guest Robert Glennon believes America’s thirst for water is “Unquenchable.” While we all think of Texas, California and Arizona, but even Minnesota other mid-west states have been facing water shortages. In fact, some cities in Minnesota weren’t able to supply enough water for ethanol refineries and Lake Superior is too low to float fully-loaded cargo ships. We’ve been using so much water that our groundwater pumping is getting out of hand. America is depleting its groundwater at a faster rate than it can be naturally replenished. Just last year, Atlanta was within 90 days of running completely dry. And that’s not all due to drought, but population expansion stressing water resources.

One of the biggest water wasters, according to Glennon, is our sanitation system. Each year America flushes 6 billions gallons of water down the toilet. This water is then sent back to the treatment plant to be used again. The problem is that downstream, say in New Orleans, their drinking water has been run through this cycle many times.

Glennon was also on The Daily Show last year where Jon Stewart points out that our energy policy, even moving to some clean energy technologies, could worsen the crisis.

protests prevent vote on water bill

Columbia University’s Earth Institute just posted an article about the growing water crisis in Ecuador. At the center of the problem is who owns the rights to the country’s water. In 2008, the constitution sited water as a fundamental human right. Since then many people feel this means that water should be a public utility and not privatized. As you can guess, that’s exactly what’s been happening. Over the years the people have been staging protests which have turned violent. Despite the outrage, the legislature has wanted to begin debate on a new “Water Act” that will give even more control to private companies with few guarantees for the population for continued access to clean, affordable water. Protests by Ecuador’s major indigenous organizations, however, seem to have resulted in the session coming to an end without a vote on the bill.

burmese drought

Once again the people of Burma are suffering. This time, record high temperatures and a late monsoon season have dried up wells and other drinking water sources. Some 60 villages are reported to be under severe water shortages. The drought is taking its toll in other ways as well. The severe heat and low water levels have caused some 100,000 fish deaths at fish farms in Rangoon. One article reported that while some local water bottling companies have donated some water, the government hasn’t responded to the crisis. In a related story, the Mekong River is at a 50-year low. Downstream countries are blaming China for building too many dams, but China blames mother nature.

What water stories are you following? Share them in our comments section below.

Turns out Sears Canada is doing more than finding a new way to market yet another sale, they have been working on improving their environmental record for a few years. Sears Canada is approaching the issue on three fronts:

• Make it easier for customers to “Live Green,” reduce their energy bills, and create a healthy home with an assortment of products that are better choices for the planet
• Reduce the environmental impact of Sears Canada operations, including recycling 90 percent of their waste and reducing energy consumption 20 percent by 2013
• Nurture a culture of sustainability with Sears Canada associates, customers, and the communities in which they operate

What we find interesting is that Sears in the U.S. is not following suit. Perhaps this is because 80 percent of Canadians are looking for ways to reduce their environmental footprint. While recent polls south of the border find that Americans are less concerned about climate change than just a few years ago. So, it just makes economic sense to be greener in Canada.

To serve their Canadian customers, in addition to putting some of their eco-friendly items on sale, Sears is offering a variety of eco-friendlier products throughout the store and tagging them as “Live Green.” There are energy efficient products such as tankless hot water heaters, to PVC-free choices for the home, items made from renewable resources, and water-saving devices. For example, Sears Canada offers Little Footprint pillows, made from recycled water bottles with covers made from unbleached cotton, to a new apparel collection called Attitude which incorporates Lenzing Lyocell and another line of organic cotton tees and dresses from the Jessica brand; to Portico’s line of certified organic cotton towels and bedding.

Plus, Sears Canada is a sponsor of World Wildlife Fund Canada’s (WWF-Canada) Earth Hour which encourages people around the world to turn off all their electrical appliances and lights for one hour each March in support of climate change action. Over the weekend, they turned out the exterior and any non-essential indoor lights.

Perhaps we were too quick to judge Live Green as more greenwash marketing. There does seem to be more here than just a springtime sale. What do you think? Post your comments below.

One would think that with such a large and vital body of water, we’d know quite a bit about it. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. It’s not that no studies have been done, they have. Back in 2000 the four counties directly over the Guarani Aquifer, got a loan from the World Bank to evaluate the aquifer. Research continued until last year when the governments denied an extension to the World Bank wanting to continue the research with their own. The World Bank published a report (download it here). But the report leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

Other than that, there’s not a lot of information available.

The aquifer may be news to us here in the United States, but within South America, there are many conspiracy theories surrounding the Guarani Aquifer. Some say that the U.S. has been buying up land to control the water supply (a la the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace). Others believe that paper mills and the soya farms are polluting the water supply beyond repair.

If a couple of independent documentary film makers have their way, we’ll know quite a bit about the Guarani Aquifer soon. Annabel Symington and Vasilios Sfinarolakis have begun researching the problems, causes, and solutions and hope to be filming soon. We wanted to know more about their project and they were delighted to share in hopes that more people will be aware of their efforts. Here is an excerpt from our email interview with Symington.

GforW: How did you learn about the Guarani Aquifer?

AS: I came across the Guarani Aquifer when I was doing some research for an article about water-related conflicts around the world. As a journalist, I have written extensively on water politics, and when I stumbled upon the Guarani Aquifer (which was being referred to by water academics as one of the biggest potential water conflicts of the future) I was amazed that this story had received so little coverage in the mainstream media.

GforW: When did you become passionate about water?

AS: It struck me about a year ago that water was not really being addressed in a climate change context: the hydrologic cycle is growing less predictable as climate change alters established temperature patterns around the globe. Water is, arguably, the single most important resource for life on earth, but it is usually treated as a infinite resource, and water shortages are usually thought of as a problem that only affects the developing world. That is far from the truth and people need to be aware of that: Australia has already run its natural fresh water reserves dry and the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies water to 1.9 million people in central US is being rapidly depleted by intense municipal use. In my opinion, people need to know the facts: then they can act on them.

GforW: What do you hope to achieve with this project?

AS: We want to reach as big an audience as possible with the story of the Guarani Aquifer: It is one that will affect us all. Both Vasilios and I strongly believe that if the facts are out in the open regarding what is happening around the Guarani Aquifer it is much harder for governments and corporations to exploit the resource and the indigenous people who rely on it.

GforW: What do you think the local reaction will be when you are in South America?

AS: The Guarani Aquifer is a huge topic in South America. Ask any Brazilian or Argentinian and they will have an opinion on the matter. All the people I’ve spoken to in Latin America, from NGOs to eco-activists to other filmmakers, have been really excited at the prospect of an English-language documentary being made about the aquifer. There was a Spanish/Portuguese documentary made a couple of years ago called Sed: Invasion Gota a Gota (Thirst: Invasion drop by drop). We want to look at the social issues surrounding the aquifer: What’s happening to the Guarani people who have lived and relied on the aquifer’s water for thousands of years? And then look at the bigger picture: How is this going to affect us all?

GforW: From what I understand, the primary polluter are the paper mills, is that correct?

AS: The soya farmers in Brazil are another source of pollution. Soya is a very chemical-intensive crop to farm and the run off from the fertilizers and pesticides is polluting the aquifer. An aquifer is a very delicate system, and despite the Guarani Aquifer’s huge size, if it is polluted in one corner that will eventually percolate through and pollute the whole system.

To create this important documentary, Symington and Sfinarolakis need your help. They are asking for the public to underwrite the documentary by pledging support at Kickstarter.com. Their goal is to raise $14,500 by April 24, 2010 – that’s just over a month from now. They have, as of this publishing date, received $1,580. You can contribute as little as a buck to help make happen.

You can also help support the documentary by voting for it to be showcased at the Topanga Film Festival. See the trailer and vote for the Guarani Project documentary today at Suitable for All Screens. And that won’t cost you a penny.

One of the companies blacklisted was a textile factory. The Qingyuan Top Dragon Textile Company was, according to the water samples collected by Greenpeace, discharging manganese at levels well above the allowed levels. Manganese exposure can lead to brain damage. In addition to the manganese, the factory was spewing arsenic and a whole slew of other metals and pollutants out with their waste water.

According to Greenpeace, “being blacklisted means greater scrutiny on these companies and their industrial discharges which could in the future translate to deadlines by the government for the companies to stop polluting the Pearl River Delta. This is a warning to the factories and it may also affect the company’s financial status in terms of ability to launch a stock market listing or apply for a loan.”

Of course, punishing these 20 companies is only a drop in the bucket. When over 70 percent of China’s water is polluted, it’s safe to say the government has been slow to set regulations and take action against the untold number of factories dumping millions of gallons of polluted, toxic waste into China’s water.

If anyone knows who contracts with the Qingyuan Top Dragon Textile Company, please leave it in the comments below. It would be very good to know if their garments were ending up on the shelves here in the United States.

In late January, 78 retailers received notice from the FTC to immediately cease labeling any clothing or other textiles, such as sheets or towels, as bamboo. Why? Because the fiber is actually rayon and no different than rayon made with other cellulose sources, such as wood pulp.

Who were some of these companies sited for selling mislabeled products? They range from little retailers such as Bambooya, to big-box stores such as Wal-Mart and Target, to high-end establishments such as Nordstrom and Barney’s New York. Even Zappos and Amazon.com received notice. You can download the full list from the FTC.

So what does the FTC want companies to do? Easy, label the garments and textiles for what they are. Here’s an excerpt from the letter sent to the retailers:

The term ‘bamboo,’ therefore, may be used in labeling or advertising a textile product (e.g., ‘bamboo shirt’) only to describe textile fibers taken directly from the bamboo plant without the type of chemical processing necessary to make rayon. Rayon, even if manufactured using cellulose from bamboo, must be described by an appropriate term recognized under the FTC Textile Rules. If rayon is manufactured using bamboo as the cellulose source, then you also may include that information in the textile label, for example, by describing the fiber as ‘rayon made from bamboo.’

As a team who’s trying to help bring sustainable practices to the textile industry, we’re pleased that the truth about bamboo is being discussed and it’s eco-friendly image is tarnished. There’s no dispute that bamboo is a great resource for the wood products like flooring or cutting boards. But the expensive, toxic, and wasteful process needed to take course bamboo and make it into a soft fabric is anything but good for the planet.

So, you can help, first, don’t buy bamboo rayon products. Or any kind of rayon product, not only is the process toxic, rayon is not very durable and requires dry cleaning (a topic for another post!). And if you happen to see a retailer claiming their product as bamboo, the FTC would like to know about it. You can report the company online or by phone. 1-877-382-4357. Companies found mislabeling their products face a $16,000 fine per violation.

photo credit: MikeLowe / Flickr