A few water-related news articles from around the world we thought you’d like to see.

treating wastewater is bad for the environment

Yes, you read that correctly. The engineers at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago wanted to know what their carbon footprint was and to figure out how to reduce it. One of their conclusions: disinfecting wastewater increases greenhouse gas emissions.

step away from the rain barrel

If you live in Utah and capture the rainwater that falls on your property, you’re breaking the law. State Senate Majority Leader Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, wants to change that. He’s introduced a bill to allow people to store up to 2,500 gallons for use on their property. This isn’t the first time this issue has debated. Last year it didn’t pass. But a new provision requiring people to register as a rain-gatherer (our term, not theirs) may help this bill become law.

4 billion gallons contaminated daily

Each day the natural gas industry pollutes 4 billion gallons of water a day just during the drilling process. The Environmental Leader reports that an innovative company has devised “water reclamation process that uses osmosis technology to recycle wastewater in the oil and gas industry.” We’re pleased to see, and not at all surprised, that the company has also found that it’s not only saving water, but energy and transportation costs too.

sun-powered desalination plants

One might not expect to hear that of all the countries in the world, Saudi Arabia is trying to wean itself off of oil. At least, that’s the plan when it comes to providing clean water for its people. The Kingdom gets 50 to 70 percent of its drinking water from desalination plants. And to convert all that salt water to fresh, they use 1.5 million barrels of oil each and every day. The new solar-powered desalination facilities should reduce water and energy costs by 40 percent.

our most important resource

Earlier this month Grist interviewed author Stephen Solomon to talk about how water will once again be the planet’s most important natural resource. Solomon just published a new book Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization (adding to our reading list now). The interview covers how water scarcity and climate change are inextricably linked. Even if you don’t plan on reading the book, read the interview, you’ll have a better understanding the problem and opportunities.

can australia teach us how to deal with drought?

In the opinion pages of the Sidney Morning Herald earlier this week, they suggest that the Yanks can learn from Australia’s years of drought. You may not know, but the Colorado River is drying up. They’ve already been though that when the Murray Darling ran dry. While the piece has a number of good points, what we thought was interesting were the comments. Some folks don’t think there are any worthy lessons from Down Under, while others seem to think we just can’t learn. What do you think?

Seems like each week there are more and more stories in the media discussing water scarcity and water quality. With so many floating around, we’ll choose a few each Friday that we think everyone should know about. So, here is the first batch of water-related stories from around the world:

crisis in haiti

Of course, we’ve all been glued to the T.V. and computer monitors following  developments in Haiti. We know that even before the 7.0 earthquake, the island nation’s infrastructure was less than ideal. And since 10 days ago, there simply isn’t any infrastructure at all. Water, food, and shelter are continuing to flow in from around the world. According to Yobie Benjamin’s article yesterday in the San Francisco Chronicle’s online edition, water tanks are being installed around the city and hundreds of thousands of liters of water have been distributed, but it’s just not enough, nor is it sustainable. Benjamin is looking for the public to help pressure the U.S. government to get a large-scale solar powered water filtration system delivered. If you’ve got connections, the author asks you to reach out to Bobbie Dunphy or tweet him at @yobie.

hazards of growth

Water quality problems are not new for China. This week J. Carl Ganter published a well-documented piece in Circle of Blue called Tracing Kunming, China’s Freshwater Hazards. Ganter examines one of China’s newest projects, the Kunming International Airport. The airport is supposed to be a model for green development. Unfortunately, the construction is wreaking havoc with the local freshwater supply, which is already stressed. Even if you don’t have time to read the entire article, you have to take a look at the photos.

making money from water scarcity

Over at Seeking Alpha, an online community and resource for investors, David Rupprecht wrote an article Electricity and Water: Scarcity Will Drive Prices Upwards. He lays out a suggestion that with both energy and water supplies dwindling, there’s an opportunity to make money by investing in utilities. Do you agree?

water shortages leave crops and patience short

This week Pakistan is reporting that drought and water diversion by India will cause a 40 percent decline in this year’s wheat crop. According to a treaty between the two countries, India is supposed to release 16,000 cubic feet of water per second from the Chenab River. Instead, they have only been releasing less than one-third of that amount which has resulted in the closing of a number of canals and exacerbated the drought. One farmer told The Nation that he thinks future wars will be fought over water.

water-wise baseball

The Minnesota Twins new 40,000-seat Target Field will truly be the greenest ballpark in the country. The new facility has a number of eco-friendly design elements; most important to us is what they are doing about water conservation. The park has an integrated rainwater-recycling system that will collect, filter and disinfect up to 2 million gallons of water each year. You can read more about the Twin’s new home at Treehugger.

Know of another water story we should have posted? Share your link in the comments.

Earlier this month we gave you a few gift ideas for the treehugger in your family. One of the suggestions was a rain barrel to capture and recycle water for landscaping or even indoor use.

Well, turns out quite a few people are getting into rain harvesting. KQED’s Quest had a great piece on the radio today on how it’s working for a few communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. We thought you might like to hear the story and read the reporter’s notes which includes links to site that can show you how to set up a rain capture system of your own.

One interesting bit, it’s illegal in some communities to disconnect your downspout from the sewer system. So, be sure to check on your local building codes before setting up your system.

What do you think about harvesting your rainwater? Is it worth the effort and cost?

photo credit: thanh.ha.dang / flickr