Warming Shifts Tropical Rain Band Northward

Today’s wet, temperate areas near the equator will someday be arid thanks to a tropical rain band that has been moving north at an average rate of almost a mile a year for three centuries – probably because of global warming, according to scientists. And ‘someday’ isn’t centuries away: it’s as soon as 2050 for some Pacific Islands.

New research suggests that we need merely look toward the Galapagos Islands as evidence of where this has already happened. The dry, freshwater-starved island had a wet climate four centuries ago.

From MSNBC:

“We’re talking about the most prominent rainfall feature on the planet, one that many people depend on as the source of their freshwater because there is no groundwater to speak of where they live,” said Julian Sachs, associate professor of oceanography at the University of Washington and lead author of the paper. “In addition many other people who live in the tropics but farther afield from the Pacific could be affected because this band of rain shapes atmospheric circulation patterns throughout the world.”

The authors analyzed natural records of rainfall (including microbes and chemical ratios) left in annual layers of lake and lagoon sediments from four Pacific islands at or near the equator.

Washington Island, about 5 degrees north of the equator, is now at the southern edge of the intertropical convergence zone and receives nearly 10 feet of rain a year. But during the Little Ice Age it was arid. A similar arid past was found for Palau, which lies about 7 degrees north of the equator and in the heart of the modern convergence zone.

In contrast, the researchers present evidence that the Galapagos Islands, today an arid place on the equator in the Eastern Pacific, had a wet climate during the Little Ice Age.

Once again, the time to act was yesterday – at this point, we need to start preparing for some of the consequences of global warming as well as taking action to keep it from getting worse.

Link [MSNBC]
Photo credit: Flickr user sly06

Robot Removes Pollution from Water

As potable water becomes more scarce, a new invention offers hope, with the potential to clean up polluted waterways and make them suitable for drinking once again. The WatCleaner robot,  created by Chinese industrial designer Ye Yao, floats on the surface of the water and automatically filters oil, trash and other pollutants. It has the ability to detect fish, making sure that none are harmed during the cleaning process.

From Blue Living Ideas:

The WatCleaner has detectors on the bottom that monitor water for pollution, everything from basic garbage to oil, and clean the water. Absorbent socks on the top of the WatCleaner absorb oil and cleanse it. Additionally, garbage is taken in and directed to a disintegrator- clean water is then sprayed through the top of the WatCleaner and returned to the water system. Along the way the WatCleaner also detects fish in order to clean the water in their area.

Beyond just cleaning the water of contaminants, the WatCleaner is also set up to transmit water condition information to land based controllers and ask for help if it encounters conditions too polluted to handle alone. As the WatCleaner takes on oil and garbage, the bin and oil bags can be removed and replaced.

First a trash-cleaning robot, and now a robot that cleans up polluted water? Science fiction is really coming to life. This invention has major potential for use all around the world. If we could clean up dirty waterways and make them safe again, that would go a long way toward easing the coming water crisis and preventing a lot of suffering. Perhaps the team that’s trying to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch should give Ye Yao a call.

Link [Blue Living Ideas]

Who’s Who in Green: Shalini Kantayya

Growing up between Mumbai, India and Brooklyn, New York, it took filmmaker and water rights activist Shalini Kantayya a long time to understand how the survival of cities is dependent on finite natural resources. But soon enough, Kantayya began to feel torn between the materialistic, technologically advanced American society and the world that can’t even get a clean drink of water.

On Changents, Kantayya explains,

“My passion for water rights did not begin with an intellectual study, but as all great adventures of my life begin—with the heart. In 2001, I spent 40-days documenting the religious festival at the convergence of three holy rivers. In awe of the millions of pilgrims giving reverence to the river as a life-giving Goddess, and its contradiction with the environmental impact of the festival on the river, called me to ask questions. As I became aware of the mounting global water crisis, I realized that it represented a clash of cultures – between a culture that values water as a shared sacred source of all life and a corporate culture that regards water as a commodity to be bought and sold.”

Kantayya began to feel that there were many stories about the struggle for water that just couldn’t be told using words. She committed herself to using media to give a powerful voice to the unheard, founding a production company called 7th Empire Media and beginning work on films that highlight social injustice across the world.

The William D. Fulbright Scholar in documentary film was the only woman to place in the top ten out of 12,000 filmmakers on FOX’s On the Lot, a reality television show created by Steven Spielberg dedicated to the search for Hollywood’s next great director.

“Water is life,” Kantayya said as keynote speaker at Wesleyan University’s 2009 Earth Day celebration. “We are facing a world water crisis. A world in which nations are at war for water and every drop is for sale.”

Kantayya’s recent film, a DROP of LIFE, is a futuristic sci-fi flick about the mounting water crisis and has been used by the African Water Network as an organizing tool in over 40 villages across Africa. A DROP of LIFE has also screened at festivals around the world, winning Best Short Film at Palm Beach International as well as the Audience Choice Award at the IUOW Film competition.

Check out a preview of a DROP of LIFE:

Kantayya was also nominated for the Reebok Human Rights Award and also received a Senior Performing Arts Fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies to make a film about political street theater in India.

A DROP of LIFE can be purchased on DVD at AdropofLife.tv. Learn more about Kantayya’s water rights activism at Changents.com/Shalini.

Shalini Kantayya’s Green Score: 20,599

Biofuel Fail: Jatropha Requires Huge Amounts of Water

The Jatropha shrub, which grows wild all over New Zealand, seemed like a really promising biofuel. It is grown on arid and marginal land in India, parts of Africa and other countries, and has been hailed as ‘green gold’. It was even used to power a commercial airliner in December. Unfortunately, despite its ability to grow wild in arid climates, it needs large amounts of water in order to produce adequate amounts of oil.

From Technology Review, via Yale E360:

Researchers from the University of Twente, in the Netherlands, report in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that jatropha requires five times as much water per unit of energy as sugarcane and corn, and nearly ten times as much as sugar beet–the most water-efficient biofuel crop, according to the same study.

In 2007, the oil-industry heavyweight BP teamed up with British biofuels company D1 Oils on a five-year, £80 million project to cultivate the plant in India, Southeast Asia, and Southern Africa. Together, the companies have planted more than 200,000 hectares so far. And the plant made headlines again late last year, when it became the first non-food-based biofuel to power a jet engine. But mounting evidence suggests that jatropha is not as ideal as once thought.

“The claim that jatropha doesn’t compete for water and land with food crops is complete nonsense,” says study coauthor Arjen Hoekstra. The researcher says it’s true that the plant can grow with little water and can survive through periods of drought, but to flourish, it needs good growing conditions just like any other plant. “If there isn’t sufficient water, you get a low amount of oil production,” Hoekstra says.

How disappointing. Jatropha seemed like a great solution to the controversy over biofuels displacing food crops, but it’s certainly not a sustainable source of energy if it requires that much water. Luckily, there are hundreds of researchers working on a wide array of potentially viable biofuels, so this discovery doesn’t set the industry back too much.

Link [Technology Review] via [Yale E360]
Photo credit: Flickr user kaffekrus

Water Wars Already Starting in India

The idea of wars being fought over water just as they’ve been fought over oil may still seem foreign to a nation full of people who regularly waste millions of gallons of it just on watering useless lawns. But, water wars are already a reality in India where a water crisis has caused escalating violence and several deaths.

Climate change has altered rainfall patterns in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, a situation made even worse by inequity in the water distribution system.

From Eco Worldly:

This has led to a spurt in water related violence and conflicts so shocking, we thought they were predicted to take place only in the next 50 years. The local incident mentioned in the news report above was one among many where a mob of about six people killed a family for illegally drawing water from the municipal supply even as onlookers rushed back and forth to collect water before the pipe ran dry.

The incident, which occurred in a below poverty line (BPL) settlement, is yet another validation of how climate change is having much more impact on the poor, especially in the developing world.

Since 2008, the duration and frequency of rainfall in major parts of the state of Madhya Pradesh has been decreasing. Water levels in all major water bodies in have fallen to alarming levels. As a result, most parts of the state including the capital city of Bhopal is receiving almost half of the volume of water required to fulfill the population’s needs. The poor are the most impacted and drinking water is being supplied only about once every 4-5 days in the slums and other poorer localities

It’s incredibly unfair that so many communities of people living in extreme poverty are forced to fight for meager amounts of water just to survive while we Westerners waste it without a thought. We need to put a higher value on water, or soon, situations like this will begin escalating around the world.

It’s already too late to stop some of the effects of climate change and of our own cavalier attitude about this most basic element of life. But, we can lessen their impact. The fight against climate change, our own efforts to conserve as much water as possible and contributions to water-related charities like charity:water make a huge difference. Do your part!

Link [Eco Worldly]
Photo credit: Hindustan Times

EPA FAIL: No Plans to Remove Rocket Fuel from our Drinking Water

When Bush was president, the EPA was practically useless. We couldn’t count on them to get anything important done – for us, anyway. They were more than happy to help out their industry buddies, though. Well, despite a fresh new EPA that’s seemingly more on top of things than their predecessors, perchlorate – also known as rocket fuel – is still present in abundant quantities in our drinking water.

Studies have found perchlorate not just in tap water but in milk, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots – even human breast milk and urine, showing just how widespread the contamination really is. Yet Bush’s EPA decided not to protect us from it – and so far, Obama’s EPA hasn’t reversed that decision, despite the recent finding of alarming quantities of the substance in infant formula.

From NRDC Switchboard:

Instead, EPA had said that a national primary drinking water regulation for perchlorate would not present “a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public water systems.”

In addition to its failure to take action on perchlorate in drinking water, EPA has proposed a Health Advisory Level (HRL) of 15 micrograms per liter (µg/L, equal to parts per billion, ppb) of perchlorate in drinking water, which EPA says would be used as a cleanup level in contaminated sites. However, EPA’s own scientific experts calculated that if drinking water were contaminated at that level approximately 400,000 children under one year old would be drinking unsafe levels of perchlorate daily (i.e. they would exceed EPA’s calculated daily allowable level (reference dose, RfD) of 0.7 microgram per kilogram body weight per day (µg/kg bw/d).

The report from government scientists last month found that levels of perchlorate in some milk-based infant formula and formula reconstituted with contaminated drinking water were so high that infants drinking these contaminated food sources would exceed the RfD for perchlorate.

You might be thinking, “Well, then maybe it’s okay for us to drink rocket fuel.” Wrong. The ill health effects of perchlorate contamination have been documented for decades. Prolonged exposure can cause impaired thyroid function, which can then lead to obesity or extreme weight loss, infertility and Grave’s Disease. The EPA itself found in 1995 that laboratory animals developed thyroid disorders after two weeks of drinking perchlorate-laced water.

No amount of rocket fuel in our water is acceptable – especially in conjunction with all of the other chemicals that are allowed in ‘small amounts’. The EPA needs to take action, and they need to do it now.

Link [NRDC Switchboard]
Photo credit: David Leonard

How Much Water do you Really Use?

We’ve been warned that, as climate changes across the world, water will soon become a very scarce, precious resource – one that wars may be fought over. So, naturally, it’s incredibly important that we conserve as much as we can. But even if you take Navy showers and are otherwise super frugal with water use, you may be surprised by the real amount of water you need to get by on a daily basis. This chart by Good Magazine shows the real water cost of a number of food and beverage items, as well as the amount saved by low-flow toilets, shower heads and faucets. (Click image above to see full chart)

According to the chart, you can save 23.2 gallons of water per day by making the low-flow switch. Tea requires 28 fewer gallons of water to produce than coffee, and you can save over 32 gallons by choosing a glass of water instead of soda. It’s an eye-opener – especially when you see that it takes a whopping 1,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef. Add that to the long list of reasons to go vegetarian or cut back on the amount of meat you eat.

Link [Good Magazine]

Is Bottled Water Really So Bad?

I can’t tell you how many self-described environmentalists I know that have refrigerators full of bottled water. Not just gallon jugs, either, but giant Costco-sized packs of individual bottles. Now, we’ve all got our eco-sins – nobody’s perfect. And many of these bottled water-loving greenies assert that there are far worse habits they could have. Maybe that’s true, but bottled water and other beverages sold in individual plastic bottles certainly aren’t harmless.

Treehugger’s ‘Ask Pablo’ tackles the question, ‘Is bottled water really so bad?’

Surely there are bigger culprits out there. The problem for bottled water is that it is so ubiquitous and generally an unnecessary luxury. With most of the Western world having access to clean municipal water supplies, and even additional filtration, there is little reason to grab a pre-packaged dose of hydration, except for the sake of convenience, portability, or emergency preparedness. But successful marketing campaigns have created an image of purity, wealth, and health around bottled water and it is this situation that has triggered the bottled water backlash.

While everyone is bashing bottled water the rest of the bottled beverage industry has remained relatively untouched. This is despite the fact that all other bottled beverages contain a higher level of embodied environmental impact because they have ingredients in addition to water and their packaging is oftentimes heavier, translating into higher shipping emissions. Most of these ingredients are agricultural products: corn sweeteners for sodas, grapes for wine, grains for beer, etc. and their supply chain involves petrochemical fertilizers, diesel trucks, and processing factories. So all of a sudden bottled water doesn’t seem quite as bad, or at least this is how the bottled water industry sees it. Their argument is often that they are shifting market share away from high-calorie soft drinks to a much healthier alternative. Unfortunately this still ignores the fact that consumers can get healthy (and much cheaper) water from their tap as well as portability and convenience from Bisphenol-A free, reusable, and durable, stainless steel containers.

Pablo offers several suggestions for those who like soft drinks or carbonated water – check them out over at Treehugger.

Getting a faucet-mounted water filter is such a good investment and will go a long way toward reducing the amount of waste you produce – especially now that Brita is taking back old filters. Plus, with all of the great reusable containers out there, there’s really no reason to continue adding to the ridiculously large pile of empty plastic bottles that piles up around the world every day.

Link [Treehugger]
Photo credit: istock

Top Compounds in U.S. Drinking Water Include Pharmaceuticals, Hormones

What’s lurking in your drinking water? According to a recent study, we’re all imbibing low levels of pharmaceuticals and hormonally active chemicals every time we use water from our taps. The Southern Nevada Authority in Las Vegas screened tap water from 19 US water utilities for 51 different compounds between 2006 and 2007, and gave us the lowdown on the 11 most frequently detected compounds.

From New Scientist:

• Atenolol, a beta-blocker used to treat cardiovascular disease

• Atrazine, an organic herbicide banned in the European Union, but still used in the US, which has been implicated in the decline of fish stocks and in changes in animal behaviour

• Carbamazepine, a mood-stabilising drug used to treat bipolar disorder, amongst other things

• Estrone, an oestrogen hormone secreted by the ovaries and blamed for causing gender-bending changes in fish

• Gemfibrozil, an anti-cholesterol drug

• Meprobamate, a tranquiliser widely used in psychiatric treatment

• Naproxen, a painkiller and anti-inflammatory linked to increases in asthma incidence

• Phenytoin, an anticonvulsant that has been used to treat epilepsy

• Sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic used against the Streptococcus bacteria, which is responsible for tonsillitis and other diseases

• TCEP, a reducing agent used in molecular biology

• Trimethoprim, another antibiotic

Shane Snyder of the Southern Nevada Water Authority and Christian Daughton of the EPA’s National Exposure Research Laboratory say that these compounds don’t pose a significant public health threat because they’re found in concentrations that are millions of times lower than in a medical dose. Still, several point to potential for risk, says Daughton, especially for the fetus and those with severely compromised health.

It seems inevitable that a slow buildup of such compounds in our bodies over time would cause some problems, however. Daughton emphasizes that the presence of such pharmaceuticals in our drinking water and in the environment should make us acutely aware of the chemical sea that surrounds us. We’re exposed to unprecedented levels of chemicals that may ultimately have profound effects on the entire planet.

Snyder tells us that “contamination is a fact of modern life”, but that doesn’t mean we should continue to allow these compounds to build up in our drinking water. The US government doesn’t even regulate the presence of pharmaceuticals and other compounds in our water, and it’s hard to trust an agency that has allowed safety issues to go unchecked in the past.

Link [New Scientist]
Photo credit: Flickr user aka Kath

Iceless ‘Ice Skating’ Rink in Japan Saves Water & Energy

Ice skating is one of the most beloved winter activities, and it has a certain romance to it. Bundling up in scarves and hats, holding hands with someone while you circle the rink, sipping hot cocoa to warm up in between – who can resist it? But, indoor ice skating rinks in particular use an awful lot of water when making ice, and it takes a lot of electricity to keep it frozen. One ‘ice skating’ rink in Japan solved that problem by replacing ice with resin panels.

From Green Packs, via EcoFriend:

Toyama prefecture is located in northern Japan. It gets cold there in the winter, but not really cold enough to freeze a lake or a pond. Not to worry, Japan has an answer to those who still want to go skating. There’s a skating made out of resin, plastic. It’s 300-square-meters square and billed as environmentally friendly.

The rink uses some 80 pieces of plastic glued together and skaters can frolic about as if they were on ice. Speed is slower because of greater friction and I don’t suppose your hands get cold when you fall down. Ah, and no worrying about going through the ice and into the drink either.

Interesting idea, though it does take away most of the atmosphere of ice skating. But, plastic? Is that really the best approach? If they had used recycled plastic, it would be far more eco-friendly.

Of course, the more eco-friendly option is to ice skate on naturally frozen bodies of water that have been deemed safe by local authorities. Outdoor ice skating rinks in areas where the cold weather keeps the water frozen are generally okay, too.

Link [Green Packs] + [Eco Friend]

California Cities Considering Alternatives to Grass

Cookie Smith won a home beautification award from the city of Garden Grove, California, for her lush, green lawn. Smith was especially proud of the reward considering that her lawn – which set her back an incredible $10,000 – was artificial, and the city couldn’t even tell. In fact, Garden Grove has a ban on artificial turf.

Ironically, Garden Grove – and many other areas of California – is under a water conservation order, yet they still require homeowners to keep their lawns alive. Smith’s neighbor was shocked when he complied with the order to conserve water and was hit with a $50 fine when his grass withered and turned brown.

From the Ventura County Star:

“It’s kind of like saying ‘We want you to look like Brooke Shields, but we don’t want you to use any makeup,’” Smith said.

Now some cities are reconsidering their lawn laws and exploring alternatives to homes with perfect rectangles of green.

The state’s ever-growing population and the threat of a prolonged drought could kill the concept of the traditional lawn in California, where some communities conduct patrols looking for signs that homeowners are lavishing too much water on their lawns or letting it dribble down driveways.

Officials estimate that up to 70 percent of a family’s water bill is spent on landscaping.

Still, many will be reluctant to abandon lawns entirely. Thick carpets of grass have defined the landscape of suburban America for more than a century, and a healthy lawn in this semiarid climate is a status symbol.

Okay, this is ridiculous. California city councils, what the hell are you thinking? How irresponsible is it to waste precious, scarce water resources on a lawn that does absolutely nothing but sit there and look pretty? Lawns aren’t even as attractive as native gardens can be. They don’t provide food. They don’t provide a welcoming habitat for wildlife. Californians complain about the water restrictions and then turn around and waste thousands of gallons of water on this bourgeoisie ‘status symbol’.

Sorry if I sound like your mother telling you to clean your plate, but there are people in Africa who don’t have a drop of clean, fresh water to drink. This is the sort of thing that makes people across the world view America as a land of selfish, narcissistic idiots.

And people, artificial turf is NOT THE ANSWER. For one, it’s often toxic. It’s made from petroleum. It heats up and kills all of the beneficial organisms in the soil below, essentially rendering the land barren. It can harbor germs. And when your neighbor’s dog drops a deuce on it, that pile isn’t going to decompose and disappear into the earth. It’s just going to sit there until you clean it up. Have fun with that.

Californians and residents of other parched areas of America are going to have to part with their lawns eventually, like it or not. More water isn’t going to magically appear to meet the needs of all of these people plus the millions more that will move there in the next couple of decades, and keep their stupid lawns green.

Link [Ventura County Star]

Starbucks Wastes 23.4 Million Liters of Water Daily

British newspaper The Sun discovered last weekend that Starbucks has been wasting millions of liters of water every day by keeping a tap running non-stop at all of its 10,000 locations worldwide. The amount of water wasted is enough to provide daily water for the 2 million drought-stricken Namibians or to fill an Olympic pool every 83 minutes.

Every single Starbucks store has a cold tap behind the counter for a sink called a ‘dipper well’ which is used for washing spoons and utensils, and staff are banned from turning the water off under the misguided notion that leaving the tap on stops germs from breeding in the taps.

From The Sun:

And the claim that running taps are needed for hygiene reasons was dismissed by experts as “nonsense”.

A single Starbucks tap left running for just over three minutes wastes the amount of water one African needs to survive for a day in drought conditions.

The Sun investigated after a Starbucks executive revealed the policy in a letter to a couple who complained about a tap left running at their local branch.

Lisa Woolfe, 39, of Cuffley, Herts, said: “I noticed a small sink behind the counter had its tap running. The assistant said the store was told to keep it running as it cleaned the pipes.

“I could not believe it but when we contacted head office, they confirmed that the taps were left on and the water was not recycled.

“It is an absolutely astonishing waste of water, especially for a company which prides itself on its green credentials.”

The Sun confirmed taps running at Starbucks all over the world, from Vienna, Austria to Cluj, Romania (there are Starbucks in Romania?).  It’s even happening in drought-stricken Australia, where water is currently a very precious commodity.  Check out video of the taps running at The Sun website.

Way to waste, Starbucks.  This is really an astoundingly stupid thing to do, especially for a company so conscious of its image – did they think people would forgive them because they claim to be doing it for hygienic reasons?

If you still frequent Starbucks, this is as good a reason as any to shift your business to other coffeehouses – hopefully local ones.  It’s an outrage that they would hold such blatant disregard not only for the conservation of precious resources but for the people who are desperately in need of water.

Link [The Sun]
Photo credit: EarthFirst composite/Flickr user mobilestreetlife

Innovate or Die: A Bike Makes Clean Water

In addition to reducing pollution by taking cars off the road, bicycles can be used to bring clean water to people around the world. Team Aquaduct won the Innovate or Die contest by creating a pedal powered vehicle that transports, filters, and stores water for the developing world.

The YouTube description explains how the Aquaduct works:

A peristaltic pump attached to the pedal crank draws water from a large tank, through a filter, to a smaller clean tank. The clean tank is removable and closed for contamination-free home storage and use. A clutch engages and disengages the drive belt from the pedal crank, enabling the rider to filter the water while traveling or while stationary.

EPA Decides Not to Remove Rocket Fuel from Drinking Water

There’s a toxic rocket fuel ingredient in drinking water across the country, and the Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t care. Though the EPA is officially in charge of protecting the public from dangers such as this, they reached the conclusion that the ingredient, perchlorate, would not result in a “meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public-water systems.”  So, despite the fact that perchlorate – which has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at dangerously high levels – interferes with thyroid function and could pose developmental health risks, especially for babies and fetuses, the EPA doesn’t think it’s too important.

From The Huffington Post:

The Defense Department used perchlorate for decades in testing missiles and rockets, and most perchlorate contamination is the result of defense and aerospace activities, congressional investigators said last year.

The Pentagon could face liability if EPA set a national drinking water standard that forced water agencies around the country to undertake costly clean-up efforts. Defense officials have spent years questioning EPA’s conclusions about the risks posed by perchlorate.

The Pentagon objected strongly Monday to the suggestion that it sought to influence EPA’s decision.

Of course they denied pressuring the EPA – there’d be public outrage if they admitted it. That’s the Bush administration’s way – they make the decisions that are advantageous to themselves, and lie to everyone about their methods and motivations. The EPA’s decision basically amounts to announcing that they don’t care about public health. It’s pretty sick, but not surprising given what the Bush presidency has put this country through for the last 8 years.

The next president is going to have a lot to clean up, and if we want anything to get done, we’d better do all we can to ensure McCain and Palin don’t win the election.

Link [The Huffington Post]

‘Truth in Hydration’ Pushing Bottled NYC Tap Water

Bottled water aficionados were upset when we all learned the truth about where the Dasani and Aquafina brands of bottled water actually come from: the tap.  The public had been led to believe that bottled water was cleaner, purer, safer and better-tasting than tap water, so they felt duped.  Maybe that’s why bottled water company Tap’dNY is pushing their product through a blog called ‘Truth in Hydration’.  Tap’dNY is NYC tap water in a bottle, and the company is focusing on the idea of ‘honesty in marketing of water’.

From the Truth in Hydration blog:

Tap’dNY is a bottled water company with a local twist and a knack for honesty. We don’t travel the world from Fiji to France seeking water or offer the usual bottled water gimmicks. We work with NYC’s public water system to source the world’s best tasting tap water, purify it through reverse osmosis and bottle it locally, leaving out ludicrous transportation miles.

We offer an honest and local alternative to thirsty New Yorkers, giving them a smarter choice: to drink their own (award winning) water.

…local tap water? Is this a retreat in the war on bottled water, or a pragmatic solution to a problem that’s not going away (that is- people like the convenience of bottled water and are too lazy to carry around a Sigg)?  It’s difficult to predict whether a bottled-water-obsessed America will ever shift toward carrying reusable containers instead of buying and tossing so much plastic.

For New Yorkers, at least, Tap’dNY water doesn’t seem worth the price: they can get the same thing from any tap in town, for free.  And, many people across the US could benefit similarly by simply fitting their faucet with a filter and getting in the habit of bringing a container everywhere they go.  But, America is entranced with anything labeled ‘more convenient’, so bottled water might not be going anywhere.  In that case, at least Tap’dNY is being honest about where their water comes from, and bottling local water is certainly greener than importing it from across the globe.

Link [Truth in Hydration] via [Neatorama]

Orange County, California’s Sewage to Drinking Water Treatment Plant Finished

Here in America, we have a water problem – and I’m not just talking about shortages. We waste incredible, mind-boggling amounts of it. There are so many things we can do to use water more wisely, and in parched Santa Ana, California, officials are getting creative in a way that has some residents angry and disgusted. They’re recycling toilet water. Like it or not, people might as well get used to ideas like these – it’s wasting so much water that’s really disgusting.

From The New York Times:

When you flush in Santa Ana, the waste makes its way to the sewage-treatment plant nearby in Fountain Valley, then sluices not to the ocean but to a plant that superfilters the liquid until it is cleaner than rainwater. The “new” water is then pumped 13 miles north and discharged into a small lake, where it percolates into the earth. Local utilities pump water from this aquifer and deliver it to the sinks and showers of 2.3 million customers. It is now drinking water. If you like the idea, you call it indirect potable reuse. If the idea revolts you, you call it toilet to tap.

Recycling sewage into potable water was a no-brainer for Orange County; an ever-rising population meant that a new $200M sewage pipeline would have needed to be built, and they over-pumped their groundwater basin to the point of drawing seawater into their water supply. So, the sewage to water plan works out for a lot of reasons. It sounds gross at first, but the process used to clean the water really is incredibly thorough.

If you think about it, though, why are we flushing so much fresh, clean, potable water in the first place? Greywater systems that at least divert used water from the bathroom sink and/or shower could be used to flush toilets instead. It seems absurd to foul perfectly good drinking water in such a way. The way we use water is so messed up and backwards. Hopefully we’ll do a lot of catching up in the coming decades as people realize how precious a resource it really is.

To read about the full treatment process that transforms the sewage into drinkable water, read the full piece in The New York Times.

Link [The New York Times]
Photo credit: Flickr user Oracio Alvarado

Nearly Waterless Washing Machine Coming in ’09

A ‘nearly waterless’ washing machine developed by Leeds University researchers is set to debut in 2009. And when they say nearly waterless, they mean nearly waterless – as in only 1 cup. On top of that, it needs only a ‘pinch’ of detergent, and the clothes come out almost completely dry, so there’s no need to throw them in the dryer or even mess with clotheslines. It also uses just 2% of the energy of a conventional washing machine.

From Physorg.com:

“We have shown that it can remove all sorts of everyday stains, including coffee and lipstick, while using a tiny fraction of the water used by conventional washing machines,” Burkinshaw said.

When doing a load of wash, users throw their clothes in like a normal washing machine. Then a cartridge in the back of the machine adds plastic chips – about 45 pounds (20 kg) of them – to the load. Next, a cup of water containing the detergent is added. After the water dissolves the dirt, the chips absorb the water, without the need for a rinse or spin cycle. When finished, a grill at the bottom of the machine opens to collect the chips.

We’re just beginning to see what can be achieved when people actually put a lot of effort into sustainable, earth-friendly products and designs. Since washing machines account for a huge chunk of household water use, this could really help us all save lots of water. Green tech FTW!

Link [Physorg.com] + [Xeros]

Lake Chad 1/20th its Former Size

Lake Chad is virtually vanishing at an alarming rate – a consequence of mismanagement of freshwater that experts warn could lead to a major worldwide water crisis. Lake Chad was once the third-largest body of fresh water in Africa, and 40 years ago had a surface area equivalent to Lake Eerie. An intense long-standing drought in combination with tremendous demand from nearby villages has reduced it drastically.

From Circle of Blue:

The shrinking lake has had a substantial impact on the local populations, as entire communities have switched from a fishing-lifestyle to one of farming and agriculture. Local communities that once ringed the shores of the lake are now isolated villages — miles from water — and these populations have literally begun farming the now-dry lake bottom. Much like the drying of Uzbekistan’s Aral Sea, the impacts are far-reaching and complex.

Jonathon Foley and Michael Coe of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, found that while the drought has caused significant declines in water levels, human factors are mostly to blame for the present levels.

“There are enough people in the world now that we need to start planning and looking at fresh water as a finite resource or we’re going to be in trouble. We don’t get any more.”

Expecting to still have plenty of fresh water available despite the double-whammy of population increase and climate change is dangerous and potentially catastrophic. With examples like Lake Chad showing us the reality of a potential water crisis, it’s time to start approaching our water resources in a different way.

Link [Circle of Blue]

Young British Adventurer to Sail the Mississippi on Juice Carton Boat

Is it just me, or are there a lot of people deemed ‘British adventurers’ in the press? I rarely hear the term ‘American adventurer’, ‘Italian adventurer’ or, you know, ‘Kazakhstani adventurer’. Rhys Jones, a 22-year-old ‘British adventurer’ is set to sail the Mississippi River on a boat made of juice cartons. Jones is already known as being the youngest person ever to climb the world’s highest seven summits.

From Gizmodo:

Actually, the idea was conceived by his father after he received a book about origami. Naturally, his first thought was to build a 12-foot raft with a wooden cabin and a paper hull lined with juice cartons and sail 3,700 miles down one of the most treacherous rivers in the world.

As mentioned, the father and son team plan to set sail this weekend on what will undoubtedly be a 3-4 month trip down the river. In the end, Rhys and his father hope to recycle the boat and raise awareness about conserving the Earth’s natural resources. So remember kids, not recycling is bad, but risking your life for no apparent reason is still a-ok.

I want to go on an adventure with a British adventurer. Preferably, this one. So, David, if you need a crewmate, you know how to reach me.

Link [Gizmodo]
Photo credit: Metro.co.uk

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