Salt Forces South China Cities to go Upstream for Water
Salty tap water that affects up to 50 million people has forced the Asian gambling hub Macau and its sister city Zhuhai to hastily build a pipeline to access water further upstream, a water official said on Monday.
The problem has become worse in recent years as the flow of water down the western tributaries of the Pearl River slowed and the sea level rose, allowing salt water to spread further inland.
Drought, hydroelectric dams and sand dredging in rivers have compounded the problem, said Fan Xiaojun, deputy general manager of the Macao Water Supply Co. Ltd., which manages water in the former Portuguese colony.
"In recent years the frequency of this problem has become much, much higher," Fan said on the sidelines of a water conference in Hong Kong.
For more information, please visit: Planet Ark
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Zimbabwe: Zinwa Wades Into Flooded Bottled Water Market
THE Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) has begun bottling and selling water in order to fund the purchase of water purification chemicals and to relieve debt, Water Resources Minister Munacho Mutezo has said.
The water authority needs at least 130 tonnes of aluminium sulphate on a daily basis, and is saddled with heavy debts to Zesa and chemical supplier Zimphos.
Mutezo said the water bottling project had already passed Ministry of Health requirements on water purity.
The water would sell under the brand name "Kumakomo Springs", Mutezo said, and would soon be on the already crowded bottled water market.
For more information, please visit: allAfrica
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Strategies for Water Source Development - The Legal Aspects
The American Water WorksAssociation (AWWA) announces a new webcast that will highlight the legalissues surrounding water source development concerns. The webcast,"Strategies for Water Source Development - The Legal Aspects" will be heldWednesday, January 24, 2007 from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. ET.
The webcast will explore prominent legal issues in bringingsupplemental water supplies on line for future needs. Topics covered willinclude:
-- Section 404 permits under the Clean Water Act
-- Ground Water Permitting
-- Conjunctive Management Practice
-- Climate Change Impacts
-- Differences in EPA regions
-- Purchasing mitigation properties in advance
-- Identifying sites that do not fall under 404 jurisdiction
-- Parking water on top of ground water
-- Negotiating with Native American tribes
-- Discovery of fossils
-- Planning for a recreation component
-- Bonding without election
-- Endangered Species Act
For more information, please visit: PRNewswire-USNewswire
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Thames Water Lifts Hosepipe Ban After More Rainfall
Thames Water Plc, Britain's biggest water utility with 8 million customers, today lifted its ban on the use of hosepipes and sprinklers after four months of above-average rainfall.
Thames Water was among eight U.K. utilities that imposed water restrictions last April amid the worst drought in more than 70 years. The hosepipe ban, the first in 15 years, prompted complaints from customers as Thames Water failed to meet a target from the water regulator to reduce leakages.
"The recent wet weather has allowed us to fill our reservoirs,'' Thames Water's Environment Director Richard Aylard said in an e-mailed statement. "Groundwater levels are also rising and are expected to have recovered to at least near-normal levels by February.''
For more information, please visit: Bloomberg.com
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Chlorinated Water Exposure May Boost Cancer Risk
Drinking, bathing or swimming in chlorinated water may increase the risk of bladder cancer, a new study shows.
The findings are the first to suggest that these chemicals can be harmful when they are inhaled or absorbed through the skin, as well as when they are ingested, Dr. Cristina M. Villanueva of the Municipal Institute of Medical Research in Barcelona, and colleagues note.
Chemicals, most commonly chlorine, used to disinfect water can produce by-products that have been tied to increased cancer risk, Villanueva and her team point out. The most prevalent chlorination by-products, chemicals called trihalomethanes (THM), can be absorbed into the body through the skin or by inhalation, they add.
For more information, please visit: Scientific American
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