Africa: Pope Calls Water an Inalienable Right
Pope Benedict XVI has called water an "inalienable right" and said it is a moral and political imperative to everybody with knowledge and technology to contribute in bringing an end to scarcity of water.
In a message sent on his behalf by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, during the U.N. World Water Day, celebrated each March 22, the Pope said that there is a "shared responsibility in managing this precious resource and enabling access by all, especially those living in conditions of poverty."
"We are all called to modify our way of life in an educational effort capable of returning the worth and respect merited by this common resource for humanity," the message further said.
For more information, please visit: AllAfrica
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Drugs Are in the Water. Does It Matter?
Residues of birth control pills, antidepressants, painkillers, shampoos and a host of other compounds are finding their way into the nation's waterways, and they have public health and environmental officials in a regulatory quandary.
On the one hand, there is no evidence the traces of the chemicals found so far are harmful to human beings. On the other hand, it would seem cavalier to ignore them.
The pharmaceutical and personal care products, or P.P.C.P.'s, are being flushed into the nation's rivers from sewage treatment plants or leaching into groundwater from septic systems. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, researchers have found these substances, called "emerging contaminants," almost everywhere they have looked for them.
For more information, please visit: NYTimes
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Polluted Water Puts 2.5M Residents At Risk
More than 2.5 million people are at risk from contaminated drinking water caused by heavy pollution at five water plants in this southern Chinese city, a recent study has claimed.
Guangzhou has eight water plants, but supplies at the Jiangcun, Shimen, Xicun, Shixi and Baihedong facilities have been contaminated by heavy metals, chemicals and other industrial pollutants, the study said.
Conducted by the population, resource and environment commission of the Guangdong Political People's Consultative Conference (GPPCC), the study has been passed to the province's top advisory body for consideration.
The five plants have a combined drinking water output of 2.53 million cubic tons, and supply about 2.67 million people throughout Guangzhou's Liwan and Yuexiu districts and parts of Baiyun and Haizhu.
The plants are fed from the Liuxi River and western section of the Pearl River route.
For more information, please visit: CHINAdaily
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Man Sells Bottled Rainwater
Drinking bottled water is all the rage. But a new kind of bottled water is being made in Central Texas.
There's spring, artesian, and glacier bottled water, just name a few. But what about rainwater?
(The following is a transcript of Kate Weidaw's story).
Yes, the stuff that falls from the sky is being bottled and sold right here in Central Texas.
And if you think that sounds dirty, then you have to watch this story.
"We have 10 acres," said Richard Heinichen, bottles rainwater.
Just off 290 in Dripping Springs, you'll find the area's first gas station.
"People used to drive up the road. It was a Chevron gas station in 1945," said Heinichen.
It's now become the location for the first bottling plant for rainwater.
For more information, please visit: KXAN
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Water Managers Turn Off The Taps From The Glades
The South Florida Water Management Agency has turned off the taps to the Everglades.
A new water availability rule, now in effect, prevents counties from tapping the Everglades as a source of water for new development. Existing water supply permits will not be revoked, but new permits to use water from River of Grass will not be approved.
This is the first time in history that water from the Everglades has been declared off limits.
For more information, please visit: CBS4
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