News about water

As we get our new blog off the ground, we thought you'd like to have access to some articles about water from around the country. Do you have a tip about a water-related news story? Let us know! Here are some stories that have appeared recently. Check back every week for a roundup of water-related news.

Drugs are in the water. Does it matter?
From the New York Times, April 3, 2008

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.

This story reminds us not to flush unused medications down the toilet. Throw unused medicine away in the trash (mix them with something unpleasant, like cat litter or coffee grounds). You can also ask your pharmacist about a "take back" program.

Next up: bottled water. If you're like many people, you drink lots of bottled water. But are you aware of the true cost of bottled water? Check out these articles and think about your "water drinking habits."

Depleted Aquifers and Water Roulette
Droves of well-intentioned Americans are annually buying over 10 billion bottles of water that costs 1,000 times more than tap water. Why? In general bottled water is not any healthier than tap water, and in some cases, less so. The manufacture and transport of these single-use plastic bottles require precious energy, while releasing toxic chemicals both in their making and disposal in landfills or outright litter. Drinking water of course is vital for good health. But every citizen is entitled to clean water. If tap water quality is at issue, then the municipality should clean it up; or the homeowner can simply install a filter. Responsible citizens might also reuse a stainless steel container filled with tap water instead of supporting the bottling industry.

And even though we're getting a lot of rain lately, we're still officially in a drought (although now it's only "extreme" instead of "exceptional"). How can that be? Our groundwater hasn't fully recharged from the almost two years of drought. To read another article from the New York Times about drought issues in our area:

New to Being Dry, the South Struggles to Adapt

Alabama, where severe drought is even more widespread, is even further behind in its planning.

A realistic statewide plan, experts say, would tell developers that they could not build if no water was available, and might have restricted some of the enormous growth in the Atlanta area over the last decade. Already, officials have little notion how to provide for a projected doubling of demand over the next 30 years. The ideas that have been floated, including piping in water from Tennessee or desalinating ocean water, would require hundreds of billions of dollars and painful decision making the state has been reluctant to undertake.

''It's been develop first and ask questions later,'' said Gil Rogers, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center.