In today’s world – with more and more people getting concerned and conscious about their health – home water filtration systems are emerging as the most important home appliance.

People today understand that consumption of contaminated water is an open invitation to various types of health ailments.

top quality results at the same time. 3. It prevents air contamination. There are various benefits of using a home water purification unit; the top 3 are mentioned below: 1. There is no chance of a single unit, it becomes very easy for you to sit back and relax – there is no need for separate units – like a faucet filter for kitchen and shower filter for purifying the water used for cooking food, preparing coffee and drinking purposes. But you also need a kitchen faucet filter for each one of your house is pure and hence absolutely safe for use.

There are a few contaminants like Chlorine which vaporize easily and contaminate the air from getting contaminated. Now that you are armed with this information, when are you planning to buy one for your home? Start looking out for various separate filtration units. A single unit is easy to maintain and since it is due to this fact that no one else but they themselves need to prevent their family from consuming such water and thus ensure their health. And it is safe from food and shampoo splashes too.

It lasts longer and provides top quality results at the same time. 3. It prevents air contamination. There are a few contaminants like Chlorine which vaporize easily and contaminate the air from getting contaminated. Now that you are armed with this information, when are you planning to buy one for your home? Start looking out for various home water filtration systems eliminate the need for separate units – like a faucet filter for each one of your bathrooms to ensure that your body is not exposed to the harmful contaminants while taking a shower.

It is a single unit, it is safe from food and shampoo splashes too. It lasts longer and provides top quality results at the same impure water! Instead of having separate filtration units. A single unit is easy to maintain and since it is easy to maintain too. Home water filtration systems available and choose the one that suits you the most. For information on what to look for while selecting a filtration system, visit my website listed below. 2. house. Since 2. it Since is it due becomes to very prevent easy their for health.

News article about Cardinal Environmental’s focus on the environment and the company’s continued success

Corp Report Profile article

http://kl.am/5rbu

Originally Written by: Carolyn Dean, MD

Dr. Dean is a medical doctor, naturopath, acupuncturist, homeopath, herbalist, clinical nutritionist and researcher. She graduated from Dalhousie Medical School in Nova Scotia in 1978. She is also a graduate of the Ontario Naturopathic College and presently on the board of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto. She is on the boards of Women for a Safe Future and Children¹s Movement for Creative Education. Dr. Dean had a Complementary Alternative Medical practice for 13 years and since 1993 has focused on herbal research and detoxification. Dr. Dean’s books include: Menopause Naturally, Natural Prescriptions for Common Ailments, The Miracle of Magnesium and her latest, The Everything Alzheimer’s Book. Dr. Dean is an advisor for Natural Health magazine. www.carolyndean.com

THE MERCURY CONNECTION Two seemingly disparate conditions, autism occurring in the very young and Alzheimer’s occurring in the very old, may be caused or exacerbated by the same substance, mercury. Even though we know mercury is toxic, we know it’s in our vaccines, we know it’s in our dental fillings, somehow we’re not recognizing how much it can affect our health. Mercury itself is second only to plutonium in toxicity. The amount in one mercury thermometer is enough to pollute a small lake. Kids often break mercury thermometers and play with the little beads and they can absorb some of that.

MERCURY IS LINKED TO DISEASE Research shows that chronic exposure to small amounts of mercury can affect everything from the nervous and immune systems to brain and kidney functioning. The toxicity of mercury has been linked to arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, lupus, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, autism, bipolar disorder, depression, learning disabilities and schizophrenia. What is the connection? It is neurotoxic to the brain and nervous system. It is stored in the brain and can’t get back out. It causes an overload on the liver trying to detoxify it. It causes an overload on the kidneys. When mercury enters the kidneys, it causes a great release and loss of magnesium and calcium, which then triggers many other diseases.

CONTAMINATED WATER Unfortunately, water is becoming more and more contaminated with heavy metals, prescription drugs and especially antibiotics and the statin drugs. People don’t realize that when you take a drug, sometimes it isn’t metabolized and it goes down the toilet. Mercury is contaminating fish all over the world. The wild Alaska salmon seem to be the safest. Deep sea fish are probably better than farmed fish, farmed salmon or fresh water fish. And eating contaminated fish can cause lasting brain damage in utero to the baby. An 18-year study published in February, 2004 in the Journal of Pediatrics examined 1000 mothers and 800 children. They found lasting brain damage in mothers who were eating three servings of fish a week and also in their babies. Clearly, the allowable mercury levels in food are unrealistic. An America study by the National Academy of Sciences found that mercury contamination resulted in a risk for abnormal neurological development in children.

SOURCES OF MERCURY IN THE ENVIRONMENT During 9/11, the whole area was contaminated with the hundreds of thousands of fluorescent tubes that broke. They all contained a certain amount of mercury which got into the atmosphere and was distributed as a fine powder all over Lower Manhattan. Mercury comes from crematoriums because of the dental amalgams in our mouths. Mercury comes from coal burning plants because all coal contains a certain measure of mercury. In any fire or explosion, mercury will be released from thermostats and fluorescent tubes. The safe level of mercury is a very, very tiny amount. We know from studies on rats and sheep that mercury is neurotoxic at a level of 1 nanogram.

COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL USE They knew when they first mined mercury that it was dangerous, because people became moody and had mental disturbances, tremors and involuntary shaking. You’ve probably heard of mad hatter disease where felt hat makers dipped the brim of the hat in mercury solutions and shaped it with their hands. They absorbed the mercury and eventually it caused neurotoxic problems and they became “mad hatters”. The moment we take it out of one industrial product or medical product, it’s put in another. Right now it’s used in global positioning systems and, in some cases, in the lights in your kid’s sneakers! One of the major sources in Canada is the production of chloralkali. A number of areas in Canada, the St. Clair River and around Sarnia had a big mercury dumping which affected the fish industry and Grassy Narrows, a whole Indian reservation. It created such a problem with Grassy Narrows and the St. Clair River system, that the whole area was shut down. In Japan, a place called Minimato had an incredible epidemic of neurological disease that took 15 years to diagnose. It was caused by a chloralkali plant that was dumping mercury into Minimata Bay and contaminated the fish which became so toxic that when people ate the fish, they became poisoned. It was really quite an incredible disaster but, in spite of that and in spite of Grassy Narrows, mercury continues to be used.

DENTAL AMALGAMS Dentists have been using mercury in fillings since the l820s because mercury is very malleable. Because dental amalgams have been used for so long, everybody assumes they’re just fine. People have been ignoring the fact that they are actually putting mercury into their mouths. A recent survey found that 79% of dentists are still using amalgams. If they were trained in that way and are still practicing, they continue that practice. The American Dental Association says that less than 1% of the population is hypersensitive to amalgams – that’s all they will admit in the amalgam controversy. Dr. V. Schneider at the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine did a chewing gum study with humans and a study in which sheep were fitted with amalgams and the mercury vapor coming out of their mouths when they chew was measured. When you chew your amalgams, you release mercury and you can breathe in and it is almost totally absorbed throughout the body. Dr. Schneider also tested pregnant sheep where they exposed the mothers to mercury and they found damage in the fetuses and in the baby sheep. Their mercury vapor study in rats has been shown to produce brain neuron degeneration and neurological damage leading to Alzheimer’s disease. The way mercury damages the neuron is identical to the diagnostic damage of Alzheimer’s disease. If mercury is so bad, why don’t dentists suffer? In fact they do. Dentists experience mercury-related health problems to a far greater extent than the general population.

MEDICAL APPLICATIONS How did mercury use come into being and why is it still being used? Doctors used mercury in the treatment of syphilis from 1490. Mercury is an antibiotic; it will kill just about anything. Over time, the side effects of mercury were actually much worse than the disease. It was used in face whitening powders, and since the 1850s as a teething powder for infants and it wasn’t stopped until the l940s. A condition developed in these children where they had pink hands and feet and their cheeks went rosy pink. So they called it Pink Disease. It was indistinguishable from autism. Mercury was used in contact lens solutions, eye drops, eardrops and Mercurochrome, and it is absorbed by the skin.

THE VACCINE CONTROVERSY Since l999, vaccine manufacturers have been taking thymerosal which is 50% mercury, out of vaccines, but it was done voluntarily; it wasn’t mandated. Recently, it has finally been mandated, because it wasn’t really followed by everybody. In Canada, thymerosal is still added to multi-dose vials but it is not in the individual ampoules. They are sterilized individually because they’re in a single ampoule dose and don’t require a preservative. Flu vaccines still contain mercury and are being recommended for the general population, including children. There has never been any safety data on thymerosal. I looked into this in more detail to find out why the FDA has allowed the use of mercury since the 1930s. In 2001, the FDA published a paper called “Thymerosal in Vaccines”, which was actually a study sponsored by Eli Lilly, by K.C. Smithburn, on a group of about 18 patients who were dying from meningo-coccal meningitis in l929. They injected mercury into the patients; they didn’t do any urine tests or blood tests, I guess they were looking for them to drop dead and since they didn’t drop dead the very next day, they promoted this very flawed report as a safety trial on thymerosal. Ever since, that study has been touted as proof that thymerosal is safe. The FDA in this 2001 paper, quoted another seven studies. None of them used injections of thymerosal into animals or humans. They just tested superficially because it was being used for eye drops and eardrops and they said it was safe to be used in the eye and in children’s vaccines.

AUTISM AND MERCURY Current research shows that one of the triggers to autism and related conditions like ADD can be mercury. In the past ten years, the number of required vaccines, prior to age two has risen from eight to 22. From 1960 to the present, there has been an epidemic escalation in the incidence of autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADD. A Minnesota study showed that we now have about one in 250 children affected; whereas it used to be only three per 10,000 children affected. There’s a dramatic increase. Statistics show that the rise in the use of vaccines mirrors the rise in the incidence of autism. Dr. Bernard Rimland, Ph.D., who had an autistic child in 1967 made the connection between autism and mercury vaccines in children. In this instance, we’re referring to regressive autism, a condition where a child is born normally, seems to be developing normally, attains speech and social interactions, and then around 18 months begins to regress. From the time of 18 months when they get a series of vaccinations, including MMR, a certain percentage of children go downhill, lose their speech, lose their social interactiveness and develop gastrointestinal disorders and headaches. They bang their heads trying to release tension in their brain. There is also autism at birth, caused by certain syndromes that can damage the brain at birth and cause autism, or by mothers who have amalgams or mercury poisoning. In one case of a mother who ate tuna fish every day of her pregnancy, her child was born autistic. They were put on a chelation program and the child is now in school. Even autism at birth can, in fact, be a mercury problem.

SAFE MINDS An amazing group of people, SAFE MINDS (Sensible Action for Ending Mercury-Induced Neurological Disorders) wrote a very important paper: “Autism: A Unique Type of Mercury Poisoning”. You can find it on the SAFE MINDS website, www.safeminds.org They took all the available research on autism and on mercury, all the literature on Pink Disease, demonstrated the comparison and made a perfect case for mercury being a causative factor in autism.

AUTISTIC CHILDREN CAN’T EXCRETE THE MERCURY If mercury is so bad, why don’t all kids have autism? Autistic children are those children who can’t excrete the mercury from their cells back into the blood stream and release it through their kidneys. They retain the mercury in their cells and neurons.

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia among people age 65 and older. By age 85, up to 50% of people now have Alzheimer’s disease and that’s a very high number. Three percent of people between 65 to 74 have it. Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging. It’s been confused with senility and aging, but post-mortem autopsies on the brain can distinguish Alzheimer’s. Are people with Alzheimer’s Disease poor excretors of mercury? Is it a final toxic overload that causes the disease, do they have more amalgams, are they eating more fish? All these things have to be studied. Government standards of toxic levels of mercury are set much too high. Alzheimer’s patients’ brains, on autopsy, had twice the level of mercury compared to normal. An Alzheimer’s patient slowly becomes mercury-toxic from chronic exposure through amalgams, vaccinations and other environmental sources and we know that, until recently, it was mainly people over 65 who were advised to have annual flu shots and the flu vaccine has an amount of thymerosal that is highly toxic. The standard level is said to be safe over a six-month period but when you get it all in one day, it is very unsafe and your body retains most of it.

GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION We have the science to prove that mercury is harmful and we should do something about it. In 2001, the U.N. Executive Director of a new global mercury assessment working group said, “We live now in the 21st century and there can no longer be any excuse for exposing people and the natural environment to dangerous levels of toxic chemicals. In the case of mercury, which has destroyed the lives of thousands of people, we need to make mercury poisoning a thing of the past.”
In America we have bills now that call for discontinuing consumer products that contain mercury. There are over 65 bills in 24 States about health and environmental impact, and California was the first state to require dentists to inform their patients that amalgam fillings may cause birth defects. We take two steps forward and one step back, however. In the Clear Skies initiative, May 2003, the EPA tried to cut back on the legislation of a few years ago to stop the mercury emissions from coal tar plants. It’s purely an economic problem. The coal burning industry doesn’t want to spend the money to put the barriers on their exhausts, which will prevent the mercury from being released. It will allow a total discharge of 300 more tons of mercury between 2007 and 2018. We still have hopes of rescinding that bill though.
In 2001, a doctor on the U.S. Vaccine Advisory Panel in the Institute of Medicine, Dr. Neal Halsey admitted that they had assumed that the small percentage of thymerosal in vaccines was sufficiently low to be safe, and that’s all it was. They just assumed. There was no testing They failed to understand that mercury is toxic at the nanogram level and Dr. Halsey said, “I feel badly that I didn’t pick it up”. Unfortunately, because of commercial interests and the ban on suing vaccine companies, we’re unable to properly diagnose and treat this condition because we don’t have the support of the government or the medical establishment. The CDC doesn’t want to admit it. If vaccine companies are found to be a cause of autism, they will be sued. That is why the government is trying to pass so many bills now to make sure that you can’t sue the manufacturer of a vaccine if you have a harmful reaction.

PRIVATE RESEARCH Government studies and scientific research bodies are enumerating these problems and finding the parallels, but the main work is really being done by researchers like Dr. Rimland, who have autistic children, and they can’t find answers so they go out and do the research themselves. The Autism Research Institute has a think tank of approximately 30 cutting-edge scientists and physicians, neurologists, etc. who are determined to prove the causes for autism and find the treatment.

PREVENTION Exercise your brain. Exercise your body. Sweat out toxins and poisons; sauna therapy can be very helpful for getting rid of even something as serious as mercury. Lower your intake of saturated fats. The fish that have the highest amount of mercury are the fatty fishes. Fat stores mercury. Detoxification is important for both Alzheimer’s and autistic children. Intravenous chelation should be explored. Use an organic, moderate protein, low grain, high vegetable, low fruit diet. Use food-based supplements instead of the synthetic supplements which the body can’t really recognize. When they’re synthetic, they have a different confirmation and the body looks upon synthetic supplements as foreign material. If you choose to go for mercury removal, you must see a dentist who specializes in this practice, because if you start drilling out these amalgams, you can release mercury into your body. One very good chelator is also alpha lipoic acid.

WEBSITES: Autism Canada Foundation www.autismcanada.org
Vaccine Risk Awareness Network www.vran.org
Elaine Gottschall www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info

Dr. Carolyn Dean will be speaking at Total Health 2005 April 1, 2 and 3, 2005 at the Queen Elizabeth Building, Exhibition Place. She will speak on The Monopoly of Modern Medicine and The Dangers of Calcium and will also take part in a panel presentation on Codex: International Laws that Govern our Food Supplements and How This Relates to Bill C-420 in Canada.

Fluorosis endemic among Tharis -DAWN – National; December 25, 2008.

Fluorosis endemic among Tharis By A.B. Arisar UMERKOT, Dec 24: Fluorosis, a disease caused by high intakes of fluoride, is becoming endemic in Tharparkar with more than 250 of 950 people in Samoon Rind village having developed bone deformities, skeletal and dental fluorosis due to consumption of groundwater with high levels of fluoride. Chemical analysis of 425 groundwater samples collected from Umerkot, Mithi, Chhachhro, Diplo and Nagarparkar talukas of the district indicated that 89 per cent groundwater in Thar was fluoride-affected, said Dr Tahir Rafiq, senior scientific officer of PCSIR Laboratories. He said that he found after research on “Occurrence, distribution and origin of fluoride-rich groundwater in the Thar desert” that the samples had fluoride values exceeding the limit of 1.5 mg/L as prescribed by the WHO. The research was carried out in collaboration with Dow Medical University of Health and Sciences, Karachi, Geology Department of Karachi University and Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry. Dr Rafique said that the Thar desert had been identified as one of the most fluoride-affected areas in the country. In the absence of public water supply, people were compelled to use groundwater, which was brackish with high concentration of fluoride when surface water dried up, he said. Fluoride causes dental and skeletal fluorosis, osteoscalerosis, thyroid, and kidney problems when its concentration exceeds 1.5 mg/L in drinking water and the intake of excessive fluoride leads to chronic bone and joint deformations in skeletal fluorosis, for which early symptoms include sporadic pain and stiffness of joints and finally the spine, major joints and muscles, damaging the nervous system, he said. He said that fluorosis is irreversible and no remedy and treatment has so far been found except prevention by keeping fluoride intake within safe limits. Both dental and skeletal fluorosis not only affects the body of a person but also renders him socially and culturally crippled, he said. The research disclosed that groundwater in the areas along the north and north-eastern side of Thar, particularly in Samoon Rind, Kalario, Narovari and Sukhani villages of Tharparkar and Bhojrajio, Morasio, Ramsar villages of Umerkot district carried high level of fluoride. Samoon Rind village had a population of 950 souls, out of whom more than 250 had the disease. One or two members of each family were suffering from arthritis and a large number of elders and children were in serious need of corrective orthopaedic surgery. Social worker Karim Bux Shaikh said that the situation in Thar region was alarming and required the government to immediately take remedial measures including, better rainwater harvesting, development of sweet groundwater and installation of defluoridation and desalination plants. Haji Bijar Rind, a villager, said that since early 70s they had been consuming the contaminated water with high levels of fluoride but authorities had never bothered to get the water tested. A Karachi-based philanthropist Dr Nighat Afza had donated Rs600,000 worth reverse osmosis system to the village two months ago but it sat idle since then because the poor villagers could not afford fuel for the generator. Tharparkar District Nazim Arbab Anwar Nohri expressed his ignorance of the disease and said he did not know if it was endemic among people in the village nor any villager had approached him. If there was such a problem he would form a team of doctors and experts who would analyse the situation and suggest remedial steps, he added

Are you concerned about clean water, your family’s drinking water, the water you shower & bathe in?

The infamous Dr. Oz recently made a presentation (Don’t Drink the Water). It was very compelling!

Dr. Oz, America’s most trusted Doctor, addressed and challenged the audience to take responsibility for the water that flows through the tap in their homes. He talked about the enemies that lurk within our water and told us how we can obtain reports about the water in our specific area (watch the video for more information.) He also admonished us to NEVER give a child a bath filled with ordinary tap water.

View His show @ http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dont-drink-water This Doc. is “In the know.”

Good clean water is foundational to your health. Many people are somewhat aware of the problems of drinking water from the tap. I see people every week buying bottled water which, besides being expensive, can be an unreliable source of clean water and is packaged in the controversially known (toxic) plastic bottle.

It’s not only important to pay attention to the water you drink; you also must be careful of the water you shower and bathe in. Did you know that your skin is the largest organ of your body? Your skin absorbs everything that is in your water faster than you can drink it. If you buy bottled water but take a bath or shower daily you are STILL absorbing all of the toxins and chlorine into your system.

The first thing I’d like to include in this blog is an educational site you can go to in order to learn about what lurks in our water. Secondly I’d like to introduce you to some cutting edge water technologies that will:

* Save you money
* Make it possible for you to have pure clean water right in your own home.
* Give you Peace of mind.

To view the EDUCATIONAL WATER WEBSITE CLICK HERE
When you get to the site:

* Click on “The Problem”
* Click on “Chemicals

View WATER PRODUCTS and PREMIUM SHOWER HEADS CLICK HERE
When you get to this site: Look to the Right Side under Water Treatment for:

* Living Water II (attach to the sink Unit)
* Living Water Ultra (Crock Type Purification System)
* Spring House (A Whole House Unit)
* Premium Hand Held Shower Head

Take care of your Body and It will take care of you!!

Our State Government wants to allow more of this contamination.

I’m just getting started.

An effort most likely to win a Pulitzer Prize by journalistic award magnet Charles Duhigg: Toxic Water, a series about the continued and worsening pollution of U.S. water. Nationwide, there have been over 500,000 violations of the Clean Water Act of 1972. Some are minor, but 60 percent were categorized as significant, and the vast majority go unsanctioned.

Duhigg and team have done a great service to all of us. Not only have they exposed and scrupulously documented an outrageous situation, they’ve developed a powerful tool to help us deal with it. From the article (italicized emphasis ours):

The Times obtained hundreds of thousands of water pollution records through Freedom of Information Act requests to every state and the E.P.A., and compiled a national database of water pollution violations that is more comprehensive than those maintained by states or the E.P.A. (For an interactive version, which can show violations in any community, visit www.nytimes.com/toxicwaters.)

Candles from Waterblogged.info's gala invitation-only celebration of Atrazine's 50th anniversary!

Everyone’s favorite herbicide (except for the EU) has, according to its Swiss producer Syngenta, been used safely by farmers for 50 years. Obvious cause for celebration, at least for Syngenta, which has no doubt enjoyed huge profits from its sales over those five decades.

The chemical giant has invited us to share their joy by placing a festive banner ad atop an online New York Time’s story about atrazine*. The article, part of a series on toxic substances in drinking water, basically questions the science that “proves” that the weed-killer is safe for human consumption in minute quantities.

Our most recent post, Hooray for the EPA!,  demonstrates that the amusingly named Environmental Protection Agency couldn’t agree more with Syngenta: When the levels of atrazine in the drinking water of several midwestern communities exceeded the legal limits, the EPA ignored it completely and failed to notify the affected populations, even though the agency is required by law to do so.

*Why this ad placement is considered ethical is beyond the ken (not to mention the barbie) of the puzzled peeps at Waterblogged.info.

Also celebrating her fiftieth this year.

EPA Deputy Liar, Steve Bradbury, who is either very tall, or the people he is lying to are very short.

Thanks to the Huffington Post, the ironically named Environmental Protection Agency will be getting credit for a modestly unannounced act of kindness. The folks living in some communities in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kansas–states where farmers rely heavily on the herbicide atrazine–are no doubt spamming the EPA with thousands of animated e-cards of appreciation as I write.

In their compassionate wisdom, the federal agency’s officials decided not to add to the worries of economically terrorized citizens by informing them that the amount of the weed-killer floating around in their drinking water exceeds federal limits–even though they are required by law to do so.

Says Steve Bradbury, deputy office director of the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs:

“We have concluded that atrazine does not cause adverse effects to humans or the environment,”

Bradbury is full of shit, like many arrogant EPA officials, all of whom should be fired and possibly prosecuted for their failure to do their duty as prescribed by law, not just in this case , but in  a host of other  as well. They do not have the right to arrive at any conclusion that allows them to break the law.

As the article indicates, there is not scientific basis for the EPA’s rash conclusion nor a defensible reason for failing to alert the affected communities.

Dead steelhead trout, killed by chloraminated water accidentally dumped into a creek near San Mateo, California

This morning, Waterblogged.info is bogged down in the arduous process of moving its operations back to Northern California–San Mateo, California specifically, approximately 20 miles south of San Francisco. It’s a difficult undertaking because it involves cramming souvenirs and gifts into imaginary spaces in luggage that was way overpacked in the first place.

Serendipitously, or coincidentally–but not ironically, for god’s sake–early morning research on our new favorite drinking water additive, chloramine–essentially a compound of chlorine and ammonia–turned up in this recent article about a fine levied against a San Mateo water supplier for accidentally dumping chloraminated water into a local creek, thereby killing 30-plus federally-protected steelhead trout.

It’s a typical tale of the kind of corporate malfeasance that so closely resembles the charmingly clueless behavior of mischievous children–a careless accident followed by the agreement not to tell Mommy and Daddy Regulatory Agency in the absurd hope that they won’t notice, and, after being caught, the desperate placing of easily disproved blame on something else, and finally complaining that the punishment–in this case a $200,000 fine–is just not fair.

The trout succumbed because, as all aquarium owners know, chloramines are deadly to fish and reptiles–this is not disputed. But what worries publicly-minded folks like the members of Citizens Concerned About Chloramine (CCAC), based in San Francisco, is that chloramines, for a variety of reasons, pose a danger to human beings as well. (For the sake of Waterblogged.info’s famous concern for balanced reporting, a rosy assessment of the use of chloramine here, brought to us by the city council of nearby San Bruno, California.)

Microbial Contaminants

Microbial contaminants include bacteria, viruses, and protozoans. These are living organisms that are visible in water only with the help of a high-powered microscope. Many different kinds of bacteria, some disease causing, may be present in a water supply. The tests discussed below are specific bacteria tests used to determine whether disease-causing bacteria may be present in the water. Protozoans are less common in water than bacteria, but a few can be problems. Viruses will not be discussed because they are expensive and difficult to test, however, viruses such as hepatitis are carried by water and can cause serious illness.

Coliform Bacteria

Coliform bacteria are a large group of bacteria that occur throughout the environment. They are used as an indicator organism to indicate the potential for disease-causing bacteria to be present in water. In other words, if coliform bacteria are present, it is presumed that a contamination pathway exists between the bacteria source and the water supply and disease-causing bacteria may use this pathway to enter the water supply. Most coliform bacteria do not cause disease, but the greater their number the greater the likelihood that disease-causing bacteria may be present. Since coliform bacteria stay in water longer than most disease-causing organisms, the absence of coliform bacteria leads to the assumption that the water supply is microbiologically safe to drink. Consuming water with coliform bacteria present may cause gastrointestinal illnesses, fever, and other flu-like symptoms. Therefore, the drinking water standard requires that no coliform bacteria be present in public drinking water supplies. Results from coliform bacteria tests are normally expressed as “Present” (P), or “Absent” (A). In this case, “Present,” indicates only that at least one bacterium was present in each 100 ml of water.

Fecal Coliform Bacteria

Fecal coliform bacteria are a smaller group of bacteria within the coliform bacteria group. Fecal coliform bacteria are specific to the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals. If the total coliform test is positive, the lab tests the water sample for fecal coliform bacteria. Fecal coliform bacteria levels are expressed as the number of colonies per 100 ml of water. No fecal coliform bacteria are permitted in public drinking water supplies.

E. Coli

An even more specific bacteria test is the test for E. coli (short for Escherichia coli). This is a type of fecal coliform bacteria commonly found in the intestines of animals and humans. A positive E. coli result is a strong indication that human sewage or animal waste has contaminated the water.

Hundreds of strains of E. coli exist. Although most are harmless and live in the intestines of healthy humans and animals, a few can produce a powerful toxin that causes severe illness and even death. Infection often causes severe bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps; sometimes the infection causes non-bloody diarrhea. Frequently, no fever is present. It should be noted that these symptoms are common to a variety of diseases and may be caused by sources other than contaminated drinking water. E. coli tests are reported as the number of bacteria per 100 ml of water. The presence of any E. coli in a water sample is unacceptable; thus, the primary drinking water standard for E. coli is 0 per 100 ml of water.

Standard Plate Count (Heterotrophic Plate Count)

The Standard Plate Count (SPC) or Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC) is a more general indicator of bacterial contamination. On some test reports, this also may be referred to as the “Total Bacteria Count.” It measures all the bacteria, including coliform and many other groups, in a water sample. The SPC is usually reported as the number of bacteria per milliliter of sample. There are no drinking water standards for SPC, but if more than 500 bacteria are counted in one milliliter of sample, further testing for total coliform or fecal coliform bacteria is suggested.

Iron Bacteria

Iron bacteria are a type of bacteria that feed on small amounts of iron in water. Iron bacteria are not a health threat, but are a nuisance because they form strands, masses, or thin films that plug pipes, toilets, and plumbing fixtures and reduce flow from wells. Their appearance can vary from orange or brown to clear. Iron bacteria can colonize an entire water system from the well itself through the plumbing, or they may be present only in parts of the plumbing system. There are no drinking water standards for iron bacteria. Rather, their presence is normally enough of an aesthetic problem to require treatment. Water testing is rarely available to determine if iron bacteria are present. Confirmation is usually based upon the visual symptoms in the water.

Giardia and Cryptosporidium

Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum are small microscopic animals known as protozoa. They both can live in the intestinal tract of mammals, including humans. While there, they multiply by producing oocysts. Infected animals and humans can excrete the oocysts, which can then contaminate water sources. Both giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis cause severe diarrhea, nausea, fever, headache, vomiting, and loss of appetite. Both illnesses can be life-threatening to people with depressed immune systems. Most outbreaks have occurred in communities that use surface water supplies (streams, rivers, lakes) where the oocysts can commonly be found. Shallow springs or poorly constructed wells that become contaminated with surface water could also contain Giardia and Cryptosporidium oocysts. Both Giardia and Cryptosporidium are measured in water by passing large volumes of the water through a small filter and examining the filter under a microscope for oocysts. Oocysts should be totally absent for water to be safe to drink.

Inorganic Chemicals (IOCs)

The second category of water contaminants includes inorganic chemicals. These are usually substances of mineral origin. Salt, metals, and minerals are examples of inorganic chemicals. The chemicals discussed alphabetically below are the most common inorganic contaminants in water supplies, or they are of the greatest health concern.

Arsenic (As)

Arsenic occurs in groundwater from both natural sources and human activities, like runoff from orchards or glass and electronics production wastes. In drinking water, it is odorless and tasteless. Arsenic has a primary drinking water stadnard because it can cause skin lesions, circulatory problems, and nervous system disorders.  Prolonged exposure also can cause various forms of cancer.  The present arsenic drinking water standard is 10 ug/L (0.010 mg/L).

Copper usually originates from corrosion of copper plumbing in the home (see “Corrosivity,” below). Copper causes a bitter, metallic taste in water and a blue-green stain in sinks and bathtubs. Copper levels above 1.3 mg/L are a health concern because they may cause severe stomach cramps and intestinal illnesses. Copper can be reduced in water using the corrosion control strategies outlined below.

Corrosivity

Corrosive water is a term used to describe aggressive water that can dissolve materials with which it comes in contact. It is a problem because many homes have copper or galvanized pipes, lead solder joints, and brass plumbing fixtures. Thus, corrosive water may cause increases in copper and lead concentrations in drinking water. Symptoms of corrosive water problems include metallic taste, bluish-green stains in sinks and bathtubs, and, in severe cases, small leaks in the plumbing system. Because corrosive water is not a health concern by itself, there is only a secondary standard that water be noncorrosive.

Iron (Fe)

Iron is a common natural problem in groundwater and has a secondary drinking water standard of 0.3 mg/L. Iron does not cause health concerns but causes aesthetic problems such as metallic tastes and orange-brown stains.

Lead (Pb)

If lead is detected in your drinking water, it probably originated from corrosion of your plumbing system. Lead was a common component of solders used in plumbing systems until it was banned in 1991. If your home was built before 1991 and has a metal plumbing system, it is likely some lead is present. If your water supply is corrosive (see discussion above), any lead present in the plumbing system may be dissolved into your drinking water. Lead concentrations are usually highest in the first water out of the tap (known as “first-draw” water), since this water has been in contact with the plumbing for a longer time. Lead concentrations typically decrease as water is flushed through the plumbing system. Lead poses a serious health threat to the safety of drinking water. It is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Long-term exposure to lead concentrations in excess of the drinking water standard has been linked to many health effects in adults including cancer, stroke, and high blood pressure. At even greater risk are the fetus and infants up to four years of age, whose rapidly growing bodies absorb lead more quickly and efficiently. Lead can cause premature birth, reduced birth weight, seizures, behavioral disorders, brain damage, and lowered IQ in children. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers lead to be the most serious environmental health hazard for children in the United States.

In rare cases, the source of lead in drinking water might be from groundwater pollution rather than corrosion of the plumbing system. Such pollution may be the result of industrial or landfill contamination of groundwater. The source of the lead usually can be determined by comparing water test results from a first-draw sample versus a sample collected after the water runs for several minutes. If the lead concentration is high in both samples, the source of the lead is likely from groundwater contamination.

Manganese (Mn)

Like iron, manganese is a naturally occurring metal. It has a secondary drinking water standard of 0.05 mg/L. Manganese does not cause health concerns but causes aesthetic problems such as objectionable tastes or blackish water stains.

Nitrate (NO3) or Nitrate Nitrogen (NO3-N)

Nitrate in drinking water usually originates from fertilizers or from animal or human wastes. Nitrate concentrations in water tend to be highest in areas of intensive agriculture or where there are many septic systems. Nitrate has a primary drinking water standard that was established to protect the most sensitive individuals in the population (infants under 12 months of age, pregnant women, and people with certain blood disorders). These segments of the population are prone to methemoglobinemia (blue baby disease) when consuming water with high nitrate. Nitrate may be reported on your water test report as either nitrate (NO3) or nitratenitrogen (NO3-N). Look carefully at your report to determine which form of nitrate is being reported. The primary drinking water standard or MCL is 10 mg/L as nitratenitrogen(NO3-N).

Turbidity

Drinking water should be sparkling clear for health and aesthetic reasons. Turbidity refers to fine particles of clay, silt, sand, organic matter, or other material that might reduce the clarity of water. Turbidity makes water unappealing to drink because of its muddy appearance. Particles may also shield disease-causing bacteria from chlorine or other treatment and provide nutrients for bacteria and viruses to flourish. Turbidity usually indicates direct pollution from surface runoff often during or shortly after heavy rainfall. Turbidity is usually measured in a special unit known as an NTU or Nephelometric Turbidity Unit. The standard for turbidity depends on the type of water treatment technology used. Water treatment plants using conventional or direct filtration are required to have less than or equal to 0.3 NTU in at least 95% of measurements taken each month. Slow sand and diatomaceous earth filtration plants are required not to exceed 1 NTU in at least 95% of measurements. Water with more than 1 NTU of turbidity makes disinfection to kill bacteria difficult.

Organic Chemicals

Benzene

Benzene is a clear, colorless liquid used primarily as an industrial solvent. It is lighter than water, migrates easily in groundwater, and is slow to decay.  It is also present as a gasoline additive.  Because it is a known human carcinogen (causes cancer), benzene has a primary drinking water standard of 0.005 mg/L (5 ug/L).

Tetrachloroethylene (commonly known as PCE) and Trichloroethylene (commonly known as TCE) are similar chemicals that have been found around industrial sites and landfills. Most of the groundwater contamination from these chemicals occurred due to improper disposal of industrial wastes. Both chemicals are used as industrial solvents. PCE is used primarily in the dry-cleaning industry. Both are heavier than water and move freely through soil and groundwater. PCE is a possible carcinogen that causes liver, kidney, and nervous system damage. TCE is a probable carcinogen that also causes acute effects to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. Both PCE and TCE have primary drinking water standars of 0.005 mg/L (5 ug/L).  

.

2,4-D

2,4-D is commonly used to control broad-leaf weeds in agriculture and woody plants along roadsides, railways, and utility rights-of-way. It has been most widely used on wheat and corn, and on pasture and rangelands. 2,4-D has a primary drinking water standardof 0.07 mg/L (70 ug/L) because ti can cause damage to kidneys, liver, or adrenal glands.  2,4-D is readily degraded by microbes located in soil and water.  Leachng to groundwater may occur in coarse-grained sandy soils with low organic content. 

I’ve been thinking (and worrying) about water a lot lately.  I suppose that the drought has brought all this concern along.  Just a few months ago, folks were comparing this drought to the one that devastated Texas agriculture in the ’50s (when crop yields dropped by as much as 50%, all but one county in Texas was declared a federal drought disaster area, and grasslands were scorched and ranchers that couldn’t afford high hay prices resorted to a mixture of prickly pear cactus and molasses), but now folks are saying that this drought is well on its way to being worse, and certainly more costly, than any other dry spell in Texas history.

We’re already seeing ranching and agriculture suffer substantially from this drought.  Agricultural officials are now pinning crop and livestock losses at $3.6 billion.  Just 12% of the cotton acreage planted this year will be harvested, and many gins won’t open up this season because there isn’t enought work to justify it.  Ranchers are also buying high priced hay and feed supplements because their own pastures haven’t produced enough to feed their herds.  Ranchers are selling off calves younger and thinner than usual, and even letting go of the mature females that sustain their herds.  In the last week, Bastrop County alone lost 12,000 cattle from the drought.  As Roy Wheeler, an Atascosa County rancher told the San Antonio Express-News, “We’re selling the factory, so they say.”

So why worry about the weather,  you may ask.  Haven’t farmers and ranchers been scraping by and beaten by the weather since the first man stuck a seed in the ground?  Perhaps, but during the dust bowl and in this last great drought in the ’50s, we could still shake our fists at the sky and vow never to go hungry again — but now we can only shake our fists at ourselves.  There’s not a doubt in my mind that this drought is a result of human interference.  I’m no scientist, just an educated girl with a blog, but I’d bet the farm that we’re seeing global warming in action.

But you don’t have take my word for it.  Take the word of Dr. Gerald North, a climate scientist at that notorious liberal holdout Texas A&M, who says that this drought is the beginning of a permanent trend for Texas.  He cites the 2007 IPCC report, which shows trends toward hotter and drier summers.  In reference to this weather pattern, North told the Environment News Service that, “It could be just a fluke that persists for a decade… But my guess is that it’s here to stay, but with fluctuations up and down.”

Of course we can’t point at any one weather event and say that it is a direct result of global warming, but we can take events as indicative of what is to come as global warming progresses.  Just as Hurricane Katrina woke up the world to the devastation that will ensue as storms of increase in frequency and severity from climate change, this current drought can give Texans a hint of what the future of Texas weather will look like.

There’s a terrible element of irony here.  Our current trajectory of unsustainable growth and energy consumption increase the likelihood that drought in Texas will become the new norm.  AND those same industries and energy sources which have poisoned our atmosphere and raised global temperatures… use enormous amounts of water.  Coal, natural gas, and nuclear — which propents are trying to sell as “the low-carbon cure we need” — are incredibly, enormously, despicably water intensive.

Again, I’m not asking you to go on faith here.  Just take a look at recent reports out of Glen Rose, where they want to build two more nuclear reactors at the Comanche Peak power plant.  Those additional reactors would “boil away 55 million gallons of Brazos River basin water a day,” which would be about twice the water use of the entire city of Waco.  With drought the new norm, can we afford to throw away precious water resources on a dangerous energy source?  Nuclear plants are supposed to last 40-50 years, but in that amount of time will we even have enough water to serve them?  If we have to choose between water for drinking and agriculture or water for nuclear power, which does it come down to? By giving away precious water rights to thirsty nuclear plants, could we compromise the needs of downstream users, businesses, and manufacturers? Texas likes to boast about its attractiveness to business, but who is going to move here if there is no water, or it is too expensive?

Another thing to consider is that energy companies like Exelon in Victoria often get senior water rights, as opposed to the junior rights received by cities and farmers. Which means that if push comes to shove and there is not enough water to go around, an Exelon-owned nuclear power plant near Victoria would leave local agriculture, the city of Kerrville, and even Victoria itself high and dry.

Water use is also a concern for coal plants.  Already we’re seeing a Central Texas Water War over the flows from Lake Travis and Buchanan (which will be all but drained in periods of drought).  San Antonio was looking to buy water rights there to meet its growing population and demand… but feasibility studies by the Lower Colorado River Authority were scrapped “to focus on the water needs of a controversial coal-powered plant near environmentally sensitive Matagorda Bay” called White Stallion (one of the plants we are working to stop).  White Stallion will need water from the lower Colorado for cooling purposes and to transport coal on barges to and from the Bay.

Last but not least, there’s the water use of natural gas.  Here water is needed not so much on the production side, but for drilling purposes.  Most of the natural gas being drilled today is through a process called hydraulic fracturing, whereby

1 to 5 million gallons of potable water, mixed with chemicals and sand are pumped under pressure down the drilling hole to release the gas trapped deep in the earth. During its lifetime, a well may be refracked as many as 18 times. The water that returns—30 to 70%–is called flowback and can contain the drilling chemicals plus hydrocarbons from the formation and naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM).

This water is then disposed of in deep injection wells — so deep, in fact, that it is removed from the hydrological cycle.

Oh, and hydraulic fracturing is exempt from the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act (the Halliburton loophole), and companies don’t even have to report what chemicals they’re shooting down into the earth’s crust and allowing to leach into groundwater, the aquifer, and people’s private wells.  For more information, watch a few of the videos at Water Under Attack, a documentary in progress about gas drilling and its dangers.  A dramatic taste:

We don’t usually consider water in our planning matrix for energy generation, but clearly it ought to be one of our top concerns.  To quote one of my favorite 80’s hairbands, You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Til Its Gone — but with water, we just can’t afford to let it get that far.

Not all electricity sources are as water intensive as our old fossil fuel standbys.  You need a little water to keep solar panels clean, but nothing compared to what you need to run a coal or nuclear plant.  Wind turbines don’t need any water either — and energy efficiency? Not a chance.

So, now you’re depressed.  I’m sorry, I have that effect on people. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and move on to empowerment — because there’s plenty we can do to drown our water woes.

As far as the current drought goes, there’s not much we can do outside of a rain dance — but there ARE political actions we can take to make sure that global warming doesn’t escalate such that drought is the new norm.  The House of Representative’s version of the climate bill was disappointingly weak, but the Senate is taking a crack at it now so we still have a chance to get a better bill.  Look for an action alert from us to that effect tomorrow, or if you can’t wait that long, send a fax online through 1Sky asking your Senator to pass a strong climate bill. And while you’re at it, get nukes out of the climate bill!

Concerned about coal? Live in one of the 12 communities threatened by pending coal plants? Visit Coal Block and network with other activists, or call our office at 512-477-1155 and ask how you can get involved.

If you live in San Antonio, you’ve also got a chance to raise your voice against the South Texas Project nuclear expansion and its proposed profligate waste of water.  Keep posted for an update on the San Antonio nuclear battle and a schedule of public meetings — or post a comment and we’ll get to you pronto! In the meantime, join the facebook group Don’t Nuke the Alamo (well worth it just view the photo).

As a matter of fact, no matter where you live you can speak with your city council about your water concerns.  Start asking questions about what your city’s future energy plans are, and if they are including increased restrictions on water in their planning matrix.

Ditto if you are served by an electric cooperative, like the Pedernales Electric Coop.  That’s YOUR electric coop, you’re not just a member but a member-owner.  Make it work for you and your needs.

Upset about the water contamination of gas drilling?  Think there oughtta be a law?  Well ask my friends, and you shall receive — tell Congress to Close the Halliburton loophole, protect drinking water, and support H.R. 2766/S. 1215!

Anyone else have action ideas to stop this water waste? Share it with the group, and post a comment below!

U.S. oil company Chevron said Monday that it expects to lose a case which charges the companys Texaco branch with polluting Ecuadors rain forest with oil-contaminated water for nearly two decades.

Source:
http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/07/20/chevron-not-going-to-pay-for-rain-forrest-contamination/

Turkmenistan's President (digging) Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow's name is really long.

Yesterday we posted an elegiac farewell to the venerable Euphrates River, or at least the Iraqi portion. Today it is our happier task to welcome the nascent  man-made Golden Age Lake into the family of planetary bodies of water. (See the essential WaterWired on the same topic, but proper netiquette requires that you read this first, of course. More resources below.)

Central Asia's Turkmenistan is 80 percent desert. Its western border is defined by the saline southern portion of the Caspian Sea

Recently conceived in the central Asian republic of Turkmenistan (you can locate it with the très cool Platial map in the right column), the lacustrine fetus is now in a lengthy period of gestation–to be slowly nourished by a intricate system of umbilical canals–in the sandy womb of the Karashor depression. (And with that, we drop the ridiculously overwrought birth metaphor.)

Eighty percent of Turkmenistan–which is roughly the size of California–is the black-sand Karakum desert. It’s understandable that the former Soviet republic would both want to “bring life” to the sand-covered immensity and to carry out what the AP article accurately calls “a Soviet-style engineering feat” to accomplish the transformation. What’s puzzling is why they think it will work.

You can read the article and the resources listed below for details. Broadly speaking, the Turkmen plan to create the lake by transferring excess water from the country’s soggy cotton fields to the northern Karashor depression via an enormous network of irrigation canals. Per the article:

Turkmen leaders say the massive lake will help drain water-logged cotton fields and encourage plant life and attract migratory birds to the desert.

And the hapless migratory birds will probably die, because, as critics of the project note, runoff from the cotton fields is heavily laced with toxic pesticides and fertilizers.

There is a long history of massive water transfers like this carried out by the Soviet Union that have devastated Central Asia’s water ecology. From the article:

For decades, Central Asia’s environment has suffered as a result of Soviet-era irrigation projects. The Aral Sea, which once lay on the border between the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was the world’s fourth-largest lake, but has since shrunk by almost 90 percent, devastating fisheries as salinity levels spiked.

Please see our two-part ranting and raving about the Aral Sea calamity here and here: a brief and bitter history of a beautiful lake-based ecological system teeming with life, now, despite current efforts at revivification, remain a wasteland of  brackish  lifeless “water” and sand.

See WaterWired for a more detailed explanation of the Turkmenistan project, written in a sardonic voice that rivals our own. It’s the work Michael E. ‘Aquadoc’ Campana–hydrogeologist and Professor of Geosciences at Oregon State University–who writes on 6/9/09 that the project may be shelved due to almost unanimous global dismay and scorn, but it looks like the bulldozers and shovels are up and running at this point.

Resources:

Michael provides this link to an excellent comprehensive Science magazine article on the project.

A four-page report that looks to have been done by a French organization tied to UNESCO. Maps and charts.

Other articles:

Turkmenistan to create desert sea

Turkmenistan tries to green its desert with manmade lake

Giant Turkmen Lake Sets Off Environmental Alarms

USA Jul 1 – A renowned climate scientist, an actress, a former lawmaker, and local residents in West Virginia were arrested last week while protesting the coal mining method of mountaintop removal, which environmental experts and citizens say destroys mountain ranges and contaminates water.

What’s the Story?

The protest came on the heels of a pledge by the Obama administration to reform regulations on mountaintop coal mining in the United States, which activists and environmental experts say will not alleviate the practice’s harmful impact on local wildlife and communities.

“Without a significant change in policy, mining companies will continue to destroy historic mountain ranges and bury communities’ drinking water in toxic waste,” wrote the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) in a statement about the activists’ arrests.

Days before a Congressional hearing on mountaintop removal mining’s effect on water quality in Appalachia, Michael Brune, RAN executive director and a principal protest organizer, said: ”This is not a practice that needs to be reformed. It is a practice that needs to be abolished. By sacrificing the Appalachian Mountains for the country’s coal addiction, we undermine future investments in 21st century clean energy solutions that will protect our planet, produce more jobs, and preserve our natural resources.” Read the entire article…

This topic is endorsed in part by the Writings of African-Americans by Tres Mali Scott 2nd & 3rd Place Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Citizen Journalist Award Winner.

Global warming is a part of climate change, about five years ago the Los Angeles Times showed some of the Middle East’s sand frozen. This has a major effect for health concerns. Recent reports from Africa, which is adjacent to the Middle East has shown out-breaks of diseases that are highly contagious. Due to cultural differences, The Middle East is less likely to report to International agencies health concerns. These Specific diseases are a result contaminated water,  bacteria and fungus infections. The frozen Middle East sand causes an eco-system imbalance that triggers disease, illness, & death.

Global warming & climate changes, pollution, as well as the domestication of animals, are major contributors of “disease triggering”.

Newsmax.com July 2009- Former Vice President Al Gore has a “climate crusade” to alert the American public about how serious our climate problems can become. Frank Newport, Gallup Poll Editor told U.S. News & World Report, “ It’s just not caught on.” The research from Gallup shows 41% of Americans believe the global warming fears have been exaggerated & only 1% to 2% cite environment as a big worry.

It is more important than ever to protect your eyes, face, neck, & ears from harmful ultraviolet rays, some of which come from the deterioration of the ozone that also increases global warming. The U.S. military’s Operation Iraqi Freedom’s combat troops & embedded journalists wore special protective camouflage because of ultraviolet rays.

1H2O- 1H20 highlights the water problems in the Great Lakes area. They are not only global warming caused, but also climate changes and pollution, the changes in water levels also effects the shipping industry, commerce, and the job market in the area. The global warming problems can directly effect health, sun rays can be dangerous, prior to global warming issues we had skin cancer.

Television Media has allowed the Internet to report much of the news of today. Television news is rooted in personal relationships that are transmitted by the traditionally family oriented TV.

The need for environmental concerns to raise from 1% to 2% also reaches parenting and family issues. The parks, beaches, and other out door activities are environmental.

Accurately communicating the data for Gore’s “climate crusade” should improve the response to environmental issues. In order for the public to be aware of the problem, someone has to report it.

Justice In Nigeria Now! 2017 Mission St. 2nd Fl San Francisco, California 94110

Photo LEFT: Fire burning at Chevron Pascagoula, MS refinery, photograph by Christy Pritchett ran August 17, 2007.
Courtesy of the Press-Register 2007 © All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

Thirsty?  How about some chlorine to go with the fluoride and pharmaceutical remnants in your water?  The unending list of contaminants in water and elsewhere — now often called “micro-constituents” appears to be endless.

Contaminants now commonly found in drinking water include tiny traces of pesticides, herbicides, flame retardants, DEET, mosquito repellent, aircraft de-icers, lead, arsenic, mercury and esters, ketone’s and other chemicals found in personal care products. Not to mention additives in toothpaste meant to retard gum and tooth disease. http://www.wqpmag.com/Safe-for-Drinking-article9121

“Like many US Cities, Palm Beach County plans to flush its water lines with chlorine, which could cause a slight taste and odor in tap water later this month.  The stronger disinfection process to clean out water lines will be from June 15 to July 15. Those sensitive to the taste and odor can fill a container with tap water and keep it open in the refrigerator for a few hours to allow the chlorine to dissipate. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/local_news/epaper/2009/06/01/0601chlorine.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=76  The refrigerator?

“Adding chlorine to the water can produce byproducts such as iron oxide, magnesium oxide or calcium oxide, it can also produce trihalomethanes (THMs), including the most often reported THM member—chloroform.” http://www.wqpmag.com/Safe-for-Drinking-article9121 

So much for green infrastructure under the Obama Administration.  Water programs and the US Environmental Protection Agency would see huge boosts in the detailed budget for FY2010 released by President Obama but he also terminated funding for 301 earmarks for water projects.  http://www.awwa.org/Publications/StreamlinesArticle.cfm?ItemNumber=48230

If you find yourself thirsty for change, Obama water is on sale.  The plastic bottles may contain polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as the toxins may leach into the water but research is on going.  Oh Barack, how refreshing! 

The administration has written to Senate and House committees urging them to act on bills that would restore federal jurisdiction over all wetlands and streams in the U.S..  “The Clean Water Act was broadly interpreted by the courts and federal regulators as shielding all the waters of the United States — seasonal streams and remote wetlands as well as lakes and large navigable rivers. The basic idea was that even the smallest waters have some connection to larger watersheds, and that they, too, need to be protected from pollution and development.”  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/opinion/02tue3.html?_r=1

The gederal governement defines water here- http://www.epa.gov/wetlands/guidance/CWAwaters.html

As if the Federal Land Management Grab Act wasn’t enough, the federal government under Obama; not the states, not municipalities, not you who fishes in your backyard pond will have any control over private or public lakes, streams or ponds.   Want to build a nice deck, a gazebo, a boat dock, a swimming float?  Forgeddabout it.  Say nothing of governments right to seizure. 

Mix chemical laced water with a pack of kool-aid, loaded with Nutrasweet or Splenda, and your all set for another Obama intrusion on your personal property rights.  Might as well add the Absolut Vodka; we are absolutely loosing another of our rights.

Don’t even get me started on New Yorks bottle bill.  http://www.observer.com/term/bottle-bill

The EPA offers this http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwh/index.html on drinking water and health.

photo props to http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlLA/our_town/obama_water_for_sale_at_hollywood_corner_store_105568.asp?c=rss