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Harvesting Fog Provides Drinking Water, Food to Peruvian Slums : TreeHugger
"In Lima, Peru, more than 1.3 million people have no access to drinking water. The citizens without it are in the poorest areas, where water trucked in can cost nine times as much as it does in richer areas. So, citizens have had to either make do without running water, or, with the help of a German NGO, make dew into drinking water. "
European satellite launched to explore climate change - Telegraph
"The European Space Agency (ESA) said the £282m device was put into space in the early hours of Monday morning to gauge the impact of climate change on the movement of water across land, air and sea.
It was lifted into space on a Russian Rockot launcher from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia.
As the first space-based measure of the water in Earth's soil and the saltiness of its oceans, scientists hope SMOS will be able to fill important gaps in our knowledge about the planet's vital water cycle. "
Spanish wetland facing destruction as farming starves it of water | Environment | guardian.co.uk
"The EU has begun an investigation into a unique Spanish wetland park that is being devastated by underground fires.
Local officials have admitted that mismanaged water resources at the Tablas de Daimiel national park may never recover. "We are on the point of losing the Tablas de Daimiel," said Josep Puxeu, Spain's secretary for state for water."
London's new drinking fountains a challenge to bottled water industry | Environment | The Observer
"London may soon follow in the footsteps of Bundanoon, the Australian town that last week banned bottled water and set up drinking fountains for thirsty locals.
The capital's first water stations will be set up this month in a move that could have serious repercussions for the £1.5bn-a-year bottled water industry, with companies finding it increasingly difficult to justify their carbon footprint as the quality of tap water improves."
WWF - Spain takes international water treaty past half way mark
Spain late last month boosted efforts to bring into effect an international treaty to share and protect rivers and lakes crossing or forming international borders, telling the United Nations General Assembly it was committed to jointly addressing issues of security, development and protection of the environment.
Dragonflies Go Thirsty in Mediterranean, Threatened with Extinction : TreeHugger
Bad news for dragonflies and damselflies as the global water crisis crunches down on us. Due to climate change and poor land management leading to habitat degradation, one fifth of Mediterranean dragonflies and damselflies are threatened with extinction, according to a report by the IUCN.
Health Ills Abound as Farm Runoff Fouls Wells - Series - NYTimes.com
There are 41,000 dairy cows in Brown County, which includes Morrison, and they produce more than 260 million gallons of manure each year, much of which is spread on nearby grain fields. Other farmers receive fees to cover their land with slaughterhouse waste and treated sewage.
In measured amounts, that waste acts as fertilizer. But if the amounts are excessive, bacteria and chemicals can flow into the ground and contaminate residents’ tap water.
One Atom Away From Clean Water
A breakthrough discovery from Sandia National Laboratories could help keep a lid on the rising cost of chemical water treatment and make clean drinking water more affordable in “water challenged” areas of the world. Working with researchers at the University of California, the Sandia team substituted one atom in aluminum oxide, a common chemical used to coagulate impurities in water. The new compound promises a more sustainable way to decontaminate wastewater as well as purify drinking water.
Water pollution sickens thousands in north China - Yahoo! News
Contaminated drinking water has sickened more than 2,600 people in northern China, including 59 who were hospitalized with fevers, diarrhea, stomach aches and vomiting, state media reported Wednesday.
Heavy rains caused contaminants to seep into a water supply in Chifeng city in Inner Mongolia, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, without saying what the contaminants were.
The Lifesaver Bottle
A way cool invention, the Lifesaver bottle uses an ultra filtration system, originally developed for industrial applications.
Lifesaver bottle will remove bacteria, viruses, cysts, parasites, fungi and all other microbiological waterborne pathogens. It does all this without the aid of any foul tasting chemicals like iodine or chlorine.
As I pointed out to a friend one day “using chemicals to kill bacteria is not always effective and anyway all you are doing is drinking a chemical cocktail with some dead pathogens in it.”
Major Breakthrough With Water Desalination System
researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science are working hard to help alleviate the state's water deficit with their new mini-mobile-modular (M3) "smart" water desalination and filtration system.
Calculate Your Water Footprint : Planet Green
We have carbon footprint calculators galore. But thankfully, we're all becoming increasingly aware of how our water consumption habits impact future supplies. We're quickly learning that our water footprint is a very important thing to know so that we can actively work to reduce it.
New Australian Desalination Plant Will Use 100% Renewable Energy : TreeHugger
Australia is hurting for water, so a new $780 million desalination facility that is planned for Western Australia, which was approved late last month and will boost water supplies for the area by 20% upon completion in 2011, is a really big deal. However, despite advances in technology, desal plants are also energy intensive. So this plant is getting attention from groups and politicians who want to ensure it is run entirely on renewable energy.
Wake up: Here is what a real water crisis looks like
California is in the midst of an ugly debate about water--uglier than normal--because of a confluence of events, including a "hydrologic" drought caused by nature, a longer-term trend to restore some water back to failing ecosystems, and the gross mismanagement of the state's water, which has been going on for a century, but is affecting us now more than ever.
But despite all of the rhetoric, news stories, name-calling, yelling, and screaming, Californians have very little clue about what a real water crisis looks like. It looks like what's happening in Australia.
Inhabitat » Virtually Waterless Washing Machine Cuts Water Use by 90%
new washing system (prototype stage) uses nylon beads to tumble wash clothes with 90% less water than conventional washers. The machine also uses significantly less detergent and eliminates the need for tumble drying.
WaterBoxx Grows Forests in the Desert
A new Dutch invention makes it possible to reforest large desert and rocky areas in the coming years, they say. Experiments in the Sahara desert have shown that the WaterBoxx allows trees to grow under harsh conditions and can provide them with sufficient water
Venice Journal - Known for Its Water, Venice Turns to Tap to Lessen Trash - NYTimes.com
Venice is successfully converting people from drinking bottled water back to tap water - even offering discounts on carbonators for those who like it fizzy!
Eco Tech: Tal-Ya Saves Water By Irrigating Plants With Dew - Ecofriend
Israel-based startup Tal-Ya Water Technologies has announced a new product, which squeezes dew from the air for watering crops. The system is intended to be used in areas where water sources are precious and scarce. The system costs just $1 a piece for one plant and can easily be reused after the plant has been cropped.
Fact or Fiction? You Must Drink 8 Glasses of Water Daily: Scientific American
Virtually every health-conscious person can quote the recommendation: Drink at least eight eight-ounce glasses of water per day. Other beverages don't count.
Turns out the advice is rubbish!!!
5 Feasible Renewable Energy Sources
One would expect that -- over time -- the costs associated with renewable energy would go down. With fossil fuels, costs can only go up as the un-renewable sources dwindle and become more scarce even as demand rises. Here are 5 feasible renewable energy sources that could be developed to help meet world energy needs:
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