May 2010 Archives

For those of us who like fancy things (you know who you are), there is a reusable water bottle for you.

The Tkaro water canteen is for those of us who need something more than the common stainless steel bottle. It features a beautiful, wide mouth glass body with a bottom similar to a wine bottle (with the little glass bubble) to keep it from breaking easily.

 It also has a stainless steel cap to protect the top and I presume, to keep your water safe. Custom engraving is available on the steel cap to give as a gift for a birthday or maybe even a eco friendly anniversary present.

The bottles will run you $32.95 or $37.95 engraved. Boxes of 6 are available for $187.80 or $216.30 engraved. Order them here.

After an employee at C-crest Laboratories in Montreal experienced a funny taste in their bottled water, the lab decided to test a sampling of Canadian bottled waters.

The findings, which were presented at American Society of Microbiology in San Diego, showed that 70 percent of the Canadian bottled water were well above American standards of bacteria in bottled water.

In some cases the levels of Heterotrophic bacteria, which survive by eating organic matter were 100 times over the legal limit. While the researchers still do not know the exact kind of bacteria that was found in the bottled water, they called the results "disturbing".

On the bottled water industry side, there was unusually little surprise. Elizabeth Griswold of the Canadian Bottled Water Association sounded familiar with the problem. "My understanding is that heterotrophic plate count [bacterial level] is not pathogenic and does not pose a health risk."

While some brands had far more bacteria than others, the researchers have not listed the specific brands tested. More research is being done to find out how dangerous the bacteria is for human consumption.

'Tapped' is a great film directed by Stephanie Soechtig about the woes of bottled water (click here for the trailer). The film has been touring around the country this spring to spread the message about the problems of water privatization. Everyone should see this movie when they get a chance.

I just discovered that the Tapped crew has been putting out some great public service announcements about the world water crisis and bottled water. Check them out below. One of them includes a nice Jack Johnson cameo.

 I have included the links as they are perfect to pass along to friends. Keep spreading the word!


Share this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRkcxTK76_M


Share this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrj5QTv3_BU


Share this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXcLfBcZkxk


Share this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjIgvm3X5S4

Water is becoming a more important issue for the planet every year. It is something that we must pay attention to for future generations.

For environmentalists reducing our carbon output in order to combat climate change often takes priority over other environmental issues.

It turns out however, that water conservation and reducing our energy use are intricately related. According to a 2009 report (dug up by NYT Green Blog) put out by the River Network, Americans use at least 520 Billion Kilowatt hours a year (equivalent to 150 coal fired power plants!) or 13% of the nations energy use to heat, treat and transport water for daily use.

This means that when communities are able to find ways to make significant reductions in their per-capita water use (click here for some easy conservation tips), they are preserving our water supply and saving tons of energy.

Energy use also uses lots and lots of water. The Department of Energy estimated that in the year 2000, 39% of fresh water withdrawals were used for coal, nuclear and natural gas power generation. So by reducing energy use, you save even more water.

In essence, increasing water conservation and energy efficiency lead to the same ends and are absolutely necessary to reduce carbon in the atmosphere.

A new community based energy utility in the industrial waterfront of Vancouver, British Columbia is using waste water and sewage to heat thousands of homes.

The Southeast False Creek Neighborhood Energy Utility is using a technique that takes the heat from warm water from your drain, such as bathwater and sink water, as well as warm sewage water (with an average temperature of 65 degrees) and uses it to heat a network of high efficiency water pipes. The piping system runs underground to local buildings and distributes the heat. The water then returns to the plant to be reheated by more waste water and sewage.

Many of the buildings being serviced by the new plant are part of the Olympic Village, that since February have been converted into over 1,000 housing units. The process is cutting greenhouse gas emissions from these buildings by 65% compared to conventional methods.

The housing is being awarded Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design (LEED) Platinum, the highest rating possible.

The utility also hopes to be a model for other local, community based utilities. They have built and education center in the plant to show visitors how the process works.

Who knew our 'waste' was so useful?

Horticulturalists at Penn State have developed a waste water treatment system using plants called a 'biofilter'.

The system is made up of 7 foot long upright plastic tubes filled with dirt, recycled materials such as porous rocks, cow manure and tire crumbs that encourage the growth of microbes. A variety of plants also grow out of the mixture. The tubes are placed in a foot of potting soil with crushed limestone.

When waste water, such as drainage from a washing machine, travels through the pipes and into the soil it purifies the water. The system acts as a mini wetland. The natural bacteria and plants eat the toxins in the water as food and what is left is pure water.

"We have shown that with this system we can take waste water from a washing machine and remove more than 90 percent of the pollutants within three days," said Robert D. Cameron, a doctoral candidate at Penn State. "The treated water had very low levels of suspended solids and no detectable levels of e.coli."

The biggest advantage to this biofilter system compared to systems before it, is size. One of these units is small enough to place anywhere, maybe even in homes. This way it could work as a nice indoor garden with reeds and papyrus and a greywater filter too. You can't get much more green than that.

Check out the filter in the video below:

The New York Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), who is responsible for the New York water supply, has partnered with Fishs Eddy, a Manhattan housewares retailer, to encourage New Yorkers to stop using bottled water and switch to tap water.

Fishs Eddy has produced a line of glasses, t-shirts and coasters carrying the slogan  "drink NYC water" with the DEP's tap water logo.

"We're very New York and we see ourselves as an institution. And we developed this idea with a fun graphic on the glasses to promote NYC tap water", said Julie Gaines, the store's owner. "I think the bottled-water industry is getting ticked off at us because of this". Great to have them onboard! Glasses will run $5 or $20 for a set of four. Coasters are $3.95 for a set of ten. Order them here.

photo credit: Fishs Eddy

The recent Boston water main brake has heightened the debate on how to fix America's aging water infrastructure.

Representative Earl Blumenauer from Oregon is trying to raise support for the The Water Protection and Reinvestment Act that, among other initiatives, taxes beverage bottlers, which would include water bottlers, who directly benefit from the county's clean water supplies.

The bill would aim to raise about $10 Billion a year to for water system repairs nationwide through a 4 cent per bottle tax.

Bottled water interests such as Nestle Waters North America  and the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) are taking issue with the bill and think the costs should not rest so heavily on their industry. IBWA spokesmen Tom Lauria said in a statement, "The Blumenauer bill is singling out one product unfairly and disproportionately, and it's not going to solve the problem."

Unfortunately, an estimated 40% of bottled water comes from municipal sources. So, many of the companies opposing a water infrastructure tax have a business model dependent on public water systems to make money. Should they be obligated to pay?

To find out more information on the bill click here. To tell congress you support new funding for water infrastructure, click here.

photo credit: dipfan on flickr creative commons

The first American town has fully banned the sale of bottled water. Concord, Massachusetts the historic landmark and suburb of Boston, has followed the lead of Bundanoon, Australia to become completely bottled water free.

The ban came out of a vote at a town meeting in late April. Much of the momentum for the bill was conjured up by 82 year old activist Jean Hill. "All these discarded bottles are damaging our planet, causing clumps of garbage in the oceans that hurt fish, and are creating more pollution on our streets,'' says Hill. She lobbied her neighbors and aquantences for months to finally get the issue to be addressed at the town meeting.

This is a surprising turn of events for the bottled water industry, and the ban is getting national attention. Joe Dess of the International Bottled Water Association issued a statement: "Any efforts to discourage consumers from drinking water, whether tap water or bottled water, is not in the best interests of consumers. Bottled water is a very healthy, safe, convenient product that consumers use to stay hydrated."

Many people are beginning to see the major downsides to having bottled water be a replacement for the public supply. This does not look good for the water bottlers.

Concord did face an immediate challenge when a water main broke in the Boston Area putting all the town on boil notice. Emergency situations provide one of the few arguments water bottlers have that they provide a valuable product (although single serve containers still don't serve a practical purpose, even in emergencies). Many in the town began to doubt how wise the bottled water ban was.

Jean Hill was not perturbed. "I have no second thoughts about this vote. The problem is that when there isn't a crisis, too many people use bottled water instead of tap water". Well put.

Scientists at MIT in conjunction with their Korean colleagues, have developed a micro water desalination device the size of a postage stamp.

The units electrostatically separate salts and microbes from water instead of using a membrane like conventional desalination techniques. This is what allows the unit to be so small.

In a test, using a mixture of Massachusetts beach water, plastic microbes and blood, the device was able to separate 99% of contaminants from the water.

The size and effectiveness of this device gives it promise for use in disaster relief or areas with very little infrastructure that need clean water.

One of these units can only process small amounts of water. However the scientists plan to use up 10,000 units in conjunction to have a much larger capacity.

Photo Credit: MIT/Patrick Gillooly

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been devastating. 5,000 or more barrels of oil a day are leaking into ocean waters and could reach an estimated 60,000 barrels if the right steps are not taken.  It has had catastrophic effects on local wildlife and the livelihoods of thousand of local residents.

Many people are understandably calling for a permanent ban on offshore oil drilling in the US. However, it is important to understand that this should be a wake up call to slow our use of oil overall, not to just stop drilling in the US. Any drilling that is not done here, in the US, will be done elsewhere if there is still demand for oil. Often, this drilling is done in areas with far less environmental regulations.

Nigeria, as an example, provides 2.28 million barrels of oil a day to the global supply. The country has had massive oil spills in the size range of Exxon Valdez every year since the 1960's. Some estimates put the amount of oil spilled in Nigeria since 1960 at over 100 million barrels.

The global estimated total average amount of oil seeping into the ocean's waters is over 9 million gallons, absent any major spills. There is very little reporting done on these spills, though they clearly happen on a regular basis.

The point is that it is not just about banning drilling in America, it is about reducing the demand for oil overall. We need to slow the use of petroleum to power our homes, to drive our cars and we need to stop buying products, such as most plastics, that are petroleum based. This risks are to great and there are many alternatives. 

We will only have so many chances before the damage done by these kinds of accidents cannot be taken back. 

New York has some of the best water systems in the country. We are surrounded by water and rely on our waterways for so many things. It is one of New York's greatest assets.

As in any highly populated area, New York's waterways are very much threatened. Some of the area's waterways are very polluted. Residents are in a constant struggle to keep our water clean and clean up some of the dirtiest areas.

On Earth Day, PBS Channel Thirteen put out a great documentary on New York's trials and tribulations with its water. It is almost an hour long, but very worthwhile if you interested water issues. You can watch below: