Recently in Wild Water Category

Although it might still feel like winter across the country, spring, summer, and increased outdoor water use are soon to come. For garden lovers and all those homeowners and renters with lawn-care obligations, a rain barrel is a simple way to harvest runoff water, prevent unwanted erosion, and conserve healthy natural water for outdoor use. By either purchasing or making a rain barrel, water runoff from a gutter system or roof will be collected for use around the yard and can even be hooked up to a homemade irrigation system to keep any garden hydrated and nutrient-rich.

The average American uses around 100 gallons of water per day and more than 50% of that water is for outdoor use. Before urbanization, rainwater naturally collected and went back into ground aquifers. Since paved roads, parking lots, built homes, and other infrastructure have commanded the landscape, however, runoff has gone through storm drains and other systems to collection facilities and larger water bodies instead of the soil. An inch of rain produces 625 gallons of water runoff from a 1,000 square-foot roof. A rain barrel holds approximately 55 gallons of water, keeping a significant portion of that runoff for yard and landscape uses. Any home therefore has the potential to conserve hundreds of gallons of rainwater for every few inches of rain. Water collected in rain barrels is also devoid of chemicals and treatments including fluoride and chlorine and is therefore better for the lawn or garden. Many green gardeners have also taken the opportunity to be creative and decorate their rain barrel using paint and flowers. 

There are several times a day when we have the choice of single-use plastic containers.  Most of the time we choose the reusable option, but now and then you forget to bring your own bag and accept the plastic one.  Or maybe some days you ask yourself why plastic is really all that bad... Well here's a quick reminder of how much plastic escapes from our good intentions and into the open ocean.

Plastic particles in the sea mimic zooplankton, a staple in the diet of many fish and bird species. The particles are ingested by marine life and very often kill them.  Studies have shown that in some areas of the Pacific Ocean, plastic scraps actually outnumber zooplankton by a shocking six to one ratio. Worse yet, no area has been found to be free of the harmful plastic particles.

 

Plastic also accumulates into huge floating masses called gyres. The largest of these, known as the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" which is found in the center of the Pacific Ocean and is by many estimates, larger than the State of Texas. The gyres include not only discarded fishing nets, but also household items such as toothbrushes, plastic bags, and bottle caps that were thrown away and ended up washing into the ocean.  When plastic is mistakenly ingested by marine life, they  believe that they are getting nutrients from this "food", when in fact it is toxic. Sea creatures of all types are affected and killed by this floating miasma of plastic.

 

So while it's difficult to fully avoid all types of plastic in our busy lives, take a minute to consider your choices and the weight that they carry and always be sure to properly recycle the plastics that you do accumulate. Consult your city or town's website to find what types of plastic are accepted where you live. You can also use the website Earth911.com to find what recycling is available in your area.

Check out the videos below to get an interesting (and scary) overview of the plastic build-up in the Pacific.

 

 

Photo Credit, Kaisei Project

A new study on Southern Ocean Sperm Whales has found that these sea mammals are doing us a huge favor by reducing carbon in the atmosphere.

While these sperm whales travel the southern seas, they deficate. Their waste, which is very high in iron, greatly increases the growth of phytoplankton in the water. Phytoplankton are very good at capturing carbon from the atmosphere and trapping it.

The 12,000 sperm whales in the Southern Ocean are responsible for taking 200,000 tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year. That is the equivalent to the carbon output of 40,000 cars.

We need to save these whales to save the planet. But unfortunately, it is a catch 22, where climate change is already altering their eco-system, putting their habitat in peril.

The Bobble, a filter top water bottle developed by the famed product designer Karim Rashid, has hit the water bottle scene. They look pretty darn snazzy, although we have not had a chance to try one here at TapIt.

The clear plastic bottle is made from recycled PET and the plastic around the carbon filter is also made from recycled plastic. This is a big plus, since it would be kind of silly to be adding to plastic waste while buying a bottled water alternative.

Filters are a key feature for water bottles for people who live in areas that have less than clean tasting tap water. The only problem is, most filter bottles on the market don't let the water pass through the filter very quickly. The water ends up dribbling out. It is not the most satisfying way to hydrate. We have yet to see if the Bobble improves on this problem. I imagine they did with all the design savvy that has gone into that curvy design.

Has anybody tried them out? Let us know what you think!

The Bobble will run you $9.95 and $6.95 for a replacement filter.

Fighting over water is nothing new in California but the latest battle has taken on a fun twist - water agencies are clamoring for their share of...you guessed it...sewer water.

Sanitation Districts of LA County has promised to deliver 45,000 acre-feet of recycled water to agencies but some think there will be less available and are worried about not getting their allotment.

Much of the recycled sewer water is promised to a $210 million project - known as the Groundwater Reliability Improvement Program (GRIP) that recycles the water to drinking standards. The project is a partnership between a number of California water agencies but not the Central Basin Water District - and that has sent them into a lobbying frenzy.

The GRIP project will be one of the biggest users of recycled water, taking about half of the remaining waste-water from sanitation districts. It would purify water through reverse osmosis and then use it to replenish dwindling groundwater supplies. Some believe this method of using the water could directly offset half of California's demand for imported water. But Central Basin says GRIP is asking for to much sewer water and that they had first dibs. Oi...

Photo: Wastewater treatment plant, Richmond, California on Flickr under Creative Commons License

If you want to break into the U.S. there's an App for that!

A University of California at San Diego professor has developed an application for cell phones that he believes will help illegals cross the border more safely.

The application helps illegals, who are tired and weary after trekking through the brutal desert terrain, find their way quickly to the nearest town and a clean supply of drinking water by using a GPS locator similar to the one you have in your car. It's developers say the application will reduce the number of desert deaths.

Not everyone agrees that this is a good idea. Fellow professor of immigration policy at UCSD, Pete Nunez, who is also a retired U.S. Attorney, says that people who are caught distributing these types of applications could be committing a crime because the program is used only to assist people entering the country illegally. But the professor, along with a local advocacy group hopes to distribute the App online and through churches that offer illegals safe haven.

What do you think? 'Crime' or 'they're crossing the border anyway, might as well give them some water.'

You've probably heard about a lot of things turning up in our drinking water and waterways. Usually, you'd probably rather not know what's lurking in your H2O -- prescription drugs, cocaine, atrazine, triclosan -- but a recent look at the Puget Sound found traces of something sweeter. Researchers from the University of Washington's Sound Citizen program, which examines how what we do on land affects what goes on in the water, discovered interesting fluctuations of more pleasant water contaminates around the holidays.

Coming up for Thanksgiving, levels of turkey seasonings thyme and sage will surge. Throughout the winter cinnamon levels are up. And for Fourth of July, the water gets inundated with remnants of waffle cones and caramel cones. Weekends year round see an increase of chocolate and vanilla flavorings, most likely due to parties. In fact, according to researchers, on average there's about six milligrams of artificial vanilla per liter of water in the Sound. How's that for flavored water?

In reality you won't taste it in your tap water. After any spices or flavors go down your drain, they travel to sewage treatment plants where most contaminants are removed, but that waste-water with the remains have to go somewhere.

Even though the report on spices in the Sound is filled with fun facts, at least more fun than facts about rocket fuel in our water, the point still remains that everything we do in our day-to-day lives is ultimately connected to the watershed. And while, so far, there's no evidence that spices harm marine life, scientists say salmon do have a sense of smell and plan to study the affects of cooking ingredients on octopus reproduction in the Puget Sound. 

Photo by Yapps Cotta on Stock.xchng

While surfing the web today, I came across an article on sincerelysustainable.com showing this simple device that helps you reduce your water consumption. 

It's called the Toilet Tank Bank (bank because you 'deposit and save' - hehe) and it's basically a leak proof bag that you fill with water and place in your toilet's tank. The volume of water in the bag displaces the volume of water in your toilet tank meaning that your toilet requires less water to fill.

This is a great idea for older toilets which use much more water than needed. You can displace almost a gallon of water per flush, reducing your water consumption and your water rates! And, at $1.25 it's cheaper than installing new fixtures.

There's only one drawback. Toilets were designed to 'clear' based on the amount of water they were designed to hold, so the Toilet Tank Bank might reduce your toilet's effectiveness. A bit of trial and error should help - if your toilet doesn't 'clear' well when the bag is full, try filling it half way.

The New York Times reported today that data from three spacecraft indicate widespread presence of water (or hydroxyl) on the Moon.

Scientists had long thought the Moon to be completely dry. But new data shows that there may be water near the Moon's poles in permanently shadowed craters.

If water is present on the Moon, it could make settlement easier, particularly if the water could be extracted by simply heating the soil. Oxygen would also be a key component - always good for humans - and hydrogen and oxygen can be used to make rocket fuel for power generation. I wonder what the name of the first TapIt partner cafe will be, I'm going for Moonstruck Diner!

Photo: Moon Dreams by Juveston on Flickr under Creative Commons License