WATER CRISIS ~ TO FLUSH OR NOT TO FLUSH?

    

The following excerpt is from a livingliberally.org blog, submitted by KAT on Mon,10/22/2007 http://livingliberally.org/eating/story__not_so_flush_oct_22_2007_id721

More and more of my friends are flushing their toilets less and less. In fact, some of us are even flushing each other’s toilets less and less. That may sound like a ghastly breach of etiquette to the vast majority of Americans, but when you’re as immersed in water issues as some of my friends are, you start to feel foolish about flushing away gallons of water just to disperse, say, a pint of pee.

Most of us have barely begun to size up our carbon footprint, and the concept of “peak oil” is just starting to seep into the MSM. But Jon Gertner’s chilling story on the cover of Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, The Perfect Drought, adds two new phrases to the lexicon of looming limitations: “peak water,” (critical water shortages in the future, or peak water), and “water footprint.”

This YouTube video is not part of the article, but I’ve included it to add impact to the severity of the drought situation -  “Desert Overtaking Inner Mongolia“, uploaded on Sep 23, 2011, by circleofblue ~
         

The West is dry as a bone, as Malibu’s transformation from hot spot to inferno so vividly illustrates, and the fires are spreading from San Diego to Santa Barbara. The drought is so severe in North Georgia that Governor Sonny Perdue has called on President Bush to declare 85 counties federal disaster areas.

All of which lends credence to Gertner’s claim that a severe water crisis is already in the pipeline. An extended drought compounded by climate change has left reservoirs at an all-time low just when more and more people are relocating to the increasingly arid West. There’s not enough water to meet the growing demands of agriculture and development, and the situation is only going to get worse—much, much worse, according to the experts Gertner interviewed.

Pat Mulroy, head of Southern Nevada’s Water Authority, told Gertner: “We have an exploding human population, and we have a shrinking clean water supply. Those are on colliding paths…the people who move to the West today need to realize they’re moving into a desert…if they want to live in a desert, they have to adapt to a desert lifestyle.”

Those of us who hail from the irrigated deserts of California are familiar with the water-wise mantra “If it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down,” or what Treehugger has dubbed “the selective flush.” But, as Treehugger noted, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, caused a furor when he suggested that Londoners might want to think twice before flushing.

On this side of the Atlantic, the squandering of water is not only accepted, but expected. Ann Coulter decries the low-flush toilet as the epitome of liberal lunacy. Coulter once told Slate: … everything that is unpleasant in life has been brought to us by liberals. One of them is the fact that we can only have two tablespoons of water in our toilet bowls because of some idiotic conservation of water… You throw half a tissue in the toilet and you have to flush it 16 times… 

And then there’s the ubiquitous American lawn, utterly unsuited to much of the country’s climate, yet mandated by local ordinances… I was delighted by a Daily Kos diary the other day devoted to a Boulder, Colorado CSA (community supported agriculture) run by a farmer, Kipp Nash, who works with suburban homeowners to convert useless lawns into productive vegetable patches.

Lettuce in lieu of lawns? If our nation’s salad bowl turns into a dust bowl, we’re going to need a nation of Kipp Nashes to keep us in greens. The impending water crisis threatens the very foundation of our current agricultural system, which not only sucks up a huge percentage of the West’s water, but also spews copious amounts of chemicals back into our water supply, as Elizabeth Royte documents in her thorough–and thoroughly distressing–recent Grist feature, From Bad to Thirst.

Water’s been on the verge of becoming the new oil for awhile, now, but with the evidence mounting fast that we’re on the verge of being tapped out, maybe the need to conserve will finally sink in. Or, we could just keep flushing away. I’m sure Ann Coulter will.

SAVE THE RAIN APP – FIND YOUR OWN HOUSE!

IMPORTANT NOTE:  IN ORDER TO USE THIS APP YOU MUST ACCESS THIS BLOG SITE BY USING GOOGLE CHROME, SAFARI, FIREFOX OR INTERNET EXPLORER 9. (I tried using my IE 8 and it does not work, so I’m using Google Chrome.)

FIRST: Watch this ‘how to’ video for instructions on using the app

SECOND: Click on the link following for the article and under the video click on the green “Go To App”. Find out how much water you could capture in a year. Draw a box over your roof. You might be surprised!  Have some fun with this – enter the White House address or your own City Hall address and check out the results.

http://www.apps4ottawa.ca/en/apps/73

Description: On July 11, 2012, Ottawa City Council passed the new 2012 Green Building Promotion Program. Green buildings constitute high levels of environmental performance in design, construction and operation. Energy, water and resource efficiency are a key components of a Green Building. Harvesting rainwater or recycling grey water to irrigate lawns and flush toilets is a significant green building technique. The Save the Rain app facilitates the rainwater harvesting process by calculating annually how much rain can be captured from a rooftop.

Drinking Water Summary data (communal wells) – http://app06.ottawa.ca/en/city_hall/statisticsdata/opendata/info/well_water/
Ontario

Well Record data -
http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/environment/en/resources/collection/data_downloads/index.htm#Well Records

The value it provides to residents: For centuries, people have collected rainwater for drinking, washing and irrigation purposes. With the advent of municipal water treatment, rainwater collection became less popular in urbanized centres, though water storage cisterns can still be found in old farmhouses across Canada. But recently, rainwater harvesting has experienced an increase in popularity in countries around the globe as a result of droughts, water shortages and the rising costs of drinking water and stormwater infrastructure. Canada, too, is experiencing an increase in rainwater harvesting for lawn and garden irrigation, and many municipalities have begun to offer rebates for rain barrels. But larger, more sophisticated systems that capture, store, treat and redirect greater quantities of rainwater for other uses are still relatively new. (src: http://www.dcnonl.com/nw/32111/—rainwater-harvesting)

The Save the Rain app facilitates the rainwater harvesting design process by calculating annually how much rain can be captured from any rooftop. The Save the Rain app also displays the Ottawa communal well locations and associated water quality reports.

Related link ~ very informative

http://www.dcnonl.com/nw/32111/—rainwater-harvesting

WATER CRISIS! ~ TIME TO SAVE WATER!

 

Although our earth is made of 20% land and 80% water, 97% of the water is salt water and only 3% of the water is fresh water. However, 3% of water contains 2% frozen water, which means there is only 1% of the water we can use.     

Water crisis is becoming a more serious now. 36% of the world’s population lacks access to improved sanitation. 780 million people live without access to save drinking water.

Mortality rates remain high without fresh, potable drinking water.

Each year 3.6 million people die from water related disease. It’s time to save water now.

“UNESCO has predicted that by 2020 water shortage will be a serious worldwide problem.”

Let us take the global picture into account. As per a recent study, by the year 2020 water shortage will be a serious worldwide problem. Our water resources will not be sufficient anymore.

So an environmental approach is not only a good thing, it is necessary if we want our children to have water when they grow up.

What can we do? In fact, we can do more things to protect our planet.

Now here’s a topic that should be generating great interest around the globe – something not just to think about, but rather put into action.  In Spain they are definitely working in the right direction – stop the devastating loss of water. As an example, the image below shows the water loss in the Aral Sea over only a 50 year time frame.  This is alarming!

Utilizing a greywater system – eco friendly water conservation and solutions.  Greywater systems can help you save 35% to 40% on your annual water bill, and while saving money, you will also help save the environment and provide a better future for our children and their children to come. With this amount of savings, your Greywater Recycling System pays for itself.

http://www.lambourneproperties.com/eco_friendly_grey_water.php

 Eternally Pure –  Water Systems
5450 Canotek Road, Unit 66-67
Ottawa, Ontario K1J 9G5
613-742-0058

http://visual.ly/it%E2%80%99s-time-save-water-now

FRACKING HELL ~ A CATASTROPHE!

WHAT IS FRACKING?
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a method of forcing natural gas or oil from rock layer deep below the earth’s surface.

 HOW FRACKING WORKS:
1) A pressurized mixture of sand, water and chemicals is injected into a horizontally drilled well.
2) The mix cracks the shale and fills the cracks with sandy grit allowing natural gas to flow up the well.
3) The recovered water is stored in lined pits or taken to a treatment plant. 

“Hydraulic Fracturing: How it works”, YouTube video uploaded  by Imperial Oil , Sept. 19, 2012 ~

“Animation of Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking)”, a YouTube video was published on Apr 26, 2012 ~

ALASKA FRACKING:… Alaska is a major component in fracking and it is big in the future. Alaska has around 2 billion barrels of oil and 80 trillion cubic feet of gas. This is enough to fill the Alaska pipeline for 12 decades. The wells of Alaska are located in two areas. The biggest spot for the fracking to occur is the North Slope, where most of the wells are… The other area of fracking takes place in the Kenai Peninsula on the South coast of Alaska… Not only can gas and oil be extracted from fracking, but so can 500 million barrels of recoverable natural gas. This recoverable natural gas comes from the North area. Alaska fracking is a good way to extract oil because it can cover many wells at one time, making the process less expensive… because the fracking takes place in the north part of Alaska, there is no human harm done because it does not take place in developed areas, where many people normally live. Fracking in Alaska takes place in the undeveloped areas.

FRACKING  IS CONTROVERSIAL AND HARMFUL:
Around 25% of the oil extraction in Alaska uses fracking… Alaska fracking can be harmful to the environment as well as the animals because it puts chemicals in water that harms these two. This is why Alaska fracking has been a controversial topic for many years. Because of this, there have been hearings for new laws and regulations for this type of oil extraction in Alaska. These types of laws and regulations, if passed, would be very strict. Some of the regulations could involve oil extraction companies giving more information about the chemicals used that could potentially harm any areas containing water. The contamination of water can cause a lot of problems in the future for Alaska.

EARTHQUAKES, CHEMICAL SPILLS,

TOXIC DRINKING WATER

AND RADIOACTIVE WASTE

DUMPING,

AND THE LIST GOES ON……!!!

A MUST SEE ~ The following YouTube video, “Fracking Hell: The Untold Story”, uploaded on Jan 11, 2011 by LinkTV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_fracking

CIELAP REPORT ~ “EMERGING CONTAMINANTS”

WHAT MUST WE DO
TO PRESERVE

OUR MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE???

The following excerpts are taken from a report, “There is No Away: Emerging Contaminants Detected in Water” which was published in the March/April, 2006 edition of Canadian Water Treatment magazine.

A report from the Canadian Institute For Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP) released during National Pharmacists Awareness Week emphasizes the need for the Canadian government and industry to invest mores resources to research the effects of “emerging contaminants: in Canada’s waterways”.  The report makes 11 recommendations about ways to reduce the amount of, and their effects on, one of Canada‘s most valuable resources.

Anne Mitchell, executive director of CIELAP, said the release of the report was planned to coincide with the industry’s national convention because there are a number of issues related to increasing environmental contamination by pharmaceuticals and personal care products.  She was also careful to commend pharmacist for their efforts in keeping unused and wasted drugs out of the water.

The report, There is No Away: Emerging Contaminants Detected in Water, was written by Susan Holtz, a policy consultant to CIELAP who  writes on issues related to sustainable development, water and energy.  CIELAP is a not-for-profit research and educational institute dedicated to environmental law, policy analysis and reform.

In writing her  report, Holtz examined the issued of “emerging contaminants” – a term that originated in a U.S. Geological Survey report.  It refers to the  presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (collectively know as PPCPs) and endocrine-disrupting substances (EDSl) in the Canadian water system.  Holtz warns that the contaminants entering surface, ground and drinking water can have serious environmental and health consequences.  One of the biggest concerns is the issue of resistance to antibiotics and hormonal imbalances due to higher concentrations of EDS.  Of major concern, she says, if the increased use of antibiotics for both the human and animal population.  In Canada, there were 326.2 million prescriptions filled from July 2001 to August 2002.

In farming, Holtz notes that antibiotics are no longer being used singularly to treat sick animals; they’re also being used in the form of hormones, growth promoters and for illness prevention.  In her research, she determined the increased use of drugs in veterinary medicine, farming practices and aquaculture has decreased the effectiveness of the use of antibiotics.  The use of hormones in both animals and humans has had a negative effect on reproduction, causing the feminization of fish, wiping out an entire talhead minnow population in Ontario.  EDSs have also contributed to deformities in fish, birds and wildlife…Building on study results conducted in the U.S. and Europe, Holtz says it’s time for Canada to get more involved in the issue of contaminants in water.  She says the Canadian government and Canadian organizations don’t have enough information “even to develop a strategy that can effectively” determine the effects of contaminants in water… 
Here are a few YouTube videos relevant to this article:
~ Pharmaceuticals ~

~ Disposing of your Medications ~

~ Pharmaceutical Products In Our Water PSA ~

In addition to research, Holtz said a focus on human behaviour and providing more information to the public in order to encourage better choices are also important elements of social change.

THE BASICS OF ION EXCHANGE AND WATER CHEMISTRY

The following excerpts are taken from Water Conditioning and Purification Magazine’s Feb. 2007 article – ‘The Basics of Ion Exchange and Water Chemistry’, by C. F. ‘Chubb’ Michaud, CEO and Technical Director of Systematix Company

Introduction: Look around: thousands of heavenly bodies in the night sky (comprising a mere fraction of one percent of the known universe), hundreds of cities, millions of houses filled with tens of millions of people. It is somewhat amazing to realize that all of it – every single thing is made up of only three components: electrons, protons and neutrons. Each grouping of these components forms a unique Structure we call an element. There are barely 100 naturally occurring elements here on Earth or in stellar space and their collective study is called chemistry. Each compound (water, air, steel, rubber) has its own chemistry. We can predict the properties of most things by studying the unique make up of their components. The chemistry of water is basic but, nonetheless, it is still chemistry. Some people shy away from trying to understand this subject because they feel it’s over their heads. Understanding the fundamentals of chemistry, however, is necessary in order to grasp the full breadth of how certain aspects of water filtration work – particularly ion exchange… The building blocks: In the worlds around us, there are barely 100 elements that occur naturally and, by definition, they are all separate and distinct from one another. Sodium, calcium, sulfur and oxygen are all elements. Elements are made up of a balanced number of positively and negatively charged particles called protons (+) and electrons (-), which, along with neutrons (which are neutral), form an atom of that element. The atom was first theorized by Democritus in the 5^th century BC and derives from the Greek word for ‘un-cutable’. It is the smallest particle still identifiable as having the properties of the element. Modern science finally accepted this theory but not until the development of nuclear weapons in the 1940s…

 Recap: By way of a quick summary, all matter is made up of elements (which are made up of electrons (–), protons (+) and neutrons (=). When elements combine, they form compounds. When compounds combine, they can form new  compounds or mixtures. Acids and bases neutralize each other to form salts (and water). When salts are dissolved in water, they separate into cations (+) and anions (–) which carry charges (and are, therefore, attracted to other charged substances such as ion exchange resins). Water (H2O) does not ionize as H+ and O– –. Instead, it becomes H+ and OH– (called hydrogen and hydroxyl). These two ions are the backbone of the ion exchange demineralizer reaction (see Reaction 5). In reality, when salts are dissolved in water, they are no longer salts and they are no longer associated with their original partners. It is sort of like a junior high dance. It doesn’t matter who you came in with or with whom you go home, while you are on the dance floor, you’re on your own. Thus, if we add sodium carbonate and calcium chloride to water, we produce six different ions: Ca++ (calcium), Na+ (sodium), Cl– (chloride) and CO3 – (carbonate) plus the H+ and OH–. Each ion is free to associate with whatever it feels the most strongly attracted… Introduction to ion exchange: In the above case, the ‘unused’ part of the exchange reaction remains in the water and raises the total dissolved solids (TDS—that would be the Na and the Cl ions). But, what if we could anchor the reactive ions to a solid matrix so we didn’t have to filter them out and their partners would not go into solution to add to the TDS? That is exactly what ion exchange resin does. Ion exchange resins are plastic beads with a built-in reactive partner and an exchangeable ‘soluble’ partner. While the exchangeable partner is free to jump on and off the bead, the fixed reactive partner remains attached. In the case of a softening exchange resin, the partners are sodium (Na+ free to jump) an sulfonate (HSO3– which is fixed). When a calcium salt is introduced (as hard water), the calcium replaces the sodium on the bead and sodium replaces the calcium in the water (on a one-for-one equivalent basis) and there is no increase in TDS and no further filtration needed. The reason this reaction takes place is because the calcium  from the hardness has a higher attraction (divalent) to the exchange resin than does the sodium (monovalent). This is known as ion selectivity and is the backbone of the ion exchange process. As shown by Reaction 5, certain elements or compounds in water can be made to undergo specific selec- tive reactions and these reactions are predictable to some degree according to the element’s family association in the Periodic Table. Divalent ions (those with a double positive charge) such as calcium and magnesium, will react with soap and cause ‘bathtub ring.’ They will also react with the carbonate ion to form scale in pipes and heaters. Although we could precipitate these salts with the addition of carbonate ions (see Reaction 6), we have no easy way to remove the resulting solid except in an industrial setting with large tankage. With ion exchange resins, only the exchangeable ion is soluble or free to move. The counter ion, which is the resin bead itself, is not. This makes the separation after the exchange very easy. In the case of a softener, the resin has an exchangeable Na+. The hardness (Ca++ and Mg++) combined with the resin forms a very strong bond. The water, minus the hardness, passes on through because the resin is retained in the exchange column. Sodium replaces the hardness on an equivalent basis. This means that it will take two sodium ions from the exchange bead to replace a single calcium or magnesium ion. However, on a ppm as CaCO3 basis, this is a one-for-one exchange with no change in TDS (more on this in Part 2)… Conclusion: The Periodic Table of the Elements places all elements into families that help us predict properties and determine similarities. We have shown that there is a preferred coupling of certain elements to form reactions (such as CaCO3 precipitation) that lead us to methods of removing those elements from water. This can be done either selectively (such as in softening) or completely (as in demineralization) utilizing ion exchange resins.

Common elements found in tap water
Aluminum, Calcium, Carbon, Chloride, Fluoride, Iron
Magnesium, Manganese, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Potassium
Silica, Sodium, Sulfur

       

INGENIUS! ~ CREATE DRINKING WATER FROM BILLBOARD!

A billboard in Peru
creates clean drinking water
from the air!!!
No way! ~ YES way!!!

What remarkable ingeniuty!!!

UTEC, the university of engineering and technology in Lima, Peru in collaburation with Mayo DraftDCB has developed the world’s first billboard that can produce potable water from the air as a promotional admissions campaign. In this region rainfall is scarce year-round, but atmospheric humidity reaches almost 98% – the project provides residents with up-to 96 liters clean drinking water in reserve tanks situated in taps at the foot of the sign, instead of having them deal with polluted wells.

Published on Feb 19, 2013 ~ The first billboard that produces potable water from the air.  Mayo DraftFCB for The University of Engineering and Technology

Interestingly, the project wasn’t so much driven by Lima’s need for water as UTEC’s need for more engineering students. Their motto is “We will continue changing the world through engineering.” And if this is what such students could get working on, we’re all for it.

The billboard contains five generators that churn out purified water through a reverse osmosis system. The system sends water to a tank that can store up to 100 liters per day. As you can see in the video above, people are actually using the billboard to get fresh water. In three months of operation, the billboard has produced thousands of liters.

Fortunately, the Peruvian government isn’t counting on UTEC and Mayo DraftCFB. They’ve recently announced a $3.3 billion-dollar upgrade they plan on making to their water and sewage infrastructure to provide better drinking water to their citizens.

HEALTHY HEART ~ DRINK WATER!

FEBRUARY IS HEART HEALTH MONTH 

HOW DOES DRINKING WATER SUPPORT A HEALTHY HEART?

 

Dole Nutrition Institute answered:

Fluid intake may help support heart health, by affecting factors such as the thickness of blood and plasma. In fact, a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that subjects who drink five or more glasses of water per day have half the risk of fatal coronary heart disease compared with those who drink less than two glasses of water each day. A diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables provides additional hydration help, as produce can provide roughly 20 percent of your water needs. Cucumbers, celery, zucchini, tomatoes, watermelon, strawberries, spinach, grapefruit and broccoli are all more than 90 percent water

Alkaline Water Health Improvements:
The lack of h2o in people’s diets stands out as the undeniable cause of plenty of common illnesses. People don’t understand that clean, healthy liquid, and the proper intake has enormous health and fitness benefits. If the water is actually alkaline, further enriching our bodies by bringing the acidic material back towards balance, then a health benefits are sustained. You may be astonished to learn that the explanation for and solution to countless common discomforts is too little of water intake. It may possibly be something you’ve been going through your entire life. Increase your water consumption to avoid heart problems.
Heart healthy
Drinking a good amount of water could lower your risks of a heart attack. A six-year study published in the May 1, 2002 American Journal of Epidemiology found that those who drink more than 5 glasses of water a day were 41% less likely to die from a heart attack during the study period than those who drank less than two glasses.
Angina
Angina, also referred to as heart pain or serious heartburn, is a sign of dehydration during the heart and lung axis. Although angina is incredibly crippling, medication should be utilized. Increased water intake will remedy this challenge over time.
Heartburn
Heartburn is one approach the body signals that there’s a shortage of mineral water in the upper an area of the gastrointestinal tract, generally any esophagus or stomach. You will need to keep this area for the body thoroughly hydrated, because the acidic content of your stomach may be very strong and can be damaging towards the rest of your overall body, particularly the throat.
The most severe part is, many people do not realize that heartburn is signaling anyone to drink more water. As an alternative, they medicate it utilizing pills and antacids. With time, this is detrimental with your health! The continued dehydration and medication may cause inflammation of the belly, with potentials for ulcers, hernias, and in the end cancers in the gastrointestinal tract, which includes the failing liver and pancreas.
Does the temperature of the water matter at all? Believe it or not – it does matter.
Cold water is not as good for hydration as room temperature. The theory is that the cold water causes the blood vessels surrounding stomach to shrink, slowing absorption.
One theory, upon which medical researchers have varying opinions regards whether drinking cold water is as good for you as drinking tepid water, particularly when you are exercising. Some doctors suggest that room temperature or body temperature water is better than cold water, because the body has to expend energy to heat cold water to body temperature, resulting in some water loss.
The problem is that as the COLD drinks pass through our system, they solidify the fats from the foods we have just eaten or are eating at present. This makes the body find it harder to digest and disperse the unwanted fats from our body.
However, if we simply swap our cold drinks for a warm drink (warm water/ coffee/tea/herbals) the warm fluids help the fats in our foods to remain fluid and so easing the digestive system and helping the fats pass through our body (and reduce risk of clogged arteries).
Most people understand the importance of hydration, but the disconnect is how critical to health the source and structure of water is.
Water is your body’s most important nutrient, is involved in every bodily function, and makes up 70- 75% of your total body weight. Water helps you to maintain body temperature, metabolize body fat, aids in digestion, lubricates and cushions organs, transports nutrients, and flushes toxins from your body.

http://www.sharecare.com/question/water_heart_health

 http://natural-body-health.com/heart-attacks-and-drinking-water/

Heart Attacks and Drinking Warm Water

This is a very good article. Not only about the warm water after your meal, but about heart attacks. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot green tea with their meals, not cold water, maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating.

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this “sludge” reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and may lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal…  

Heart Month: Quiz: Test your own heart health knowledge

http://www.capitalgazette.com/lifestyle/health/quiz-test-your-own-heart-health-knowledge/article_b924020d-3ed0-5603-b938-a20b4e65c6d4.html

Related links ~

   http://www.knowledgebase-script.com/demo/article-179.html

   http://www.dumblittleman.com/2007/07/9-great-reasons-to-drink-water-and-how.html

Water Filter
Instead of spending a fortune on bottled water, invest in a filter for your home. It’ll make tap water taste much better than bottled, at a fraction of the price.

QUESTIONS? ~ Call us to help with your home’s water filtration needs.  More and more people realize that even though they are on municipal water, filtering your home water is a necessity now that evidence states more and more dangerous chemicals such as fluoride, trihalomethanes, lead and pharmaceuticals may be in our water.

Eternally Pure Water Systems, Inc.
5450 Canotek Rd., Unit 66-67
Ottawa, ON K1J 9G5
613-742-0058

Check out our customer reviews on Homestars site ~
http://www.rainsoft.homestars.com

WATER ~ EVERY DROP INVOLVED IN AN AMAZING RELATIONSHIP

Reflections at the Water Hole, by Bryan Karney, Water Canada Nov./Dec. issue

The memory is vivid: the parched, dusty East African savannah, the grassy plain dotted with elegant acacia and the rarer baobab twisted into mysterious shapes. In the foreground, a social congress of animals concentrated at their water hole, lying tranquil under the lengthening afternoon shadows.
After many years, the scene still reminds me of water as central and sustaining, the foundation of a complex system of animal and plant communities that reach beyond the limits of sight and that run as deep as the termites and as high as the clouds… Like the water hole, the remarkable properties of water arise from the wholeness of its structure and the company it keeps. A single water molecule is fundamentally asymmetric: one side hydrogen-rich and statistically lacking in electrons, and thus slightly positive charged, and the other relatively hydrogen-free portion being disproportionately rich in electrons and carrying a slightly negatively charge. These opposite charges naturally attract and cause the water molecule to have pronounced pull on other water molecules in the vicinity. When combined with the chaos of temperature and turbulence, the result is a dynamic and transitory set of free alliances and changing allegiances. Water is more a flickering community of H2nOn than a set of independent and colliding H20 pellets… The direct consequences turn out to be immense. First, each cubic kilometre of air above this East African water hole contains the energy equivalent of many millions of litres of gasoline, a reality dramatized by every thunderstorm or hurricane. This latent heat provides one of the most important transfers of energy between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere, cooling the surface and warming the atmosphere. This energy generates the giant energy transport systems involved in atmospheric circulation and the hydrologic cycle itself. These latent heat transfers, through evaporated sweat or moisture lost during respiration, allow the animals gathering at the water hole to survive the heat of the day. The global circulation system that produced this water hole and the biological system that depends on it, both turn on the axis of water.

Every drop of water that we might consider is intrinsically involved in a network or relationships and interdependencies, whether in a groundwater reservoir, a flowing stream, or in the vast arial extent of a Great Lake. Wherever water is found, connections engage and mediate a complex set of physical, chemical, and biological relationships…

WATER AMBASSADORS’ GLOBAL IMPACT

How two members dug deep to bring sanitation to developing nations – by Susannah Maxcy of Renaissance Winter 2012 magazine.

On the impact Water Ambassadors has had on volunteers: “We’ve had big, macho Canadian men tear up.  When some village person shakes your hand and says, ‘thank you’ for saving the lives of our children, it’s pretty humbling.  It becomes a marker in people’s lives and that will change them forever.  I think people realize the blessing that Canada has.  You will never drink a glass of water out of the tap and think about it the same way again,” Barry expresses.

Access to water and proper sanitation are easy to take for granted when you live in a country with the world’s largest fresh water supply.  We will neither know what it is like to walk for kilometres to a well nor will we ever know what it is like not to have access to a clean toilet.  Enter Barry Hart, District 18, Haliburton and John P. Smith, District 13, Hamilton-Wentworth, Haldimand whose twists of fate inspired them to change the world one well and one latrine at a time.

… Barry Hart, founder of Water Ambassadors Canada, discusses the pressing need to bring clean water to third world countries … The interview is conducted by Lorna Dueck, host of Listen Up TV, a weekly television program exploring news and current affairs from a Christian worldview ~uploaded to YouTube on Nov 19, 2009

Barry Hart and his wife, Heather Alloway, first heard about the global water crisis 10 years ago at a conference they attended.  “It went from our heads to our hearts.  Within a year we were in Guatemala building a well in a remote location, a little scary at first, but totally blew us away … we remember sitting in the Houston airport coming home.   By memory we were calling people using a phone card back in Canada to try to tell them what we had seen, heard and experienced.  It was absolutely life-changing.”

Upon returning home, Barry and Heather formed the Water Ambassadors of Canada, a faith-based non-profit organization dedicated to improving and providing access to clean water to impoverished communities throughout the world.  Since its inception, Water Ambassadors has sent approximately 300 Canadians to Central America, the Caribbean and Africa to help build wells, install water filtration systems and teach hygiene.  Empowering the communities they help with the tools and knowledge to maintain these systems, Water Ambassadors provides water security in a time of increasing water instability.

… “Access is a big deal, because many of these places, people walk miles to get water from wells.  We repaired on well in November that had been broken for 14 years, which forced the people to walk by that well to get to the next town to get their drinking water … when you fix wells you’re giving them access to clean water close by, or in some cases access to water period, rather than drinking out of the local mud hole.  People totally appreciate it; they know what’s going on.  It’s a matter of their time and their health that you’re giving them … kids can go to school with healthier tummies and a lot of little girls are not spending hours getting water each day,” says Barry.

Get involved.  Are you interested in becoming a water ambassador?  Water Ambassadors offers travel volunteer opportunities in Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.  Learn more about Water Ambassadors of Canada at http://www.waterambassadorscanada.org.