Drinking Water Contaminated ~ Drugs on Tap

           Scientists are re-designing pharmaceuticals and other contaminants to keep them out of our drinking water.

Making pharmaceuticals that degrade before they can contaminate drinking water.

In recent years, researchers have realized that many products, including pharmaceuticals, have ended up where they’re not supposed to be — in our drinking water. But now scientists have developed a way to make drugs that break down into harmless compounds before they contaminate our taps.

Their report appears in ACS’ journal
Environmental Science & Technology.

 

 

 

The researchers chose to work with a commonly used drug called propranolol — a beta blocker prescribed to treat high blood pressure and to prevent heart problems. It is very stable and has been found in sewage. They made a small molecular change in its structure that didn’t affect its beta blocking activity but allowed it to break down more easily than the original form. Further studies are needed, but initial testing showed that the altered drug and its byproducts are likely not toxic. The researchers suggest that a similar approach could be used to re-design other classes of drugs and chemicals to make them more environmentally friendly, too. 

A wide range of active ingredients originating from pesticides, shampoos, lotions, cosmetics, disinfectants and drugs get washed into sewage systems or rivers and streams, ending up in our tap water.

Scientists don’t have a complete picture yet of what effects these substances have on wildlife and human health, but they are a major concern. Researchers have detected them in low levels in streams and rivers across the United States and in other countries. To address the specific problem of medications in the environment, Klaus Kümmerer and colleagues made tweaks to pharmaceuticals so they degrade after they’ve passed through both the body and sewage treatment systems, which aren’t capable of scrubbing wastewater of all contaminants.

Dr. Klaus Kümmerer, professor of sustainable chemistry and material resources at the University of Lüneburg

The authors acknowledge funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research.

http://canadafreepress.com/articles-health/75133

World Water Week ~ Conserve Water in Homes

Last week was World Water Week and I thought an appropriate topic choice would be water conservation in our homes. The following is taken from http://wateruseitwisely.com/ and includes tips for in and around the home.  I am in the kitchen this week.

100+ WAYS TO CONSERVE

When it comes to conserving water, small adjustments can have a big impact. Here you can sort through nearly 200 water-saving tips, download and print tip posters or share your favorites on social media.

KITCHEN

There are a number of ways to save water, and they all start with you.

When washing dishes by hand, don’t let the water run. Fill one basin with wash water and the other with rinse water.

 

Dishwashers typically use less water
than washing dishes by hand.
Now, Energy Star dishwashers save
even more water and energy. If your dishwasher is new, cut back on rinsing. Newer models clean more thoroughly than older ones.

Designate one glass for your drinking water each day, or refill a water bottle. This will cut down on the number of glasses to wash.

 

Soak pots and pans instead of letting the water run while you scrape them clean.

 

Use the garbage disposal sparingly. Instead, compost vegetable food waste and save gallons every time.

Wash your fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water from the tap.

 

 

Don’t use running water to thaw food. For water efficiency and food safety, defrost food in the refrigerator.

Install an instant water heater near your kitchen sink so you don’t have to run the water while it heats up. This also reduces energy costs.

 

 

Keep a pitcher of drinking water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap. This way, every drop goes down you and not the drain.

 

Reuse leftover water from cooked or steamed foods to start a nutritious soup, it’s one more way to get eight glasses of water a day.

 

Cook food in as little water as possible. This also helps it retain more nutrients.

 

 

Select the proper pan size for cooking. Large pans may require more cooking water than necessary.

 

 

If you accidentally drop ice cubes, don’t throw them in the sink. Drop them in a house plant instead.

 

 

 

Collect the water you use while rinsing fruit and vegetables. Use it to water house plants.

 

Visit again next week to see how we can save water in the bathroom…

World Water Week ~ Fun Water Facts

The first municipal water filtration works opened in Paisley, Scotland in 1832.

 

More than 79,000 tons of chlorine are used per year in the United States.

 

Of all the earth’s water, 97% is salt water found in oceans and seas. Only 1% of the earth’s water is available for drinking water. Two percent is currently frozen.

About two thirds of the human body is water.
Some parts of the body contain more water than others.
For example,
70% of your skin is water.

 

Public water suppliers process 38 billion gallons of water per day for domestic and public use.

A person can live more than a month without food, but only about a week, depending on conditions, without water.

Approximately 1 million miles of pipelines and aqueducts carry water in the United States and Canada. That’s enough to circle the earth 40 times.

 

About 800,000 water wells are drilled each year in the United States for domestic, farming, commercial, and water testing purposes.

 

Typically, households consume at least 50% of their water by lawn watering.

 

Inside, toilets use the most water,
with an average of 27 gallons
per person per day.

 

In 1974, Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure that drinking water is safe for human consumption. The Act requires public water systems to monitor and treat drinking water for safety.

More than 13 million households get their water from their own private wells and are responsible for treating and pumping the water themselves.

 

Industries released
197 million pounds
of toxic chemicals
into waterways in 1990.
The average daily requirement for fresh water in the United States is about 40 billion gallons a day, with about 300 billion gallons used untreated for agriculture and commercial purposes.

Each person uses
about 100 gallons
of water a day at home.

 

The average five-minute shower takes between 15 to 25 gallons of water.

 

There are more fun water facts to share

– check them out next Friday.

                            Have a great weekend everyone.

 

Award Winning Film – A Must See! Iceland’s Water “Vatn”

I posted my 437th blog this past Tuesday and thought I’d have a look at our most viewed blogs and re-post some of them again for you from time to time (save you from scrolling though our lengthy archives). I’ve added a photo and a brief bio excerpt of Enrique Pacheco.

What a magnificent, stunning and profound result of E. Pacheco’s approach to viewing water conservation – personify and give water a voice!!!

Your friends from Rainsoft Ottawa know you will certainly enjoy this unique video presentation!

Photographer and filmmaker Enrique Pacheco‘s most recent short film, “Vatn” (the Icelandic word for water), offers stunning views of Iceland’s oceans, rivers and waterfalls…

Shot and edited over a 6-month period, the film employs an interesting narrative structure that personifies water and makes it the film’s protagonist. “Human beings are the antagonists,” Pacheco said of the film, in an interview published on his Web site.

“We are changing the life cycle of water. This film is for water conservation. Instead of talking about water, I decided to personify water, give it voice, so we can hear it.”

Enrique Pacheco is a professional cinematographer from Spain. He has been working in video production for more than 10 years, but Enrique’s career changed when he moved to Iceland. There he started to specialize on time-lapse and DSLR cameras, exploring the raw landscape of Iceland and shooting some of nature’s most volatile subjects, such as active volcanoes, glaciers, waterfalls, and the traditional culture of Iceland. Some of his latest short films have been very successful in Vimeo. “Winter in Hell”, “Raw Lightscapes”, “Made on Earth”, “The Maghreb and “Vatn” are all long-term self-productions made with great effort and passion. – See more at: http://www.enriquepacheco.com/about-me#sthash.RqRYUffa.dpuf 

SPLITTING WATER INTO H2 AND O ~ WOW!!!

We all know that water is made up of atoms of hydrogen and oxygen, which are chemically combined in the ratio of two hydrogen atoms for every oxygen atom. It usually has a bluish tint and its also tasteless and odourless, but now remarkably a device uses light to split water into clean burning hydrogen.

The following excerpts are from the article, “Device uses light to split water into clean hydrogen”, posted by Mark Shwartz-Stanford, November 15, 2013

The water splitter is a silicon semiconductor coated in an ultrathin layer of nickel and it could help pave the way for large-scale production of clean hydrogen fuel from sunlight, according to the researchers. Their results are published in the journal Science.  The goal is to supplement solar cells with hydrogen-powered fuel cells that can generate electricity when the sun isn’t shining or demand is high.

The image above shows two electrodes connected via an external voltage source splitting water into oxygen(O2) and hydrogen(H2). The illuminated silicon electrode (left) uses light energy to assist in the water-splitting process and is protected from the surrounding electrolyte by a 2-nm film of nickel.  (Credit: Guosong Hong, Stanford University)

“Solar cells only work when the sun is shining,” says study co-author Hongjie Dai, a professor of chemistry at Stanford University. “When there’s no sunlight, utilities often have to rely on electricity from conventional power plants that run on coal or natural gas.”   A greener solution, Dai says, is to supplement the solar cells with hydrogen-powered fuel cells that generate electricity at night or when demand is especially high.

HOW TO SPLIT WATER
Photo: Peichuan Shen, PhD student; Shen Zhao, PhD student; and Dr. Alexander Orlov

To produce clean hydrogen for fuel cells, scientists have turned to an emerging technology called water splitting. Two semi-conducting electrodes are connected and placed in water. The electrodes absorb light and use the energy to split the water into its basic components, oxygen and hydrogen.  The oxygen is released into the atmosphere, and the hydrogen is stored as fuel.  When energy is needed, the process is reversed. The stored hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen are combined in a fuel cell to generate electricity and pure water.   The entire process is sustainable and emits no greenhouse gases. But finding a cheap way to split water has been a major challenge…
SILICON SOLUTION
“Silicon, which is widely used in solar cells, would be an ideal, low-cost material,” says Stanford graduate student Michael J. Kenney, co-lead author of the Science study. “But silicon degrades in contact with an electrolyte solution… In 2011, another Stanford research team addressed this challenge by coating silicon electrodes with ultrathin layers of titanium dioxide and iridium. That experimental water splitter produced hydrogen and oxygen for eight hours without corroding.  “Those were inspiring results, but for practical water splitting, longer-term stability is needed,” Dai says. “Also, the precious metal iridium is costly. A non-precious metal catalyst would be desirable.”  To find a low-cost alternative, Dai suggested that Kenney and his colleagues try coating silicon electrodes with ordinary nickel.  “Nickel is corrosion-resistant,” Kenney says. “It’s also an active oxygen-producing catalyst, and it’s earth-abundant. That makes it very attractive for this type of application.”
NICKEL NANOFILM
For the experiment, the Dai team applied a 2-nanometer-thick layer of nickel onto a silicon electrode, paired it with another electrode, and placed both in a solution of water and potassium borate.  When light and electricity were applied, the electrodes began splitting the water into oxygen and hydrogen, a process that continued for about 24 hours with no sign of corrosion.  To improve performance, the researchers mixed lithium into the water-based solution. “Remarkably, adding lithium imparted superior stability to the electrodes,” Kenney says. “They generated hydrogen and oxygen continuously for 80 hours—more than three days—with no sign of surface corrosion.” … “Our lab has produced one of the longest lasting silicon-based photoanodes,” he says. “The results suggest that an ultrathin nickel coating not only suppresses corrosion but also serves as an electrocatalyst to expedite the otherwise sluggish water-splitting reaction… The scientists plan to do additional work on improving the stability and durability of nickel-treated electrodes of silicon as well as other materials.  The Precourt Institute for Energy and the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford and the National Science Foundation funded the work.

Article link – http://www.futurity.org/device-uses-light-split-water-clean-hydrogen/?utm_source=Futurity+Today&utm_campaign=aa7a65b600-November_15_201311_15_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e34e8ee443-aa7a65b600-206319993

 

P.E.I.’S NEW WATER AUDIT PROGRAM

Switching to low-flow shower heads can cut water-use by half and save thousands of dollars from a hotel’s water bill. It’s just one of the suggestions the City of Charlottetown floated to hotels in a recent water audit. Laura Chapin explains in this CBC audio, ‘Conservation, policies and PEI’s water-use laws’, May 16, 2013 ~
http://www.cbc.ca/islandmorning/episodes/2013/05/16/conservation-policies-and-peis-water-use-laws/

The following article, Be My Guest ‘Hotels participate in a new water audit program in Prince Edward Island.’ by Clark Kingsbury appears in the May/June issue of WaterCanada magazine.

Charlottetown’s Water and Sewer Utility Department has launched an innovative project aiming to improve water efficiency in the city’s hotels. The Hotel Audit project offers to identify easy, cost-effective way for hotels to reduce water waste by both guests and staff. The project will be executed in partnership with Holland College’s Energy Systems Engineering Technology program. Three hotels are currently involved.

“This pilot supports the tourism industry while also reducing the amount of water used in our city during the busy summer months,” says Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee. “Involving Holland College in the process allows us access to the expertise of its energy systems engineering technology program managers and provides students with an excellent educational opportunity.” The project requires students to perform the audits with water and sewer utility staff members.

Despite public concern about the amount of water consumed by cruise ships docking in Charlottetown’s harbour, the city’s hotels actually consume more water than the Harbour Authority uses in an entire year.

“It seems lately that the focus has moved from conservation to trying to assign blame to a particular industry for high water usage, but the reality is that it’s not one industry or sector that is to blame,” says the water and sewer utility’s chair, Edward Rice. “Conserving water and finding ways to keep water use down during the summer months is the collective responsibility of all businesses, sectors, and industries, as well as governments and residents.”

The audit includes testing of all water use in the participating facilities, and provides recommendations with payback periods based on anticipated savings on water and energy bills.

 

WATER, THE MIRACLE OF LIFE

Water, The Miracle of Life – Optimize your mind and body by staying hydrated – August 31, 2012, by CHFA

This week Registered/Certified Holistic Nutritionist CNP RNCP, Joy McCarthy, discusses the importance of hydration. Discover details about how much water you should really be drinking and how to transform it into a delicious, nutritious, energizing beverage.
Summer is winding down and days are getting cooler, but this does not mean we should reduce our water intake. Exercising makes us sweat, regardless of the surrounding temperature, and electrolytes still need to be replenished. Proper hydration keeps you energized, prevents headaches, keeps muscle cramps at bay, and can help you feel fabulous all day!
Water is the foundation of all life and its value to our bodies is immeasurable. In fact, we are made up of nearly 70 per cent water! Many of our basic metabolic processes, such as the regulation of body temperature, require enormous amounts of water – up to three litres daily.
Even breathing expels up to a pint of water every day. Keeping your body functioning at an optimal level is necessary for physical and mental well-being, and proper hydration is essential to that.
As mentioned, daily bodily functions account for significant water loss. For example, your feet have 250,000 sweat glands and can lose half a pint of water on a normal day! If you’re exercising regularly, this amount can increase to 2.4 litres (five pounds) per hour! Imagine what that translates to when you include all of the sweat glands in our bodies, all of the metabolic functions, and any other processes that consume water.             
How much is enough?
We’ve all heard that we should drink eight to ten glasses of water every day, but this is just a guideline. We are all unique. To help you stay as hydrated as you need to be, here’s a guiding formula: drink 50 to 75 per cent of your body weight in ounces, depending on how much activity you get daily. For example, if you weigh 140 pounds, 70 ounces of water is optimal if you are sedentary and 105 ounces is best, if you are active. This means that at 140 pounds, you should be drinking a minimum of nine cups of water daily – 13 if you are getting regular exercise!
Reinvent your water
If you find plain tap water boring or unsatisfying, spice it up anyway you like. The internet is full of cool, quenching ideas, but here are a few of my favourite suggestions:
1.Add Flavor and Fibre: Freeze some blueberries, mangos, or sliced peaches and add them to your water. This will not only sweeten it, but eating the fruits will also give you a tasty boost of fibre, vitamins and minerals. Fibre is important because it helps digestive functioning, lowers cholesterol, and, according to more recent studies, may even help prevent certain types of cancer.
2.Emergen C: This powdered mix adds a kick of flavour and nutrients to your water. There are a variety of flavours you can choose from, and each conveniently sized packet contains a blend of seven ascorbates (types of Vitamin C), seven B vitamins, which keep your energy levels up, and 32 active minerals, antioxidants, and other micronutrients to refresh and energize you.
3.Ester-C Individual Pack: This mix has a host of beneficial properties. Ester-C is a great source of vitamins C and B and also contains precious electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. This formula provides your body with the nutrients necessary to keep you energized and feeling great, and helps maintain muscle function, support bones, cartilage, teeth, gums, and even healthy skin.
4.Get creative: These are only a few suggestions and of course you should explore options that satisfy your taste buds and bodily needs.

The Canadian Health Food Association

https://www.chfa.ca/resources/water-the-miracle-of-life-optimize-your-mind-and-body-by-staying-hydrated/

If you know that your family is not enjoying the taste of your tap water, you would be wise to consider installing a Rainsoft Reverse Osmosis system.  Not only will you enjoy the benefit of pure natural tasting water, but you will stop worrying about the harmful chemicals, parmaceuticals, pesticides and herbicides that are present in your water.

Eternally Pure Water Systems Inc.
5450 Canotek Road, Unit 67
Ottawa, ON K1J 9G5
Phone: (613) 742-0058
Mon. – Fri. 9:00 – 5:00

WATER BROTHERS ~ STOP DRINKING BOTTLED WATER!

Addicted to bottled water? You can save lots of money a month if you can kick your bottled water habit and start using good, old fashioned tap water. This infographic argues the point that bottled water isn’t any more superior than regular water and that we are all being conned by marketers to buy priced up water.

Don’t like the way your local tap water tastes?

We have answers to the above question ~ a whole house carbon filtration system that leaves you with pure, clean and healthy water for a lifetime ~ watch our video.

HOW EARTH MADE US – WATER ~ A MUST SEE VIDEO!!!

How Earth Made Us – The untold story of history.

This is part 2 in Professor Iain Stewart’s series, “How Earth Made Us”.  I highly recommend you take an hour to watch it as it is superlative!!!

Our planet has amazing power, and yet that’s rarely mentioned in our history books. This series tells the story of how the Earth has influenced human history, from the dawn of civilisation to the modern industrial age. It reveals for the first time on television how geology, geography and climate have been a far more powerful influence on the human story than has previously been acknowledged. A combination of epic story telling, visually stunning camerawork, extraordinary locations and passionate presenting combine to form a highly original version of human history.

Youtube video, “How Earth Made Us – Water”, uploaded on May 16, 2011 – Of all our planet’s forces perhaps none has greater power over us than water.  For me water is the most magical force on earth.  The presence of water shapes, renews and nourishes our planet.  It’s our planet’s life blood, that pumps through it continuously…

Water

This time he explores our complex relationship with water. Visiting spectacular locations in Iceland, the Middle East and India, Iain shows how control over water has been central to human existence. He takes a precarious flight in a motorised paraglider to experience the cycle of freshwater that we depend on, discovers how villagers in the foothills of the Himalayas have built a living bridge to cope with the monsoon, and visits Egypt to reveal the secret of the pharaohs’ success. Throughout history, success has depended on our ability to adapt to and control constantly shifting sources of water.

Discover why societies have succeeded or failed, and how the environment has influenced every aspect of our history from art to industry, religion to war, world domination or collapse. Visiting some of the most iconic places on Earth, How Earth Made Us overturns preconceptions about our civilisations and our cultures to offer a new perspective on who we are today.

~Youtube video presented by Professor Iain Stewart ~

Link to ~ How Earth Made Us—a masterly BBC documentary

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/04/eart-a21.html

 

Our heartfelt thanks to Professor Stewart
for his exceptional accomplishment!

BRITAIN’S 15 TON “FATBURG” FOUND ~ GROSS!

This event comes hot on the heels of Water Canada’s recent article “The Toilet Toll” (July/August 2013), which I posted last week on August 23.

Britain’s biggest-ever “fatberg” has been removed from a London sewer. Thames Water used the term to describe a “bus-sized lump” of festering food fat mixed with wet wipes that formed in drains under London Road in Kingston, Surrey.
YouTube video – 15 tonne blob of fat found in sewer

Gordon Hailwood, waste contracts supervisor for Thames Water, said: “While we’ve removed greater volumes of fat from under central London in the past, we’ve never seen a single, congealed lump of lard this big clogging our sewers before. Given we’ve got the biggest sewers and this is the biggest fatberg we’ve encountered, we reckon it has to be the biggest such berg in British history.”The congealed mass was so big, Hailwood says, it damaged the sewer and repairs will take up to six weeks. The blockage was discovered after residents in nearby flats complained that they couldn’t flush their toilets.

“If we hadn’t discovered it in time, raw sewage could have started spurting out of manholes across the whole of Kingston.”

Thames Water issued a press release explaining the dangers and costs of this kind of buildup, including sewage flooding homes, streets, and businesses. “When it comes to fat and wipes, please remember: ‘Bin it – don’t block it,” he adds.