All Things Water

[Pro-Life]

Water is the biggest risk to the global economy
Bob Bryan May 11, 2016, 7:29 PM

http://www.businessinsider.com/lifeblood-of-the-global-economy-at-risk-2016-5

It doesn't take long to draw up some crisis that could damage the global economy.

China's slowdown, ever increasing emerging-market debt, political instability in the Middle East, and the breakup of the European Union all pose serious risks.

But none of those worries compare to the real danger, according to Joe Quinlan, strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch's US Trust.

He wrote (emphasis added):

They all represent known unknowns—or externalities already acknowledged and discounted by the capital markets. That's the good news. The bad news: None of the hazards just mentioned are as remotely as threatening to the global economy as water-related climate change risks, a dynamic little understood by investors.

Quinlan believes that climate change will decrease the supply of water available not only for human consumption, but also industrial use to dangerously low levels. Without water, which he calls the "lifeblood of the global economy," it will be impossible for economies to function, from the human toll to the simple fact that many industries are water-intensive.

He cited a World Bank report that lays out just how dire the situation is: 1.6 billion people could be subject to serious water scarcity within 20 years, while global water demand could shoot up as much as 50% by 2050. Industrial water demand could increase 50% to 70% by 2050, according to World Bank estimates.

India's difficult water situation over the past two years is the perfect example of this trend, according to Quinlan. Here's his breakdown (emphasis added):

None other than India, the newly anointed growth champion of the world economy, is in the grips of a two-year drought that threatens the economic livelihood of more than 300 million people. Because water levels in India's 91 reservoirs are at their lowest levels in decades, agricultural output has declined, while electricity generation has plummeted. Dams are parched, factories are operating below capacity, and the lack of safe drinking water has put the health of millions of people at risk. Water wars have erupted between states, making the crisis all that more acute for the national government. Add it all up and the world's strongest emerging market is being laid low by a climate-induced water crisis.

In order to alleviate these concerns, Quinlan said, governments and private firms will need to invest extensively in conservation and means to combat the global crisis, or risk it totally decimating growth.

According to Quinlan's estimates, the world water industry already generates around $450 billion a year, and that is poised to increase as the globe confronts this issue.

If that doesn't happen, there could be dire consequences.

Quinlan concluded:

Global climate change—or the increasing frequency and severity of droughts, floods and violent storms—has added another dangerous element and layer to the world's mounting water crisis. This slow-motion crisis of the past few decades is now accelerating, creating plenty of risks to global growth but also multiple investment opportunities.

[Pro-Life]

From Sovereign Man via e-Mail...
April 19, 2016 Sovereign Valley Farm, Chile

Over the weekend, just as I was arriving back to Chile after a few weeks away, the sky above Santiago opened up and started to dump heavy rain on the city.

I was already in the car on the way down to one of our farms once the rains began.

But apparently the downpour was so heavy it caused an epic, almost biblical flood of some of the major rivers in the area.

It was pretty nasty in Santiago; the city just isn’t used to rainfall of that level.

Parts of one of the main highways were totally submerged. Major retail and office buildings were flooded and had to close.

The power grid went down sporadically in a lot of neighborhoods.

And the city’s water system virtually shut down, so millions of people had to go a few days without access to running water.

I’m not trying to paint a picture of chaos and pandemonium; Chile has seen its share of natural disasters, and they tend to deal with such things in a civilized manner.

But still-- who wants to go a few days without access to water and electricity?

It’s easy to take basic utilities for granted when all we have to do is flip a switch and the lights come on... or turn a faucet and water comes out.

A lot of us have grown up in an environment where we’ve never even had to think about the enormous effort from thousands of people and millions of tons of resources it takes to make that happen.

That is, of course, until the power and water go out. Then we start thinking a lot about it.

It’s like health, in a way. Few people wake up feeling grateful for being in good health that morning.

But the moment illness strikes we long for that feeling of wellness.

In my case, the flooding didn’t affect me at all. We got a lot of rain down here at the farm, and the power went up and down sporadically, but it didn’t matter one bit.

In addition to generating a healthy commercial profit, the farm where I am right now can also produce its own food, water, and electricity.

In fact, most of our farms are totally self-sufficient in this way. And it just makes a lot of sense.

Being self-sufficient means that no matter what happens in the world, we’ll be able to deal with anything from a position of strength.

But as we discussed yesterday, part of being a Sovereign Man is having a strong sense of independence and self-reliance.

From a financial perspective, that doesn’t necessarily mean being super rich, but rather educating one’s self to build an independent source of income.

It also means having greater independence from the banking system so that you have more control over your savings.

(This is why I’ve long recommended holding physical cash and precious metals, rather than keeping 100% of your savings in a bank with shaky fundamentals.)

From a personal perspective, this concept of self-reliance also means taking steps to reduce your dependence on the big grid.

I feel a bit strange saying this, because I’m not a doom-and-gloom, ‘the end of the world is nigh’ sort of person.

I’m actually quite optimistic about the world and all the opportunities I’ve seen traveling to 120 countries.

But the world is certainly changing, and that carries a degree of risk.

The big titanic governments that ruled that past are rapidly going broke. That, too, carries a degree of risk.

And as our experiences in Chile over the weekend attest, sometimes the unexpected happens.

As a Sovereign Man, I’d rather be in control of my own fate.

And that means not having to depend 100% on the complicated logistics of transporting coal across the country in order for the lights to come on.

If that system works, I can still use it. If it doesn’t work, it won’t affect me.

This is not to say that everyone should live on a self-sufficient farm and grow their own food (though it is a very nice lifestyle).

Start small. And cheap. Buy some bottles of water and store them some place in your home, out of sight and out of mind.

Or even still, just fill up some old bottles with tap water. It’s practically free.

Don’t feel weird about it-- it’s not crazy to keep a little bit of extra water around the house at almost zero cost. And you certainly won’t be worse off for having it.

It’s like holding a bit of physical cash: there’s basically zero cost for doing it.

But in the event that any of these risks become a reality, it’ll be one of the smartest things you do.

Until tomorrow,

Simon Black
Founder, http://www.SovereignMan.com

[Pro-Life]

Here's The New Study The Fracking Industry Doesn't Want You to See
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/17/2016 13:47 -0500

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-17/heres-new-study-fracking-industry-doesnt-want-you-see

Though fracking industry proponents scoff at any intimation their so-called vital industry poses even scant risks to the public, a new study published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology just proved those critics right — fracking wastewater causes cancer.

Using human bronchial epithelial cells, which are commonly used to measure the carcinogenesis of toxicants, researchers confirmed fracking flowback water from the Marcellus Shale caused the formation of malignancies.

After conducting further tests on live mammalian subjects, researchers found five of six mice “injected with cells transformed from well water treatments developed tumors as early as 3 months after injection,” including a tumor in one mouse that grew to over 1 cm in size in just five months. A control group did not develop any tumors for the six months of the study period.

There is more at the link above...

[Pro-Life]

Global Water Technologies demonstrates new pipeline system in 16 Tech

http://gwtr.com/news_02-14-2016.php

INDIANAPOLIS, February 14, 2016 -- Global Water Technologies (OTC Pink: GWTR) is hosting a demonstation of a new pipeline technnology in the 16 Tech innovation district of Indianapolis this week for a visiting delegation from China and other industry leaders who are attending the Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport (WWETT) show.

The new Tomahawk™ system was developed in Canada by Envirologics Engineering and can be used to rehabilitate aging drinking water pipelines. Aging water infrastructure is a common problem in North America that has received renewed interest after the White House declared a water emergency in Flint, Michigan last month after lead in pipes leached into water supplies. The new technology utilizes a dry process to clean out the build up of such materials and contaminants inside water mains, reline the pipes and return them to service in the same day.

The technoloogy demonstation is being presented in a partnership with Global Water Technologies, Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI), Envirologics and the national Trenchless Technology Center at Louisiana Tech. The visiting China delegation includes representatives from engineering and construction companies and a large municipal water utility that serves 20 million customers. The visit is being coordinated by Dr. Tom Iseley, who is an international expert in underground infrastructure and was recognized in 2015 by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) with its highest award for his more than 40 years of service.

Global Water Technologies and IUPUI have been promoting a "living laboratory" just north of the campus in an area that has been designated by the city as the site of 16 Tech, a planned world-class innovation community that develops and attracts leading tech talent. This demonstration of new water technology is the first of such activities in the area, which is gearing up for major expansion in the next two years.

More information about the technology demonstration is available at: http://www.gwtr.com/gwtr16Tech.pdf

[Pro-Life]

Take a look at the US Drought Monitor w/tons of info:

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu

[Pro-Life]

Detroit collapsing into third world status as water supply becomes too toxic to drink... America's infrastructure imploding

Sunday, January 24, 2016 by: Harold Shaw

Learn more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/052739_toxic_chemicals_water_supply_Detroit_Michigan.html#ixzz3zDFVI3UT

Whether in Texas, California or Michigan, it seems that the people are the last to know about the health hazards they are exposed to. In light of all these events and possibly many to follow, we strongly recommend that every citizen should be prepared to filter, purify and store their own water.

[Pro-Life]

One organization covers food and WATER:

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org

[tbirdman]

Merry Christmas!

[Pro-Life]

Merry Christmas, tbird & all!!!

[Pro-Life]

Let It Snow - California Drought Recovery Remains "Extremely Unlikely"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 11/25/2015 16:00 -0500

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-25/let-it-snow-california-drought-recovery-remains-extremely-unlikely

While so much hope is pinned on El Nino relieving California's drought in early 2016, climatologists suggest tempering that optimism a little as what is really needed is snow. "Since it has been dry for so long, people get excited,” says one hydrologist, but, as Bloomberg reports, without snow "the notion of fully recovering from the drought is extremely unlikely,” as if the storms come in as rain, or the mountain snow can’t pile up high enough, a lot of water will be lost.

California is in its fourth year of drought and almost the entire state is abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Improvement is possible. However, the drought will certainly go into a fifth year, according to the forecast from the U.S. Climate Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. As Bloomberg reports,

The drought relief for California widely expected from El Nino in early 2016 will be far more effective if a chill descends soon -- ideally with a bit of snow.

“If we can get some snow on the ground and some cold nights, it will set up the snowpack and get cool air pooling,” said California State Climatologist Mike Anderson.

Cool air, especially at high altitudes, will help ensure snow falls and stays on the ground in the mountains through the winter, as needed to supply the state’s reservoirs. While that may seem like a non-issue given the height of the mountains and the tradition of heavy snows there, recent years have seen some worrisome trends.

During the winter of 2014-15, the three-month average temperature in the Sierra region topped the freezing mark of 32 degrees Fahrenheit (zero Celsius) for the first time in records dating to 1950, data compiled by Anderson show.

California as a whole posted its warmest February on record and both December and January came in among the top 10, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville, North Carolina.

Here is why all of this is important: If El Nino delivers the promised increase in big, wet storms off the Pacific from January to March, California needs a lot of what falls from those systems to be snow.

There is more at the link above...

[Pro-Life]

Absolutely... have a great week ahead.

[tbirdman]

Thanks for posting, I will be looking into this further. One thing I do know is the press tends to run with anything controversial, often mischaraterizing/oversimplifying, most certainly zerohedge included.

In the water industry, I've dealt with this countless times...I'm not saying there wasn't anything wrong done here, just that there is more to the story and the way the articles are written are misleading. I started making comments of what was flat out wrong or mischaracterized...just don't have time to dissect it all.

Thanks for bringing this to the board's attention.

[Pro-Life]

No way do I accept this theory of yours... no possible way.

[Pro-Life]

As well, ZeroHedge has picked up the Sacramento water story:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-08/officials-secretly-added-cancer-causing-chemicals-city’s-water-supply

[Pro-Life]

Click the link for all the embedded hyperlinks like this:

The video in the link is a broadcast of the news... SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE SACRAMENTO WATER... SKIMMING AN ARTICLE WORKS ONLY SOMETIMES....

http://www.abc10.com/story/news/investigations/2015/11/04/75112994/

[tbirdman]

Sounds like fear mongering to me. These people have no idea what they're talking about....

[Pro-Life]

Officials Secretly Added Cancer-Causing Chemicals to City’s Water Supply
Cassius Methyl November 6, 2015

http://theantimedia.org/officials-secretly-added-cancer-causing-chemicals-to-citys-water-supply/

(ANTIMEDIA) Sacramento, CA — In 2013 and 2014, the City of Sacramento performed a water treatment experiment at the expense of residents of the city “to save money,” according to a local news investigation.

Area residents were never informed about the toxic chemical contamination of their water that resulted from the experiment. “Cancer, miscarriages, and birth defects” are the consequences of consuming those chemicals, but the extent to which Sacramento residents are likely to experience these symptoms is not yet known.

City officials allowed the experiment to continue for an entire year — despite knowing early on that very process was creating carcinogens. For how long that contamination will be suspended in the water supply is up in the air.

Officials experimented on the water with a new added chemical to aid in removing sediment, silt, and other impurities in the water supply: aluminum chlorohydrate (ACH). It was due to replace the chemical known as ALUM that was regularly used to take the larger particles out of river water to treat it. Both chemicals weigh down the sediment to make it easily removable.

However, the addition of ACH to the city’s water supply wound up being ineffective as a treatment — so an excessive quantity of chlorine was added to the water, as well.

An astonishing failure, the combination of excess chlorine and aluminum chlorohydrate ended up yielding carcinogenic toxins known as “DBPs” — disinfection byproducts. Specifically, these are in the class of chemicals known as THMs, or Trihalomethanes.

According to Water Research, THMs are in the same chemical class as chloroform; and, although this water experiment ended about a year ago, the THMs remain in Sacramento’s water supply in levels that exceed EPA regulations. Several readings of THM levels provided to ABC10 exceeded 80 parts per billion, the EPA limit.

The rest of this article with hyperlinks is available at the link above...

[Pro-Life]

California - A Deluge Followed by Mega Drought?
Submitted by Bruce Krasting on 09/01/2015 08:53 -0400

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-01/california-deluge-followed-mega-drought

Both NOAA and the Australian Meteorologists issued El Nino updates in the past 24 hours. The weekly numbers that were released confirm that an historic event is taking place. It now is (nearly) certain that the most significant El Nino in recorded history will be with us over the next five months. From the Aussie weather geeks:

The 2015 El Niño is now the strongest El Niño since 1997–98.

The last time we were close to the current El Nino conditions was the fall/winter of 1997/1998. National Geographic has this to say of the 1997 El Nino:

It rose out of the tropical Pacific in late 1997, bearing more energy than a million Hiroshima bombs. By the time it had run its course eight months later, the giant El Niño of 1997-98 had deranged weather patterns around the world, killed an estimated 2,100 people, and caused at least 33 billion [U.S.] dollars in property damage.

At its peak, the 1997 El Nino index reached a record high of 2.3. This extreme level was nearly reached over the past week, there is every indication that it will move higher in the coming months.

Plenty of info/charts at the link above...

[Pro-Life]

Did The EPA Intentionally Poison Animas River To Secure SuperFund Money?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/12/2015 21:31 -0400

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-08-12/did-epa-intentionally-poison-animas-river-secure-superfund-money

Sound like something a government entity would do? Just ask Lois Lerner...

As we concluded previously,

The EPA actually has no concern for the environment, they just happen to use the environment as a cover story to create laws and gain an advantage for the companies that lobbied for exemptions to the agency’s regulations, and to collect money in fines. There are solutions outside the common government paradigm, and that is mainly the ability for individuals, not governments, to hold polluters personally and financially accountable.

The full article is at the link above...

[Pro-Life]

California's drought is 'a harbinger of the coming global water crisis'
COREY STERN Jul. 23, 2015, 1:49 PM

http://www.businessinsider.com/a-multi-decade-mega-drought-is-coming-to-the-us-2015-7#ixzz3grZW58aE

water scarcity is considered "the #1 global risk for 2015 in terms of impacts to economies, environments and people."

The story continues at the link above...

[Pro-Life]

Lake Mead reaches another record low as water apocalypse nears for Las Vegas, a city living in denial
Tuesday, July 21, 2015 by: Daniel Barker

http://www.naturalnews.com/050483_Lake_Mead_drought_Las_Vegas.html#ixzz3gfYW8YK2
(NaturalNews) The severe droughts affecting the western United States are approaching apocalyptic proportions as the water level of Lake Mead - America's largest capacity reservoir - has reached the lowest point in its history.

Lake Mead, which was formed when the Hoover Dam was built, supplies water to around 40 million people and is also a crucial agricultural resource in the region. Humans, livestock and crops in Arizona, California, Nevada and even northern Mexico depend on water from Lake Mead (and the Colorado River which feeds it) for power, drinking water and irrigation.

Major metropolitan areas including Las Vegas and Phoenix also rely heavily on Lake Mead water.

The water levels have just dropped (as of this writing on April 30, 2015) below 1,080 feet - that's lower than last year's record low level of 1080.19 feet.

What makes this even scarier is the fact that last year's record low occurred in August - this year the record has been broken before the end of April and predictions are that the levels will continue to drop another seven feet by the end of June.

Lake Mead is fed by the Colorado River, which is in the midst of a relentless "super-drought" that has lasted 14 years so far, and which is expected to worsen over the coming years.

The Colorado River carries water from melted snow that flows into it from the "upper basin states" which include Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. Lake Mead gets 96 percent of its water from this snow melt, which dropped below 47 percent of normal in 2013.

This decrease in snowpack runoff has in turn caused Lake Mead and other reservoirs along the Colorado River to drop to levels as low as 40 percent of capacity since the drought began.

Levels nearing "critical point"

The lake levels are nearing the critical point when federal officials will begin rationing water deliveries to Arizona, Nevada and some areas in California.

Recent studies have indicated that the drought is unlikely to end any time soon. In fact, mean annual runoff is expected to drop another 8.5 percent by the middle of the century.

The building boom that greatly expanded the size and population of urban areas throughout the Colorado basin region - including Las Vegas, Phoenix and other cities - was largely due to the record high levels of Lake Mead during the last half of the 20th century.

No one expected the water levels to drop so far and so fast. Now the entire region faces a very uncertain future as temperatures are expected to continue rising and water resources continue to dwindle.

The Las Vegas area is particularly threatened. As the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports:

"Smack in the middle is the Las Vegas Valley, which draws roughly 90 percent of its water from the river using two intake pipes at Lake Mead. A new deep-water intake is expected to go online by the end of summer, and the Southern Nevada Water Authority is rushing to design and build an associated pumping station to keep water flowing to the community even if the reservoir shrinks another 185 feet to 'dead pool,' the level at which that Hoover Dam can no longer release water.

Such a scenario was once unthinkable, but now water managers are spending a great deal of money preparing for it. The combined cost of the water authority's new intake pipe and pump station will likely top $1.4 billion."

As global temperatures continue rising, and more demands are placed on dwindling reservoirs, water availability is likely to become one of the crucial issues facing populations across the globe.

Conserving water at home

We all need to do our part to help conserve water - here are 10 facts about the amount of water we waste, as compiled by Jon Clift and Amanda Cuthbert, authors of Water: Use Less - Save More:

• Americans now use 127 percent more water than we did in 1950.
• About 95 percent of the water entering our homes goes down the drain.
• Running the tap while brushing your teeth can waste 4 gallons of water.
• Older toilets can use 3 gallons of clean water with every flush, while new toilets use as little as 1 gallon.
• Leaky faucets that drip at the rate of one drop per second can waste up to 2,700 gallons of water each year.
• A garden hose or sprinkler can use almost as much water in an hour as an average family of four uses in one day.
• A water-efficient dishwasher will use as little a 4 gallons per wash cycle, whereas some older models use up to 13 gallons per cycle.
• Some experts estimate that more than 50 percent of landscape water use goes to waste due to evaporation or runoff caused by over-watering.
• Many people in the world exist on 3 gallons of water per day or less. We can use that amount in one flush of the toilet.
• Over a quarter of all the clean, drinkable water you use in your home is used to flush the toilets.

[Pro-Life]

Majority of world’s largest aquifers are being drained at unsustainable rate, NASA data show
July 16, 2015 1:27 pm EDT

https://www.intellihub.com/majority-of-worlds-largest-aquifers-are-being-drained-at-unsustainable-rate-nasa-data-show/

Twenty-one of the world’s 37 largest aquifers — in locations from India and China to the United States and France — have passed their sustainability tipping points, meaning more water was removed than replaced during the decade-long study period, researchers announced…. Thirteen aquifers declined at rates that put them into the most troubled category. The researchers said this indicated a long-term problem that’s likely to worsen as reliance on aquifers grows.

Please, read the full article at the link above...

[Pro-Life]

VIDEO... Water: The New Gold?
Jul 14, 2015
Guest(s): Scott Rickards CEO, Waterfunds LLC

http://www.kitco.com/news/video/show/Kitco-News/1021/2015-07-14/Water-The-New-Gold

Has Wall Street ignored water for too long? Joining Kitco News in studio is Scott Rickards, president and CEO of Waterfunds, and co-inventor of the world's first water cost index... Will water be the next hot commodity?

[Pro-Life]

New Evidence Links Fluoride to Increasing Cases of ADHD
More water fluoridation = more ADHD by Robert Harrington
Posted on June 30, 2015

Read more: http://naturalsociety.com/new-evidence-links-fluoride-to-increasing-cases-of-adhd/#ixzz3f1evCJ00

The evidence from a new scientific research study shows that children who live in water districts where the water supply is systematically fluoridated suffer with ADHD at a significantly higher rate.

Please, read on at the link above...

[Pro-Life]

U.S. Drought Monitor Classification Scheme

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/AboutUs/ClassificationScheme.aspx

[Pro-Life]

YouTube has lots of Rain Water Collection videos:

[tbirdman]

I work at a recycled water facility in California...seeing some very unique tech, although most are not publicly traded companies.

[Pro-Life]

YouTube has lots of Water Crisis videos:

[Pro-Life]

>>> POST OF THE DAY <<<

California is and has been in serious trouble... take a look at the US Drought Monitor w/tons of info:

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu

[Pro-Life]

This is why to invest in quality water companies:

California Has Never Experienced A Water Crisis Of This Magnitude – And The Worst Is Yet To Come
Posted on June 24, 2015 by The Doc

http://www.silverdoctors.com/california-has-never-experienced-a-water-crisis-of-this-magnitude-and-the-worst-is-yet-to-come/

From The Economic Collapse Blog:

Things have never been this dry for this long in the recorded history of the state of California, and this has created an unprecedented water crisis. At this point, 1,900 wells have already gone completely dry in California, and some communities are not receiving any more water at all. As you read this article, 100 percent of the state is in some stage of drought, and there has been so little precipitation this year that some young children have never actually seen rain.

This is already the worst multi-year drought in the history of the state of California, but this may only be just the beginning. Scientists tell us that the amount of rain that California received during the 20th century was highly unusual. In fact, they tell us that it was the wettest century for the state in at least 1000 years. Now that things are returning to “normal”, the state is completely and total unprepared for it. California has never experienced a water crisis of this magnitude, and other states in the western half of the nation are starting to really suffer as well. In the end, we could very well be headed for the worst water crisis this country has ever seen.

Read on at the link above...

[tbirdman]

New water stocks board...feel free to stop by and post your ideas http://investorshub.advfn.com/Water-Stocks-29779/

[Pro-Life]

Every underground aquifer in the US is contaminated to varying degrees.

[tbirdman]

OT - I don't have a lot of time, but see a huge opportunity here..shameless plug

http://investorshub.advfn.com/Water-Stocks-29779/

[Pro-Life]

CNN reporting California is running dry... First time ever... STATE-WIDE WATER RESTRICTIONS.

[Pro-Life]

CircleofBlue.com