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Rick Rule: "Water Is The Most Mispriced Commodity In The World"
by Tyler Durden Sun, 02/25/2018 - 15:30
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-02-25/rick-rule-water-most-mispriced-commodity-world
Media now ATTACKING advocates of “raw water” just like they attacked raw milk
https://www.naturalnews.com/2018-01-16-media-now-attacking-advocates-of-raw-water-just-like-they-attacked-raw-milk.html
In the age of President Donald J. Trump, the so-called “mainstream media” has gone full-on bonkers, logging a 90 percent negativity rate when it came to reporting on him and his administration.
90 percent. That’s nine-of-ten stories about Trump all being negative. And these idiots want us to believe their “neutral” and “fair-minded.” Mind you, Trump won the election because voters in a majority of states wanted him to be president. So how does that justify 90 percent negative coverage?
When the media isn’t jumping on the anti-Trump bandwagon, it reverts back to another well-worn pastime: Telling you and me how to live, especially if we chose a lifestyle the elitist schmucks in journalism don’t approve of.
That includes, say, buying, selling, and consuming raw milk, as we’ve documented in the past. Now, apparently, it also includes “raw water.” (Related: 5 Important tips to keep RAW milk fresh.)
What’s raw water? It’s spring water that is untreated, unfiltered, and unencumbered by sterilization processes. Apparently, it’s a new ‘thing’ in Silicon Valley — which is located in California, which is, we’re told, where new ‘things’ begin.
Some raw water is being sold at $20 a gallon which is probably what is really upsetting the Marxist-Leftist mindset of the critical establishment media. Not only is this water untouched and therefore unregulated by “The State,” but someone’s making a darn good living selling it.
We can’t have that. They might have let the part about government being outside the loop slip by, but there is nothing more offensive to a Marxist than profits.
In any event, a smattering of headlines and associated stories about raw water paint the picture: There is no way this stuff can be good for you because it’s a precursor to some horrible disease outbreak that will spread from sea to shining sea and wipe out most other people in blue states (red state wipeouts are okay but not blue states because those states contain readers of establishment news outlets).
Per The Cut, from this headline: “The Raw-Water Trend Sounds Like a Bad Idea (Because of Cholera)”:
Raw-water devotees are embracing the trend to avoid exposure to chemicals like fluoride and chlorine, in order to maximize their health. In response, food-safety experts are flagging all the disturbing substances in the natural water supply including, but not limited to, animal feces and the parasite giardia, also known as “beaver fever.”
“It’s fine till some 10-year-old girl dies a horrible death from cholera in Montecito, California,” whined ‘food-safety expert’ Bill Marler. “You can’t stop consenting adults from being stupid… But, we should at least try.”
Why, Bill? Who elected you national water nanny?
The New York Post chimed in as well with, “Silicon Valley loves ‘raw water’ that will make you sick”:
In case you haven’t noticed, Silicon Valley is obsessed with health, or at least the appearance of health. You can see evidence of it just about everywhere, including internet-connected juicers and new medical “breakthroughs,” but rarely is a new trend as obviously flawed as “raw water.”
“It is, simply put, the dumbest food trend to come along in a long, long time,” the paper claimed.
Question: How do really smart Silicon Valley innovators suddenly become too “dumb” to drink? Does the Post really believe these folks don’t know what they’re doing?
Ponders Orlando’s WDBO, “‘Raw water’ is the latest craze, but is it safe?”:
Although the new trend has its proponents, mainly those leery of fluoride and contamination from lead or other issues, experts have come out strongly against the idea.
What do this story and all of the rest have in common? A string of experts all complaining about being unable to garner enough authority to tell raw water consumers how to live.
Well, that’s essentially true.
An American Water Crisis Is Just Around The Corner And No One Is Talking About It
https://www.naturalblaze.com/2018/01/american-water-crisis.html
PECIAL REPORT By Brandon Turbeville, Natural Blaze
Anyone who pays attention to their local news has seen the signs of a coming apocalypse in the United States, although they are probably not aware of it. While many equate a water crisis to the sucking up of resources by big business interests or an offhanded moment of pollution from the local industry, there is another type water crisis looming over America. It’s not just Coca-Cola and property rights, it’s the failure of municipalities, states, and the federal government to ensure that drinking water is actually drinkable.
There have been a number of notable incidents in the last few years that showcase the crumbling infrastructure of the United States and the lower living standards Americans are being forced to accept. Flint, Michigan is the most notable and recognizable instance of water pollution in recent memory. That crisis is still ongoing and, while the U.S. has plenty of money for Israel, foreign aid, and foreign wars, it simply can’t find anything in its already tightened spending belt to help the people of Flint have access to clean water. At this point, the U.S. federal government is doing more to help Africans than it is to help African-Americans. Unfortunately for Flint, State and local governments are the reason for the crisis in the first place.
For two years, industrial chemicals and lead poisoned Flint’s water supply and no one did anything until one woman blew the whistle. Had it not been for her, Flint would still be drinking lead and other pollutants unknowingly. Now, despite the outcry, they know what they are drinking but, unfortunately, not much else has changed.
As bad as it has been for the people of Flint, most Americans take consolation that the tainted water is not in their locale but instead in a notoriously troubled one located in a notoriously troubled state. But that is far from the truth. The fact is that water is polluted with various contaminates all over the country and, in some places, even worse than Flint. In fact, Reuters released a report demonstrating that around 3,000 locations had lead levels higher that Flint.
As Reuters reported,
The poisoned places on this map stretch from Warren, Pennsylvania, a town on the Allegheny River where 36 percent of children tested had high lead levels, to a zip code on Goat Island, Texas, where a quarter of tests showed poisoning. In some pockets of Baltimore, Cleveland and Philadelphia, where lead poisoning has spanned generations, the rate of elevated tests over the last decade was 40 to 50 percent.
Like Flint, many of these localities are plagued by legacy lead: crumbling paint, plumbing, or industrial waste left behind. Unlike Flint, many have received little attention or funding to combat poisoning.
To identify these locations, Reuters examined neighborhood-level blood testing results, most of which have not been previously disclosed. The data, obtained from state health departments and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tracks poisoning rates among children tested in each location.
Contaminated drinking water has caused nearly 2.5 percent of children in the U.S. to be poisoned by lead.
And that’s just lead. It doesn’t count the other toxic chemicals (industrial or otherwise) that have seeped into water systems from industry, dangerous disposal, poor treatment facilities and practices, or agriculture. Then there are the more obscure causes of tainted water supplies. For instance, Colorado Springs was recently discovered to have contaminated water due to flame retardants used by the military on the local base.
It’s also not taking into account dangerous bacteria found in water supplies as a result of pollution and improper treatment. Toledo, Ohio recently experienced a massive water crisis as a result of bacteria-infused water that cost the city dearly and had many residents desperately searching for bottled water to drink.
Here in the rural south, cities and small towns are constantly issuing “boil water advisories” for residents due to various contaminations.
Fracking has also turned many home water supplies into fireworks displays.
Without listing the litany of places experiencing or who have experienced water crises and the plethora of reasons for that pollution, the point is that, all over America, cities, towns, and even states are experiencing a growing emergency regarding the availability of safe, clean drinking water. This is the type of problem Westerners associate with “third world” countries and failed states.
Obviously, there are a number of questions that come as a result of the state of the American water supply. First, “Why don’t more Americans know this?” The second, “why is this happening?” The third, “what can be done about it?”
Why Aren’t Most Americans Concerned?
Because of the nature of water crises, most Americans are only exposed to this type of crisis if it takes place in their backyard. With the exception of situations like Flint where national attention is focused, albeit fleetingly, the presentation by media outlets is such to suggest that water crises are rare and that the overall water infrastructure of the country is the best in the world. Of course, that is far from the case and the belief that it is stands as a testament to Edward Bernays’ and the wealthy middle management of the Western world’s work in convincing Americans and other Westerners that their system is the best regardless of the shape it is in. Nevertheless, water crises tend to be localized and a water crisis in California is not likely to draw attention in Michigan or South Carolina and vice versa, particularly if the area in crisis is rural. Unless the issue is so massive that it effects numerous locales at once, specifically highly populated ones, most Americans simply are unaware until the water in their own community is threatened.
What Is The Cause?
Media reports would have their audience believe that water crises are rare occurrences across the most developed nation in the world and that the water systems in the United States are unparalleled. But, while that may have been true at one time, that is no longer the case. In fact, water crises are now rather common. The causes range from industrial pollution and subsequent lack of concern or collusion to covert it up like in Flint, Michigan, or it could be the result of a radioactive leak. It could be because of intense factory farming, lead cables, poor treatment practices, busted pipes, or generalized contamination. But the ultimate cause of the massive increase in water crises in the United States is one of crumbling infrastructure.
Accidents happen. They always have and always will. However, Flint did not become poisoned by one accident and the communities receiving water from the Great Lakes did not become polluted by one spill either. Communities all across America are experiencing water crises that have been decades in the making. From lack of updating treatment facilities, ensuring that reservoirs are clean, and regulating industry that would love to use drinking water supplies and underground water as their own personal toilets, America has slowly created for itself a perfect storm that combines heavy industry, lack of legitimate regulation, and austerity. In many communities, something as simple as proper upkeep of piping and even proper replacement of damaged pipes has caused major portions of cities to have to boil their water, children to miss school, and hospitals in danger of shutting down.
Another part of the problem is the age-old scam of water privatization, not just in terms of reservoirs or industry but in terms of cities, towns, and communities. Once considered a rightful duty of the City, town, or community government, water treatment, maintenance, and delivery in the United States was indeed something to be envied the world over. However, a brilliant con was eventually introduced where, after years of hard-earned taxpayer money being used to build and maintain water systems, those same taxpayers are assaulted with propaganda that “government is too slow and incompetent” to do the job and that the private sector is “more effective and more efficient.”
Taxpayers are promised better services at lower prices. Once the citizens are propagandized enough, they are offered referenda or simply informed of the changes that the system owned by the local governments will be turned over to the private industry. Businesses, of course, are interested in one thing only and, after raising the prices of the services over time, the private sector fails miserably at keeping up the infrastructure they contracted to maintain because maintenance costs money and eats into the profits of the company. After years of failing to adequately maintain the water systems, either citizens become angry enough to demand the local government take back control over the systems or the private sector realizes a major upgrade is necessary and declines to renew its contract. The local government then takes the system back over and undertakes all the necessary repairs after a decade of abuse and lack of maintenance. Of course, taxes have to be raised in order to do so and the con begins again.
The entire United States is facing a slow and quietly emerging water crisis. Right now, it is lurking below the surface. Eventually, however, it is going to reveal itself and, when it does, the American population is going to be unprepared. Governments, of course, are going to grandstand and do nothing since they don’t have the money and private sector water holders are going to tell the American people to stick it. Have a problem? Go to talk to the mayor.
Of course, the mayor will have little to give. He will be sorry and he will apologize but unfortunately there is nothing he can do. The private company controls the water and, even if the mayor did want to take matters into his own hands, the city doesn’t have the money.
Americans may soon wake up to find that the greatest water system in the world is now forcing them to boil everything they consume and, for some, even boiling won’t be enough.
The United States has been letting its infrastructure fall to pieces for decades, ever since the 1970’s in fact. From water systems to roads and other critical infrastructure, the U.S. is a shell of its former self. Although it always seems to have plenty of dollars for foreign wars, foreign aid, bailouts, and Israel, the U.S. never seems to have enough to trickle down to the important areas of domestic life that effect every American personally.
This, along with the laissez-faire policy of allowing corporations to do as they will, is going to be the death of the American water supply if something is not done to reign in Big industry, environmental pollution, and the quickening degradation of water infrastructure.
The Solution
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers who recently released its 2013 Report Card For America’s Infrastructure, estimates suggest that the United States would need to invest $3.6 Trillion dollars in its infrastructure by 2020 simply to achieve the overall ranking of “good” which is represented as a B on the ASCE report card.
In addition, the innovation and leadership in regards to scientific progress in which America once dominated is a feature that no longer appears to exist domestically. In infrastructure, education, science, medicine, and real economic activity (productivity), the United States is nothing more than a shell of its former self. Yet this does not have to be the case nor does it have to be the future for America. A nationalized Federal Reserve, particularly together with a 1% Wall Street Sales Tax to eliminate Federal, State, and local budget deficits as well as fully finance the social safety net, education, and a true program of universal healthcare, would be a tremendous step forward in creating an environment of virtually full employment and major industry while producing in an environmentally friendly way.
For this reason, Credit Stimulus can and should be used to jumpstart a recovery first by means of repairing existing infrastructure and building new infrastructural systems as will fit the needs of modern America. This should be accomplished by a nationalized Federal Reserve acting as a truly state-owned National bank buying up the bonds of states, regional projects, and local governments for the specific purposes of rebuilding subway systems, highway systems, water treatment facilities, railway systems (freight and passenger), bridges, electricity and power production facilities, canals, ports, sewage systems, telecommunications, libraries, hospitals, schools, public and government buildings, as well as other relevant aspects of infrastructure.
The terms of these bond purchases should be simple. First, they should be predicated upon real improvement and creation of legitimate infrastructure such as the projects mentioned above. No pork or pet projects. Second, the interest rate of these bonds should be set at 0% so as to preclude any usury between governments and to eliminate usurious forms of government and public debt. Third, these bonds should be issued with a maturity date of 100 years, a type of bond commonly referred to as century bonds. This will allow for reasonable “repayment” on a reasonable time scale with adjustments made for the need of the government receiving the credit as the economic crisis may demand. There should be no foreclosure or bankruptcy resulting from this extension of credit.
A newly nationalized Federal Reserve should immediately issue a tranche of $3.6 trillion of such credit to Federal, State, and local governments as well as regional projects in order to upgrade current infrastructure to a satisfactory level with subsequent tranches of $1 trillion to be issued as needed after the first tranche of $3.6 trillion is expended. The goal in this endeavor is not only to upgrade and improve the national infrastructure as it exists but to bring all of it up to the highest standards. The U.S. highway system should be upgraded the levels of the Autobahn in Germany and beyond. Likewise for all the other forms of infrastructure. The jobs provided by this credit stimulus should be high wage and union pay scale.
Improving infrastructure to adequate levels, however, is not the only potential use for the purchase of Federal, State, and local bonds as the goal should obviously be to create new and more efficient, environmentally friendly, and highly developed forms of infrastructure – in this case, water treatment, water delivery, and improved methods of making use of salt water for drinking purposes.
Although the specific manner in which the Federal Reserve is nationalized should not be the main focus of the action and demand to do so, there are two possible ways that such an undertaking could be accomplished. The first, and most desirable, is the passage of a law by Congress which nationalizes the Federal Reserve under the U.S. Department of the Treasury. This method is the best case scenario as it demonstrates Congressional will, common agreement, and process legitimization.
However, in the absence of Congressional will, there exists the forceful act of the Executive. Essentially, it is entirely possible for the Federal Reserve to be de facto nationalized by a simple Presidential phone call to the Chairman of the Fed demanding specific lines of credit for specific purposes with clear repercussions if these demands are not met. In other words, the President could direct the chairman of the Federal Reserve to order a line of credit for a specific purpose and, if the chairman refuses, the chairman is free to submit his resignation by 5pm. Although a full law would be the ideal circumstance for the reconquering of American monetary policy by those to whom it rightfully belongs, any and all means available can and should be used.
Conclusion
The American water supply is quietly but quickly descending into a national emergency that may very well show itself at once in the form of a major crisis that affects the entire country or it may simply continue to grow quietly in different locations until Americans wake up in a country where boiling water for safety has become the norm. If we are to avoid the coming crisis, it is paramount that we begin reigning in the rampant pollution of the water supply by industry and begin updating, improving, and making new innovations to the water supply, treatment, and delivery systems before it is too late.
Are You One Of The 170 Million Americans Drinking Radioactive Tap Water?
by Tyler Durden Mon, 01/15/2018 - 20:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-15/are-you-one-170-million-americans-drinking-radioactive-tap-water
I think we can cross off those dry spots in Texas, lol. But the Dakotas, OMG.
7 Reasons We Face a Global Water Crisis
Just saw this>>
Summary, charts and maps in link
1.1) We're Changing the Climate, Making Dry Areas Drier and Precipitation More Variable and Extreme
2) More People + More Money = More Water Demand
3) Groundwater Is Being Depleted
4) Water Infrastructure Is in a Dismal State of Disrepair
5) And Natural Infrastructure Is Being Ignored
6) Water Is Wasted
7) The Price Is Wrong
https://www.ecowatch.com/global-water-crisis-2476617234.html
Over 267 Toxins Found in Public Tap Water
August 08, 2017
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/08/08/toxins-found-in-public-tap-water.aspx
Pennsylvania watershed contaminated with radioactive material and endocrine-disrupting chemicals
https://watchers.news/2017/07/12/pennsylvania-watershed-contaminated-with-radioactive-material-and-endocrine-disrupting-chemicals/
Hydraulic fracturing has enabled a domestic oil and gas boom in the U.S., but its rapid growth has raised questions about what to do with the billions of gallons of wastewater that result. Researchers now report that treating the wastewater and releasing it into surface waters has led to the contamination of a Pennsylvania watershed with radioactive material and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The study appears in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology.
In 2015, the unconventional oil and gas extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," accounted for more than one-half of oil production and two-thirds of gas production in America, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The method's market share is likely to increase even further.
Although the technique has resulted in a shift away from coal, which could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it produces large amounts of wastewater containing radioactive material, salts, metals, endocrine-disrupting chemicals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that could pose risks to the environment and human health.
A Pennsylvania report estimates that in 2015, 10 000 unconventional oil and gas wells in the Marcellus Shale produced 1.7 billion gallons of wastewater. The facilities that collect the water provide only limited treatment before releasing it into surface waters. Bill Burgos and colleagues at Penn State, Colorado State and Dartmouth wanted to see what impact this strategy of treating and releasing fracking wastewater might be having.
The researchers sampled sediments and porewaters from a lake downstream from two facilities that treat fracking wastewater in Pennsylvania.
Their analysis detected that peak concentrations of radium, alkaline earth metals, salts and organic chemicals all occurred in the same sediment layer.
The two major classes of organic contaminants included nonylphenol ethoxylates, which are endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are carcinogens.
The highest concentrations coincided with sediment layers deposited five to 10 years ago during a peak period of fracking wastewater disposal.
Elevated levels of radium were also found as far as 19 km (12 miles) downstream of the treatment plants.
The researchers say that the potential risks associated with this contamination are unknown, but they suggest tighter regulations of wastewater disposal could help protect the environment and human health.
Source: American Chemical Society
California's reservoirs are filled with gunk, and it's crowding out room to store water
This might be of interest. The heavy rains this year have brought in much more silt than normal years and reservoirs filling up with silt. OK, probably grossly exaggerated, but interesting, especially long term?
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-skelton-silt-california-dams-20170306-story.html
But, you already knew that and so did I!!! We know that water everywhere is filled with carcinogens... sadly.
Breaking Study: Insecticides Found in Iowa Drinking Water
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/breaking-study-insecticides-found-iowa-drinking-water
A recent study shows that drinking water in Iowa City, Iowa is contaminated with insecticides. The implications of this disturbing discovery could be detrimental to public health.
A new study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters, titled ‘Occurrence of neonicotinoid insecticides in finished drinking water and fate during drinking water treatment’ has reported disturbing findings. Although neonicotinoid insecticides are widespread in surface waters across the agriculturally intensive Midwestern United States, the investigation released from The University of Iowa is the first peer-reviewed study to alert the public of the presence of the chemicals in their tap water. The study states:
“We report for the first time the presence of three neonicotinoids in finished drinking water and demonstrate their general persistence during conventional water treatment.”
In 2016 following maize and soy planting, finished drinking water samples were collected from taps at The University of Iowa and at three locations in Iowa City, IA. The study shows that samples collected from The University of Iowa drinking water treatment plant suggest that clothianidin and imidacloprid persist throughout conventional water treatment processes, while thiamethoxam is partially removed. The study found clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam were ubiquitously present (i.e., 100%) in all samples (n = 16) collected from University of Iowa tap water, with concentrations ranging between 3.89 and 57.3 ng/L, between 1.22 and 39.5 ng/L, and between 0.24 and 4.15 ng/L, respectively.
In July 2016, the first systematic review of the literature on human health effects of neonicotinoids was conducted and later published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.[ii] The researchers concluded”
“…studies reported associations between chronic neonic exposure and adverse developmental outcomes or a symptom cluster including neurological effects.”
There is currently no national effort measuring to what extent neonicotinoids are making it into our bodies, be it through water or food. However, neonicotinoids have been no stranger to bad press over the recent years. After it was found that the insecticides may be responsible for the declining bee population, Monsanto purchased leading bee research firm Beelogics to stifle research. In 2016, Syngenta was outed by Dr. James Cresswell from The University of Exeter in England. Dr. Cresswell – an expert in flowers and bees – accepted research funding from Syngetna but was quickly pressured by the corporation when his findings pointed to their neonicotinoid insecticides having a role in the declining bee populations.
A spotlight on the dangers and pervasiveness of contamination from agrochemical toxins in the environment, food supply, vaccines, and our bodies has been catapulted to center stage in recent years. The continued discovery and reporting of willful deception from agrochemical corporations regarding the dangers of their products has hit breakaway speeds. In California, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has determined that the herbicide glyphosate will be added to the list of chemicals known to cause cancer. The OEHHA announcement comes as a flurry of lawsuits is hitting Monsanto – the manufacturer of glyphosate – for cancers caused by their flag-ship herbicide. One of those court cases recently uncovered documents strongly suggesting that Monsanto had ghostwritten research that was later attributed to academics. The documents also indicated that a senior official at the Environmental Protection Agency had worked to quash a review of glyphosate. According to other lawsuits detailed in a new report from the Environmental Working Group the chemical 1,2,3-trichloropropane –a byproduct in Dow's Telone and Shell's D-D pesticides – contaminated the tap water supplies of 94 California utility districts serving 8 million people.
Do farmers have to use toxic agrochemicals to stay competitive? A March 2017 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Plants titled ‘Reducing pesticide use while preserving crop productivity and pro?tability on arable farms’ [iii] analyzed the pesticide use, productivity and profitability of almost 1,000 farms of all types across France and came to the conclusion:
“We failed to detect any con?ict between low pesticide use and both high productivity and high pro?tability in 77% of the farms.”
Independent labs have begun testing food products for the presence of glyphosate in the wake of an official refusal to do so by The U.S. Department of Agriculture. Given the widespread contamination of water and food, it is not radical to propose a moratorium on agrochemical use, as Maui tried in 2014, until further [independent] research on the impact the chemicals are having on the environment and humanity as a whole.
References:
Kathryn L. Klarich, Nicholas C. Pflug, Eden M. DeWald, Michelle L. Hladik , Dana W. Kolpin, David M. Cwiertny, and Gregory H. LeFevre (2017) Occurrence of Neonicotinoid Insecticides in Finished Drinking Water and Fate during Drinking Water Treatment, Environmental Science and Technology Letters, DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.7b00081
[ii] Andria M. Cimino, Abee L. Boyles, Kristina A. Thayer, and Melissa J. Perry (2017) Effects of Neonicotinoid Pesticide Exposure on Human Health: A Systematic Review, Environmental Health Perspectives, 125:2 DOI:10.1289/EHP515
[iii] Martin Lechenet, Fabrice Dessaint, Guillaume Py, David Makowski, and Nicolas Munier-Jolain (2017) Reducing pesticide use while preserving crop productivity and pro?tability on arable farms, Nature, 3:17008 DOI: 10.1038/nplants.2017.8
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Jefferey Jaxen is a researcher, independent investigative journalist, writer and voice for health freedom on the front lines of society's shift towards higher consciousness. Visit his website here to learn more.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of GreenMedInfo or its staff.
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Water Crisis 2017
Published on Jan 7, 2017
This is the most important video I have made to date.
In this teaser video we talk about the current water crisis that we are facing in South Africa. We believe that there are two sides to every story and want to to investigate further into the current untapped water supply which lies beneath table mountain and surrounds.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cape-town-water-crisis-2017-film-movie#/
What Nobody Wants To Say About Our Water Crisis
Beyond 2016 I Seth Siegel, “Solving the Global Water Crisis”
Beyond Conference
The Beyond Conference is a unique annual gathering that celebrates creativity, innovation and inspirational stories. The conference highlights influential figures across diverse fields, from business and technology to food and the arts who are shaping our world. We invite you to be a part of the Beyond experience, to join the conversation along with top executives, entrepreneurs, artists, chefs and tv personalities. Let us know what inspires you with the hashtag:
#BeyondatMana
http://beyondatmana.com/beyond
H2WOE India's Water Crisis: A Warning To The World
Published on Aug 21, 2016
Watch more films about India: https://rtd.rt.com/tags/india/
The Indian state of Punjab is undergoing a severe water crisis. Once an agricultural leader in India, it’s now turning into a desert. Farmers and other rural dwellers are going bankrupt over the need to pay for water delivered from other regions. In this drastic situation, the number of suicides has skyrocketed, but the authorities deny that people are killing themselves over the water shortage.
Water has become a luxury for the people in the Indian state of Punjab. Thousands of villages here rely on water deliveries from elsewhere. People have to pay exorbitant prices for water that their state once had in abundance. Farmers can no longer afford to grow food, their crops are dying and they are left with enormous debts. The devastation has led many to take their own lives. Meanwhile the authorities turn a blind eye to the mass suicides.
The reasons behind the crisis are a combination of an unintended consequence of the green revolution in India and global climate change. The agricultural infrastructure built by the government is not effective. Traditional methods of gathering and preserving rainwater offer rural dwellers some relief, but cease to be sufficient during a drought.
The drastic water shortage dictates people’s lives here, with many spending significant amounts of their time on obtaining water: whether it be queueing for a tanker, waiting their turn at a half-dried well or digging reservoirs by hand in the hope of collecting some rainwater. To ensure their families’ survival, they come up with desperate arrangements – such as polygamous marriages; and have to prioritise what to spend their precious water on. RT Doc crew visits the sun-scorched Punjab to see with their own eyes how the task of obtaining water for their households became a matter of life or death for the people living there.
Food trade drains global water sources at 'alarming' rates
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39431680?utm_content=buffer269fa&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
The global market for foodstuffs is depleting water sources in many parts of the world quicker than they can naturally be refilled.
The complex trade is increasing pressure on non-renewable groundwater, mainly used for irrigating crops such as rice, wheat and cotton.
Pakistan, the US and India are the countries exporting the most food grown with unsustainable water.
Researchers say that without action, food supplies will be threatened.
Around 43% of the water used to irrigate crops around the world comes from underground aquifers, as opposed to rivers and lakes. Many of these sources are being used up quicker than they can be refilled from rainfall.
Back in 2000, experts believed that non-renewable resources sustained 20% of global irrigation. In the 10 years to 2010, this increased by more than a fifth.
While scientists have long known about the depletion of groundwater, this new study sets out to understand how supplies are impacted by the booming international trade in food and crops.
The vast majority of the world's populations live in countries that source nearly all their staple crop imports from nations who deplete significant amounts of groundwater to irrigate these foodstuffs.
The researchers found that some 11% of the non-renewable groundwater used for irrigation is embedded in the the global food trade. Two-thirds of this are accounted for by Pakistan, the US and India.
Over the decade from the year 2000, the use of non-renewable groundwater has doubled in China and increased significantly in India and the US. The crops using the biggest amounts of this water are wheat, rice, sugar crops, cotton and maize.
However, the web of responsibility is a complex one.
The US, Mexico, Iran, Saudi Arabia and China are among the top 10 users of unsustainable water in agriculture. However, they are also among the top importers of crops grown with these dwindling resources.
So, Iran, for example, mainly imports rice from Pakistan irrigated by the Upper Ganges and Lower Indus aquifers. These water sources have extraction rates up to 50 times higher than required for sustainable use. Iran in turn exports perennial crops irrigated by the Persian aquifer that has been extracted at a mere 20 times the rate that is sustainable.
"The depletion rate is alarming - we have these clusters of countries that are at risk both from domestic production and imports," said lead author Dr Carole Dalin from University College London.
"If the reserve of water runs out the price of food will be affected and it will affect almost all the world's population."
Many developed countries are aware of issues in the depletion of groundwater and have put measures in place, such as urban water restrictions in California during the recent years of drought. However, in developing nations, the mechanisms to restrict water may not exist.
"Pakistan for instance is quite complex," said Dr Dalin. "They can make good money out of exporting rice, but the framework is not really there to account for the impact on the environment. It is true that eventually it will affect the production there."
The researchers argue that while governments need to have greater awareness about the impacts of production on water resources, consumers in richer countries should also think about water when considering the foods that they buy.
"The products that consumers buy at a supermarket may have very different environmental impacts depending on where they are produced and how they are irrigated," said co-author Yoshihide Wada, from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.
"In order to help consumers make more sustainable choices about their food, producers should consider adding water labels that make these impacts clear."
Water bills spiraling out of control across the U.S.
Wednesday, March 08, 2017 by: Thomas Dishaw
http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-03-08-water-bills-spiraling-out-of-control-across-the-u-s.html
Sheeeeeeeeesh... ridiculous...
Hexavalent chromium (chromium-6) was just found in 75% of drinking water... the mass chemical suicide of America is under way.
See more at :
http://www.naturalnews.com/055408_chromium-6_drinking_water_chemical_suicide.html
I have a thought that the MSM will have those stories when our government wants to tax or regulate water.
“Desperate”: City of 8 Million May Run out of Water This Month
Joshua Krause July 9th, 2015
I never saw this or heard of this through MSM... crazy...
http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/desperate-city-of-8-million-may-run-out-of-water-this-month_07092015
Water Under President-elect Trump: A Roundtable Discussion | PODCAST |
November 17, 2016/in Infrastructure, Water Policy & Politics /by Cody Pope
http://www.circleofblue.org/2016/water-policy-politics/water-president-elect-trump-roundtable-discussion-podcast/
Federal Water Tap, November 14: Final Months of the Obama Administration
http://www.circleofblue.org/water-tap/
Poisoned Waters’ — An In-Depth Look at the Sources and Impact of Water Pollution
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/11/05/water-pollution-sources-effects.aspx?utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20161105Z1&et_cid=DM124411&et_rid=1742520867
By Dr. Mercola
The 1972 Clean Water Act1 regulates discharges of pollutants into U.S. waterways and sets quality standards for surface waters. It was supposed to ensure clean water for swimming and fishing, yet after more than four decades of clean water regulations, our waterways are in serious jeopardy.
In Frontline’s special report, “Poisoned Waters,”2 which originally aired in 2009, correspondent Hedrick Smith reveals the deplorable state of two great coastal estuaries: The Puget Sound and Chesapeake Bay.
Toxic runoff from industry, agriculture and suburban areas are still flowing into these waterways, polluting the food chain and drinking water for millions of Americans.
Why has the U.S. so utterly failed to protect water quality? And what are the ramifications of this water pollution? These and other questions are explored in this special report.
Industrial Agriculture Is the Largest Water Polluter in the US
Industrial agriculture is arguably the largest contributor to water pollution across the U.S., and this pollution poses multiple threats. Wildlife are dying and bizarre disfigurements of aquatic creatures are becoming commonplace: Frogs with six legs, for example, or male fish that lay eggs.
Fish with cancerous lesions are also becoming more common. A recent U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study found an alarming rate of white sucker fish with prominent tumors in several of Wisconsin's Lake Michigan tributaries. As noted by MLive.com:3
“Because white suckers, also called mullet, eat from the sediment on river bottoms, their overall health is considered an indicator of the environmental degradation within an ecosystem.”
If fish are succumbing to cancer due to toxins in the environment, is it any wonder that cancer is one of the leading killers of humans, who are at the very top of the food chain?
Ultimately, water pollution threatens our own health, and the effects on wildlife are a preview of what we might expect in the human population as the effects spread up the food chain. As noted in the video, “The things that kill wildlife will kill people too.”
Is the Price We Pay for Modern Conveniences Worth It?
Beyond industrial agriculture, water pollution is the result of the way we all live. Modern life itself is a major part of the problem.
Not only do people inappropriately dispose of drugs by flushing them down the toilet, the cleaning and personal care products we use on a daily basis also contribute to the environmental pollution and devastation.
Even the clothes we wear have a severe impact. For example, textile dyeing facilities tend to be located in developing countries where regulations are lax and labor costs are low.
Untreated or minimally treated wastewater is typically discharged into nearby rivers, from where it spreads into seas and oceans, traveling across the globe with the currents.
Once you’ve purchased a piece of clothing, you come to the next area of concern: washing the item.
Not only do most laundry detergents contain harmful chemicals, but the garment itself may be contributing to the problem of toxic pollution by releasing chemicals and microfibers4 that pose a serious threat to marine life.
Chesapeake Bay — Poster Child of Man’s Ecological Impact
Chesapeake Bay is a perfect example of what’s happening across the U.S. Over the past 25-plus years, crab catches have declined by more than 50 percent. Certain fish species have vanished altogether, as have many fishermen, unable to sustain themselves.
In terms of economic impact, water pollution has resulted in billions of dollars of lost revenue in the fishing business alone. Oysters, for example, are no longer being harvested in Chesapeake Bay. That industry was essentially eliminated over the course of just 10 years.
Overfishing was part of the problem, no doubt, but pollution bears the greatest responsibility for the decline of life in Chesapeake Bay. Large dead-zones have been created. These result when too much fertilizer (nitrogen and phosphorous) accumulate in an area.
The nitrogen and phosphorous feed algae, and when the algae die and decompose, they suck up all the oxygen in the water, literally suffocating both plant and animal life. As noted by Howard Ernst, a Chesapeake Bay historian, these dead zones are as devoid of life as the face of the moon.
Absolutely nothing that requires oxygen can live in these oxygen-depleted areas. In the summer months, these dead zones now make up more than 40 percent of the main stem of the Chesapeake Bay. And the dead zone problem is a global one. Each decade, dead zones across the globe have doubled in size.
Common sense will tell you that, eventually, these dead zones will be maxed out, meaning 100 percent of our oceans and waterways will be devoid of life.
When that happens, life may become challenging, to say the least, since not only will we lose a major food source, we’ll also lose a major source of oxygen needed for breathable air. Moreover, phytoplankton in our oceans also play an intricate role in our climate.5
Lack of Public and Political Will
In 1970, following a series of environmental calamities, 20 million Americans — 10 percent of the U.S. population — took to the streets on Earth Day, demanding an end to environmental pollution. It was the largest public demonstration in American history. And it worked.
The sheer enormity of the outrage forced President Nixon to address the problem head-on. As a result, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, which later became the Clean Water Act, was enacted to empower the EPA to go after major polluters.
The Act included strict pollution limits and penalties for those who violated them, and called for waterways to be fishable and swimmable again by July 1, 1983. The EPA initially made significant headway, suing several major polluters and banning DDT, for example.
Unfortunately, a decade later, the Reagan administration’s deregulation agenda gutted the EPA, effectively stopping it in its tracks. Reagan also appointed people to the EPA who were quite obviously opposed to the environmental mission of the agency, and this kind of internal undermining has been the trend ever since.
The EPA lost its ability to enforce environmental protection laws and instead the strategy shifted to voluntary compliance — a strategy that was doomed to fail from the start. Today, it seems both public and political will to take strong, affirmative action to protect the environment has been lost, and the pollution flowing from industrial agriculture and elsewhere is essentially and largely unregulated.
Poultry Industry Refuses to Take Responsibility
The Frontline report shows how toxic waste from industrial-scale poultry farms flows down the river, polluting the bay. But chicken farmers argue they’re not responsible for the waste produced, as the animals are really owned by companies such as Perdue and Tyson; the farmers are just rearing them until they reach a marketable age.
However, per contract, the chicken producers have no legal responsibility for the manure created. They see the manure as a “resource” of the grower, which can be sold or used as fertilizer. The problem is, there’s just too much of it being generated.
While cities must treat their sewage waste, industrial farmers are not held to the same standard. As a result, massive quantities of untreated fecal waste from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are allowed to enter our waterways. As shown in Frontline’s report, the poultry industry has successfully opposed any and all efforts to enact nutrient regulation laws that would force the industry to address and clean up its waste problem.
Much of US Drinking Water Is of Questionable Quality
It’s difficult to get a complete overview of the severity of water pollution. For example, in the U.S., the Safe Drinking Water Act regulates a mere 91 contaminants. Meanwhile, more than 80,000 chemicals are used in the U.S.6 How many of these chemicals, and at what levels, end up in the water supply is anyone’s guess, as no one is testing and measuring these unregulated chemicals in drinking water.
However, what little we do know suggests the situation is dire indeed. Tests show drinking water in the U.S. contains potentially unsafe levels of many different contaminants. Some of the contaminants that have started gaining more widespread attention include:
• Polyfluoroalkyl or perfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFASs). According to a recent Harvard study, 16.5 million Americans have detectable levels of at least one kind of PFAS in their drinking water.7,8,9,10 Seventy-five percent of the samples with elevated PFAS came from 13 states: California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Georgia, Minnesota, Arizona, Massachusetts and Illinois.
• Lead. More than 18 million Americans receive drinking water from water treatment facilities that have violated federal drinking water rules for lead.11 And, in 9 out of 10 cases, the EPA has taken no enforcement action against the violators. Many water treatment facilities have also been caught using incorrect testing methods to avoid detecting high levels of lead.
This means the number of Americans drinking lead-contaminated water may be far higher than suspected. For example, a recent review of the testing done in 1,500 New York City school buildings revealed strategies were employed to artificially lower the lead levels in the water for the tests.12 So while officials told parents the water is safe to drink, the reality may be that students are ingesting unsafe levels of lead.
• Perchlorate. An estimated 16 million Americans also have perchlorate — a chemical used in explosives and rocket fuel — in their drinking water.13
• Pharmaceutical drugs. There’s no drinking water standard for drugs in the U.S., and typical water treatment methods are not designed to filter them out. Depending on the method used, anywhere from 10 percent to more than 80 percent of the drugs in the water fail to be removed during treatment.14
One 2015 investigation (see video below) concluded at least 41 million Americans in 24 major cities are drinking water contaminated with a wide range of drugs, including painkillers, hormones, antidepressants, antibiotics, cholesterol drugs and several dozens more.
• Atrazine. According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 75 percent of the U.S. population has detectable levels of pesticides in their urine, and unless you're a farmer, your diet and drinking water are two of the most likely routes of exposure.
The EPA's risk assessment for atrazine found the chemical can cause reproductive harm to mammals, fish and birds, with the level of concern already surpassed by nearly 200-fold using real-world scenarios for mammals. Atrazine is the most commonly detected pesticide in U.S. waters, so I recommend filtering your tap water — both for drinking and bathing — with a filter certified to remove it.
PCBs Are Decimating Killer Whale Population
According to the Frontline report, killer whales are dying at an alarming rate, and tests have reveled high levels of PCBs in the deceased animals. PCBs have also been linked to fertility, reproductive and endocrine damage along with neurological effects, including damage to learning and memory. Even though PCBs have been banned in the U.S. for decades, these chemicals are extremely persistent in the environment.
Frontline discusses Boeing’s involvement in the PCB pollution problem, and how Boeing has been playing the blame game of who’s responsible for cleaning up the contamination. Today, the focus is primarily on Monsanto. Various lawsuits by individuals and municipalities are now trying to hold Monsanto accountable for PCBs' widespread pollution.
For example, Seattle has filed a lawsuit against Monsanto for PCB pollution. They want Monsanto to pay to help to clean up pollution it caused in the Duwamish River and also wants to hold Monsanto responsible for making the river's fish too contaminated to eat. The city alleges that Monsanto knew all along that PCBs were toxic but continued to market them anyway.
In an obvious effort to aid Monsanto, the House of Representatives slipped a clause into the proposed update to the Toxic Substances Control Act. Once reformed, the Act will determine how the chemical industry is regulated, including which chemicals are allowed and who can sue over any related problems. Lo and behold, the inserted clause actually shields the company from legal liability related to PCBs.
Make Clean Water for Everyone a Priority
Unfortunately, your choices are limited when it comes to avoiding certain water contaminants, especially if they’re unregulated, such as pharmaceuticals. Others, such as microbeads, are simply difficult to filter out. To be certain you’re getting the purest water you can, filter the water both at the point of entry and at the point of use.
The New Jersey Drinking Water Quality Institute recommends using granulated activated carbon “or an equally efficient technology.”15 One of the best filtration systems I’ve found so far, and the one I personally use, is the Pure & Clear Whole House Water Filtration System, which uses a three-stage filtration process — a micron sediment pre-filter, a KDF water filter and a high-grade carbon water filter.16
Filtering your water is your best immediate option. Ultimately, however, we really must address the issue of pollution on a much larger scale. We need much stronger regulations, but it seems that in order to get THAT, we must first break the industrial stronghold on politics.
The agricultural and meat lobbies are just as efficient and powerful as the chemical lobby when it comes to their political and regulatory influence, and they’re all hell-bent on opposing efforts that would make them accountable for the toxic waste and pollution they create during the course of business. There are no simple answers to that problem, but it is certainly an issue that must be faced and addressed.
Food & water Q's for when the SHTF:
http://www.askaprepper.com
Water Grabs in Canada: Nestlé Outbids Another Town for Control of Local Water Supply
http://www.globalresearch.ca/water-grabs-in-canada-nestle-outbids-another-town-for-control-of-local-water-supply/5547748
Council of Canadians launches new Boycott Nestlé campaign in response to company’s continued water grabs
Corporate giant Nestlé continued its privatization creep on Thursday as it won approval to take over another Canadian community’s water supply, claiming it needed the well to ensure “future business growth.”
Nestlé purchased the well near Elora, Ontario from Middlebrook Water Company last month after making a conditional offer in 2015, the Canadian Press reports.
In August, the Township of Centre Wellington made an offer to purchase the Middlebrook well site to protect access to the water for the community. Consequently, the multinational—which claimed it had no idea the community was its competitor—waived all its conditions and matched the township’s offer in order to snag the well for itself.
Those conditions included conducting pump tests to determine if the watershed met the company’s quality and quantity requirements, the Canadian Press reports.
Moreover, Nestlé has stated that the Middlebrook site will only be a backup for its other nearby well and bottling plant in Aberfoyle, where the corporation already draws up to 3.6 million liters (roughly 951,000 gallons) of water a day. The company reportedly plans to extract as much as 1.6 million liters (almost 423,000 gallons) a day from Middlebrook to be transported to its bottling facility.
All this comes as parts of southern Ontario and British Columbia face severe drought conditions amid dwindling water supplies and Nestlé pushes to renew its permits for its Aberfoyle plant, the advocacy group Council of Canadians warned.
The organization on Thursday launched a Boycott Nestlé campaign which states, “Groundwater resources will not be sufficient for our future needs due to drought, climate change, and over-extraction. Wasting our limited groundwater on frivolous and consumptive uses such as bottled water is madness. We must not allow groundwater reserves to be depleted for corporate profit.”
Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow told the Canadian Press about the Aberfoyle plant, “Allowing a transnational corporation to continue to mine this water is a travesty, especially given that most local people can get clean, safe, and affordable water from their taps.”
In her new book Boiling Point: Government Neglect, Corporate Abuse, and Canada’s Water Crisis, Barlow writes that Nestlé makes more than $2 million a year in profits from its Aberfoyle facility alone.
She also noted to the Canadian Press that the Elora well “sits on the traditional territory of the Six Nations of the Grand River, 11,000 of whom do not have access to clean running water.”
Are you following AWGI?
Yikes... what a massive convoluted mess...
Water Contamination Threat Potentially Everywhere
https://foodsafetytech.com/news_article/water-contamination-threat-potentially-everywhere/
With water consumption increasing on every continent, the agricultural industry has an important issue in front of them: Will there continue to be enough water of suitable quality for agricultural production for the foreseeable future? Daniel Snow, director of the Nebraska Water Sciences Laboratory at University of Nebraska, posed this question at the IAFP annual meeting earlier this month.
Worldwide, it is estimated that the availability of freshwater (annual per capita) is just 1700 m3. According to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, when this figure drops below 1000 m3 it puts pressure on not only on the economy but also on human health.
The amount of freshwater available for food production is limited (less than 3% of the world’s water is fresh). Further complicating the matter is the fact that this water comes from many different sources, and emerging contaminants are potentially everywhere. “We don’t really understand the effect [of these contaminants] on the environment or on human health,” said Snow. “We know the compounds occur in the water and likely occur in the food supply, but we don’t really understand the implications.”
According to Snow, there is very little regulation around water used for irrigation. Top concerns surrounding emerging contaminants include:
Water reuse. Recycled wastewater contains traces of the following contaminants, which accumulate over time:
Xenobiotics (organic compounds)
Inorganics
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria/germs. Up to 90% of some of the antibiotics excreted are not metabolized by animals and humans
Endocrine disrupters (steroids—natural and artificial in running water)
Pharmaceuticals (both human and veterinary)
Arsenic (namely related to rice production). The element is not only found in soil in Asia but also in soil in certain parts of the United States
Co-occurrence of nitrate and uranium in ground water. There is growing evidence that uranium is being mobilized in water and one study has shown that uranium is readily taken up in food crops
It’s not all doom and gloom, said Snow. The upside to the issue: “We know enough now that we can start to understand the system and hopefully control the contaminants when producing food,” he said. The larger concern is determining which emerging contaminants pose the most significant problem.
More Than 65 Percent of U.S. Has Unsafe Levels of Toxic Chemicals In Drinking Water
http://preventdisease.com/news/16/081016_65-Percent-US-Has-Unsafe-Levels-Toxic-Chemicals-Drinking-Water.shtml
Double edged water crisis
1. Water shortages caused by population growth, etc.
2. More so each year, water pollution. Flint was just the first publicized.
The water could be averted and is in Israel. But, the powers that be probably want to make an artificial water crisis to control water and make money off of it.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/israel-proves-the-desalination-era-is-here/
I believe "The Boyz" are still loading up on food commodities, thus no drought news in the US, hail just wiped out thousands of acres in Spain. flooding in India has destroyed much of their crops, China had a typhoon flood some of their crop region.
Water specifically, fracking, arsenic and glyphosate ruining ground water, and lake Erie, geez blast off on food commodities and water coming soon?
http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/08/23/lake-erie-algae-bloom
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/real-reason-toxic-algae-hit-floridas-beaches
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/epa-official-links-fracking-and-drinking-water-issues-in-dimock-pa/2013/07/29/7d8b34b2-f8a1-11e2-afc1-c850c6ee5af8_story.html
http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/glyphosate02.html
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/glyphosate/en/
Drought is everywhere but nobody is paying attention to water... water is plentiful in bottles and super convenient... for now... the time of want/need is nearly here.
SHOCK: Americans' drinking water could become thousands of times more radioactive under new EPA proposal
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/054526_water_pollution_radiation_EPA.html#ixzz4D6SgsISD
The Great Lakes Water Wars Have Begun After U.S. Officials Approve Drawing 30 Million Liters Per Day
http://www.naturalblaze.com/2016/06/the-great-lakes-water-wars-have-begun-after-u-s-officials-approve-drawing-30-million-liters-per-day.html
A group of eight U.S. officials have voted to allow a Wisconsin-based region to begin drawing 30 million liters of water a day from lake Michigan for drinking water. A Canadian Mayor has spoken out on the recently-approved plan calling the recent decision “the end of the Great Lakes as we know them.”
Last year, the city of Waukesha in Wisconsin had asked the Great Lake states for permission to divert water from Lake Michigan because its own aquifer is running low and the water is contaminated with high levels of naturally occurring cancer-causing radium.
A panel representing governors of the eight states adjoining the Great Lakes unanimously approved a proposal from Waukesha, which is under a court order to find a solution to the radium contamination of its groundwater wells. The city says the project will cost over $200 million for engineering studies, pipelines and other infrastructure.
Waukesha is only 27 kilometers from the lake but just outside the Great Lakes watershed. That required the city of about 72,000 to get special permission under the compact, which prohibits most diversions of water across the watershed boundary.
The Mayor of Leamington, Ont. is calling the recently-approved plan to draw water from Lake Michigan the “wrong decision.” He immediately took to Twitter to voice his discontent, calling the recent decision “the end of the Great Lakes as we know them.”
“This should not be allowed,” Paterson told CBC News. “I’m really disappointed it happened. That was unexpected. I actually thought the governor of Michigan was going to side with us. He even bailed.”
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, defended his in-favor vote, arguing the initiative is “the best way to conserve” Lake Michigan.
Over the past few months Ontario officials have expressed a “number of concerns” with the proposal, prompting the city to revise its submission.
“We appreciate the scaling back of this proposal in part thanks to pressure from Ontario,” Bob Duncanson, executive director of Georgian Bay Association, a group representing 20 cottage associations, told the Toronto Star.
“But we still feel that it sets a bad precedent for protection of the finite water resources in the Great Lakes … despite the fact they look like large bodies of water, they don’t replenish easily.”
Under the agreement, Waukesha must return 100 percent of the water it uses as treated effluent piped to the Root River, a Lake Michigan tributary.
Waukesha must filter pharmaceuticals and personal care products from the return water flow, conduct environmental monitoring and document the daily, monthly and annual water withdraw and and return amounts.
Each Great Lakes state can independently conduct audits to inspect Waukesha’s records and the agreement can be withdrawn by the other states at any point if conditions of the agreement are violated.
“Should this decision stand uncontested, it could set a precedent that will lead to drastic consequences for the entire Great Lakes basin.”
Las Vegas Going Dry? Largest Reservoir In America Reaches Record Low
by Tyler Durden - Jun 17, 2016 2:45 PM
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-17/las-vegas-going-dry-largest-reservoir-america-reaches-record-low
Lots more including chartwork at the link above...
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
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
Very hip, very cool, very good!!!
This is all I needed to see... the acts and manifestations of the Satanic Monsanto never cease to amaze and sicken me:
Pyriproxyfen is a larvicide produced by Sumitomo Chemical, a subsidiary of Monsanto.
Water---Argentine Doctors Believe Larvicide Real Cause of Zika
http://preventdisease.com/news/16/022316_Argentine-Doctors-Believe-Larvicide-Real-Cause-Zika.shtml
A group of physicians in Argentina has filed a claim that the sudden microcephaly epidemic in Brail was not caused by the Zika virus after all. The physicians claim that a larvicide, placed in the country's water supply, is to blame. Months after the first Zika case was reported, the microcephaly outbreak continues to shake the world's medical community
Maria moved slowly. She remained on the side of the bed. Her joints ached -- a side effect, her doctor said, of the Zika virus.
The pain in her elbows didn't match the pain in her heart as she contemplated the baby she would have in about six months. Would the child be healthy? Eight of her friends were pregnant as well. Five of them had already made the trip to Rio and found out the prognosis for the lives growing inside them.
Maria wondered if she would go to bed that night with good news -- or dread.
Women from all nations have been advised to exercise caution if they are contemplating a trip to Brazil. Microcephaly, a birth defect in newborn babies, has been connected to the Zika virus. Microcephaly is a condition that causes babies to be born with abnormally tiny heads.
The "company line" if being challenged by the Argentine physicians as they suspect that Zika is not to blame for the increase in microcephaly, but that a larvicide in Brazil's water supply is responsible.
Coincidence?
The doctor's group, Physicians in Crop-Sprayed Towns (PCST), points to a 2014 incident where larvicide was dumped into Brazilian waterways to stop the spread of mosquito larvae in drinking water tanks.
The larvicide, sold as Pyriproxyfen, was first applied in a large government-sponsored program, was meant to control the country's mosquito population. Pyriproxyfen is a larvicide produced by Sumitomo Chemical, a subsidiary of Monsanto.
Malformations found in multitudinous kids living in regions where the chemical was added is not an accident according to a PCST report
One example is the instance where the Brazilian Health Ministry injected pyriproxyfen into lakes in Pernambuco. The proliferation of the Aedes aegypti mosquito -- the Zika virus carrier -- in Pernambuco is very high according to the PCST.
The first state to notice the problem was Pernambuco and the state contains 35% of total cases of microcephaly in the country.
According to PCST, during previous Zika epidemics, there have been zero instances of microcephaly linked to Zika. Over 75% of the population in countries where Zika has broken out had been infected with the mosquito-borne virus. For example, in Colombia, where there are many Zika cases, there are no records of microcephaly linked to the virus.
It was after the Colombia president announced that many of the nation's citizens were infected with Zika, but no case of microcephaly that the accusations and allegations started to come out. Over 3,000 pregnant women in Colombia were infected with Zika, but PCST reports show these women are carrying healthy fetuses -- or had already given birth to healthy babies.
Skeptics
Sumitomo Chemical says, on its website, that pyriproxyfen poses a minimal risk to birds, fish, and mammals. However, the evidence is overwhelming.
The Washington Post reported in January that experts examined over 700 cases of Zika-related microcephaly and over half were not related to Zika after all.
Even with all of the suspicions, the World Health Organization (WHO) has not linked Zika to microcephaly.
"While a link between Zika infection and microcephaly has not been established, the circumstantial evidence is suggestive and worrisome," said WHO Director Margaret Chan.
While there is no solid proof yet that the larvicide is behind microcephaly, the government of Grande do Sul, in the southern part of Brazil, suspended the use of the chemical pyriproxyfen.
Sumitomo Chemical, the maker of Pyriproxyfen, released a statement to reassure that its product is safe for use:
"Pyriproxyfen has shown no effects on the reproductive system or nervous system and has been approved for use in around 40 countries across the globe.
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.
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
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu
This forum is committed to informing and educating our visitors. A life threatening problem exists involving dramatically declining supplies of pure, safe, delicious water which is affecting nearly every living man, woman and child around the globe; what experts label as the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - AND the noble investment opportunities designed to support those who are adversely affected. |
World Water CrisisIn the extraordinary new book Blue Planet Run, hundreds of photographers from all over the world track mankind's vital race to provide safe drinking water to the one billion people who lack it... Presented by TIME in Partnership with CNN http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1724375,00.htmlThe Staff of Life Source Sacred Bath Dried Up Seabed Digging Deep Short Supply Yuck Fishing Holes Pipeline Factory Filth Dirty Water Desalination Filtration Outhouses Toilet Solution Research and Development Slow the Melt Emergency Supply Seedling Ring Around the Well Refreshing World Water Crisis In the extraordinary new book Blue Planet Run, hundreds of photographers from all over the world track mankind's vital race to provide safe drinking water to the one billion people who lack it... Presented by TIME in Partnership with CNN http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1724375,00.html |
World water crisis worsened by corruption, repression: UN report20 February 2006 – Corruption, restricted political rights and limited civil liberties are all factors that lie behind the planet’s growing water crisis, says a new United Nations report that focuses on the precious resource of fresh water. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said today that the second edition of the UN World Water Development Report shows the global water crisis is largely a crisis of governing systems that “determine who gets what water, when and how, and decides who has the right to water and related services.” The report will be released on 9 March in Mexico City by Gordon Young, Coordinator of the UN World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), and Cristobal Jaime Jazquez, Director-General of the National Water Commission of Mexico. Entitled “Water, a Share Responsibility,” the report builds on the conclusions of the first water development study published three years ago. It presents a comprehensive picture of freshwater resources in all regions and most countries as it tracks progress towards the water-related targets of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Known collectively as the MDGs, these targets were set at a 2000 UN Summit and aim to reduce major global ills such as poverty, illiteracy and hunger by 2015. The report examines a variety of key issues, including population growth and increasing urbanization, changing ecosystems, food protection, health, industry and energy. It also looks at risk management and how water is valued and paid for. A set of conclusions and recommendations to guide future actions and encourage the sustainable use and management of the world’s increasing scarce freshwater resources are also included. The UN World Water Development Report is a joint undertaking of 24 UN agencies in partnership with governments and other stakeholders and is produced on their behalf by the Water Assessment Programme, whose secretariat is hosted by UNESCO. The second edition will be launched one week before the Fourth World Water Forum that will be held in Mexico City from March 16 to 22. The report will be formally presented by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura. |
We are grateful to Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security for assistance in collating these data.
Water Factshttp://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/Today’s water crisis is not an issue of scarcity, but of access. More people in the world own cell phones than have access to a toilet. And as cities and slums grow at increasing rates, the situation worsens. Every day, lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills thousands, leaving others with reduced quality of life. Choose a Topic:
Water
Sanitation
Children
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Disease
Economics
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Water in the NewsWater woes in Pakistan—26-Dec Resource LinksLook for more facts in our collection of Water Resource Links. References
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Peter Gleick: Peak WaterSaturday, 22 January 2011 16:17 Peak water is coming. In some places, peak water is here.We’re never going to run out of water — water is a renewable natural resource (mostly). But increasingly, around the world, in the U.S., and locally, we are running up against peak water limits. The concept is so important and relevant that The New York Times chose the term “peak water” as one of its 33 “Words of the Year” for 2010 (along with “refudiate,” “top kill,” and “vuvuzela”), a term that a colleague and I defined in a new research paper in May in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (available here). Water Number: Three (3) definitions of “peak water.” Peak Renewable Water: This is the limit reached when humans take the entire renewable flow of a river or stream for our use. Water is renewable, but there is a limit to how much can be used. Humans have already reached “peak renewable water” limits on the Colorado River. We use it all and can’t take any more. In fact, of course, we probably shouldn’t even take as much as we do, for ecological reasons (see “Peak Ecological Water” below). Increasingly, we are reaching peak renewable limits on many of our rivers and streams. The Yellow River in China no longer reaches the sea much of the year. The Aral Sea has been devastated because the entire flows of the Amu and Syr Darya rivers have been consumed. The Nile Delta is typically dry much of the year. Peak Non-Renewable Water: While much of our water supply is renewable, there are “non-renewable” water sources as well, where our use of water depletes or degrades the source. This most typically takes the form of groundwater aquifers that we pump out faster than nature recharges them — exactly like the concept of “peak oil.” Over time, groundwater becomes depleted, more expensive to tap, or effectively exhausted. Central Valley aquifers are overpumped, unsustainably, to the tune of 1-to-2 million acre-feet a year. So are groundwater aquifers in India, China, the Great Plains, and other places. This cannot continue indefinitely — it runs into peak non-renewable water limits. Peak Ecological Water: The third definition, and perhaps the most important (and difficult) one, is peak “ecological” water — the point where any additional human uses cause more harm (economic, ecological, or social) than benefit. We’re good at measuring the “benefits” of more human use of water (semiconductors manufactured, or food produced, or economic value generated), but we’re bad at measuring on an equal footing, the ecological “costs” or harm caused by that same use of water. As a result, species are driven to extinction, habitat is destroyed, water purification capabilities of marshes and wetlands are lost. For many watersheds around the world, we are reaching, or exceeding, the point of “peak ecological water.” California as a whole may not have quite reached peak water, but parts of California and some of our water systems are long past the point of peak water, in all three definitions of the term. We’ve done a great job in this state at capturing, storing, moving, and using water. But there are limits — an idea still lost on some of our policymakers, such as those who recently lamented our inability to capture and use every drop of water that fell in the recent extreme storms — a 19th century notion long ago overwhelmed and overtaken by physical, economic, and environmental realities. Large new surface water storage is simply not going to happen (though California could do far more with smarter flood-control projects and improved groundwater storage, as I described in a recent Sacramento Bee op-ed. This is a topic for another post). Many of our groundwater basins are past the point of peak ecological water. The Sacramento-San Joaquin river systems, at some times of the year, are past the point of peak renewable water and peak ecological water because of the devastating ecological impacts of our water use on wetlands, migrating birds, fisheries, aquatic flora, and more. Our water rights allocations from the State and Federal projects exceed peak water limits because they promise more water to users than can ever be delivered. We struggle from one year to the next, hoping for rain. We refuse to measure and monitor all of our water uses in a system with limits. We shy away from needed conversations about water use priorities and rights. As a result, we’re racing toward peak water limits and we can no longer afford to pretend all the water we want will be available, when we want it, at a cheap price, without consequences. A wet December and January doesn’t change that reality. |
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Committed to Highlighting Investment Opportunities
By Nick Hodge
Friday, December 5th, 2008
Each day news stories break that smart investors treat as a series of "dots."
They absorb these dots, and connect them in such a way that trends emerge.
And if you've been paying attention, you'll have recognized a serious trend emerging.
Here are a few of those big dots:
One-third of China's Yellow River polluted
ADB approves $300 mln for water, sanitation in small cities of Sindh
ITT completes first Rural Drinking Water Safety Project in China
Water Filtration Plant Costs Skyrocket
S.Korea's Doosan partners win $293 mln Saudi deal
Those are recent water headlines—from just the last three days—that I plucked from a series of news sites and industry newsletters.
As you can see, new deals in the water sector are rampant.
Increased demand, crumbling infrastructure, and now, the possibility of a second infrastructure-focused stimulus, have reignited interest in this sometimes seemingly cyclical sector.
Millions of dollars are changing hands everyday.
The headlines above discuss projects and deals worth well over $4 billion. That's only five headlines from three days.
Fact is, water is here to stay as a long-term bull. And you'll want to start thinking about staking an early claim in the profitable water stocks that will emerge.
Water Stocks
I've dissected and analyzed water stocks and related scenarios in these pages, and pages of our sister publications, many times.
The sector can be broken down into three basic vehicles for investment:
Water utilities
Water ETFs & funds
Water infrastructure and related companies
Your investment goals should dictate which sector you go after.
Looking for slow, incremental growth and dividends? Check out water utilities.
After long-term value and steady growth? Try water ETFs and funds.
More often than not, I seek out the best water stocks with the highest growth scenarios, most advanced products and services, and the best chance to capitalize on niche solutions to big water problems.
Here are a few of the companies in that position right now, along with their specialty:
Layne Christensen (NASDAQ: LAYN), wastewater treatment, source identification, pipeline rehabilitation
Tetra Tech Inc. (NASDAQ: TTEK), water quality assessments, pollution remediation and control
Flowserve Corp. (NYSE: FLS), pumps, valves, seals, systems automation
Insituform Technologies (NASDAQ: INSU), in-ground pipe rehabilitation and replacement
Water stocks are great for some investment objectives. For others, a managed fund or ETF is in order.
Let's review some of those now.
Water ETFs
Here's a list of the four main water exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the market:
PowerShares Water Resources (NYSE: PHO)
PowerShares Global Water (NYSE: PIO)
Claymore S&P Global Water (NYSE: CGW)
First Trust ISE Water (NYSE: FIW)
The last thing I want to address is the core group of stocks that call these ETFs home.
I've exhaustively researched the top ten holdings of each of these water funds. And I found some interesting trends.
Most notably, I found the the same few stocks continually appear in the top ten holdings of each ETF, namely Tetra Tech (NASDAQ: TTEK), ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT), Veolia Environment (NYSE: VE), and Nalco Holding (NYSE: NLC).
That research gave me a good idea of what the funds are including, so I can decide whether to recommend water stocks a la cart or funds.
A good start with microcap water companies -
UGSI - http://www.undergroundsolutions.com/ - http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=6066
GWTR - http://www.gwtr.com/ - http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=2768
GSPH - http://www.geospatialcorporation.com - http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=7572
HYFXF - http://www.hyflux.com/home.php - http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=12741
CNFO - http://www.cnfowater.com - http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=14600
ESPH - http://www.ecospheretech.com/ - http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=9667
Great big board choices -
NLC - New Position - http://www.nalco.com/ASP/index.asp - http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=15024
Berkshire did buy one new stock during the fourth quarter, initiating a position in Nalco Holding (NLC), which is a company that offers water treatment products and services.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=12656
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=3118
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