Water News for August 2025
Dead Fish in Unicorn Lake, Denton, TX.
Officials determined the most likely cause of the large number of fish deaths was a temporary drop in dissolved oxygen, either due to recent weather conditions or algae activity within the pond. Skeptics said that a more likely cause was overflow from an upstream pond known to be polluted with raw sewage. Full Story: Denton Record Chronicle.
PFAS and Your Community
A map prepared by EWG using EPA data shows highest levels of PFAS contamination in the Eastern US. Here’s the map, if you want to check on your community.
Uncle Putin, Give Us Water
Children in occupied Ukraine have adopted the plea “Uncle Putin, give us water” in imitation of past generations’ pleas for mercy addressed to oppressive Russian rulers.
Residents of Donetsk and other parts of the Donbas region occupied by Russia since 2014 are suffering from a water shortage that threatens to escalate into a humanitarian catastrophe. In many households in this war-torn region, water currently flows only every three days for a few hours. When it finally runs from the tap, the water is often blackish, foul-smelling, and unfit for consumption. The water pressure in the pipes is so low that the upper floors of apartment buildings are not supplied. Full story in Le Monde.
World Resources Institute Paints Bleak Picture Regarding Water Security
A total of 25 countries – home to a quarter of the global population – face extremely high water stress each year, regularly using up almost their entire available renewable supply.
That is according to a new report by the World Resources Institute (WRI), which defines a country facing ‘extreme water stress’ as one that uses 80% of its available renewable water supply annually.
The six most water-stressed countries are Bahrain, Cyprus, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman and Qatar, leaving them vulnerable to shortages.
The research also found that half of the world’s population — around four billion people — live in countries under ‘highly water-stressed conditions’ for at least one month of the year, using 40% of their supply. ISEP.
Heavy Flooding Worldwide
Sudden floods triggered by heavy rains have killed more than 400 people across parts of Pakistan, India-administered Kashmir and Nepal with scores of people still missing.
In northwestern Pakistan, at least 321 people were killed in the space of 48 hours with more than ten villages in the Buner region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province devastated by flash flooding.
It comes after India’s Meteorological Department said on Wednesday that the rainfall was due to a “cloudburst,” which is a sudden and heavy downpour of more than 100 millimeters (4 inches) of rain in just one hour.
Analysts warned the human-made climate crisis has exacerbated the intensity and frequency of seasonal floods in the Himalayas this year. MSN
Non-Revenue Water Resulting from Chlorine Sensors
Non-revenue water (NRW) losses are a significant concern for drinking water utilities worldwide because they represent water that is produced but does not generate revenue, impacting both financial sustainability and resource management. Water is lost through leaks, pipe bursts, or overflows in the distribution system. Aging infrastructure, poor maintenance, and high system pressures often contribute to these losses.
One often overlooked source is water losses generated from chlorine sensor waste streams. Most chlorine sensors require 70,000 gallons (265,000 liters) or more per year per sensor of treated water to be disposed of. This is true for online DPD instruments but also amperometric sensors. With an estimated 88,268 analyzers in operation across 29,423 chlorine-using community water systems, the total wasted water is 6,178,771,200 gallons (23,390,000,000 liters) per year. — Water Online
PFAS and Changes In Gene Activity
New research suggests exposure to some common PFAS or “forever chemical” compounds causes changes to gene activity, and those changes are linked to health problems including multiple cancers, neurological disorders and autoimmune disease. The Guardian
Five Dead in NYC from Legionnaires’ Disease
Four people in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood have died from an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, an aggressive and potentially deadly form of pneumonia. The city has seen 99 confirmed cases with 17 people in hospital with the infection, according to the New York City Department of Health. Officials have traced the outbreak back to 12 cooling towers on 10 buildings where bacteria were growing, including at a hospital and a health clinic. Eleven of the 12 cooling towers have undergone remediation efforts, and the final one is expected to be fixed with the week, according to New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Since the outbreak began on July 25, the New York City Health Department has reported 108 cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Central Harlem — a historically Black neighborhood in Upper Manhattan. The latest death was reported on Aug. 18 after health officials concluded that a person with the disease who died before mid-August was associated with the Central Harlem cluster.
Legionnaires’ disease is relatively rare, with less than 18,000 people hospitalized in the US every year, according to medical research center Cleveland Clinic.
Transmission does not happen from person-to-person contact, but rather by mist in the air. The Legionella bacteria grows in stagnant, warm water, like the water that collects at the bottom of building cooling towers. The risk of serious complications from the disease, including lung failure and death, is highest for people aged 50 over as well as for smokers. MSNBC
Effort to End the World Plastics Pollution Crisis Fails
Negotiators in Geneva have rejected the draft treaties for an agreement to end the plastics pollution crisis. The main sticking point has been whether the treaty should impose plastic production limits or focus instead on waste management, recycling and reuse, with oil- and gas-producing countries and the plastics industry opposing production limits. Countries in the latter camp include Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iran, reportedly with the support of the US. The Guardian
Is Natural Mineral Water Still Natural if it has been filtered?
This is a debate that has been going on in France since the 18th century. The debate has heated up. See the full story in The Conversation.
Water levels at Lake Powell, the giant reservoir on the Utah-Arizona border, have dropped to their lowest point in three years, prompting boat ramp closures and raising fears about downstream water supplies and hydroelectric power generation that could affect millions of people across the West.
Of greater concern in the long term is how dropping water levels will impact both power generation and water supply: There’s a chance that Lake Powell’s water level could fall to an elevation that would force the stoppage of power generation at the Glen Canyon Dam, which would affect electricity supply to millions of people in many states. USA Today.
The U.S. National Park Service announced that one of the primary boat launches within the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah – the Wahweap Main Launch Ramp – will be closed starting Aug 18. And the Park Service is relocating the Rainbow Bridge floating dock into deeper water.
The sea is swallowing up coastal villages in the Philippines
Residents of Hagonoy, a municipality on Luzon, the Philippines’ largest and most populous island, are seeing their homes and streets flooded more often as global heating causes sea levels to rise. A powerful series, with excellent photos: The Guardian.
Near Deaths from Hot Tub
Health issues prevented two women, who were in their 80s, from climbing out of a hot tub after they became unresponsive after overheating and developing hyperthermia. A third woman got in the hot tub to keep the women’s heads above water while a fourth woman called 911.They recovered after treatment consisting of immersion in cold water. New York Times.
Water Sommeliers
When you go to a restaurant, how often do you think about what the water tastes like? Now more than a dozen restaurants in the US offer a water menu. A restaurant in England now has a water sommelier at hand to explain the distinct taste notes offered by each choice – with one bottle costing as much as £19 ($25). For a full explanation of what may be a growing trend to offer diners expensive water served in wine glasses in restaurants, see The Guardian.
Water Main Breaks: Summer Epidemic
Summer is always the most stressful time for aging water infrastructure. With many cities nursing along piping that has been in place for decades, water main breaks and water infrastructure failure abound in the summer months. Here are a few notable cases from this month’s news involving water main breaks and contamination that can be blamed on aging infrastructure.
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Manhattan Pipe Break Creates River On Broadway, Massive Subway Delays
Unfortunately, water main breaks might be the most high-profile way in which the public interacts with drinking water or wastewater infrastructure. And of all such incidents, none are more… -
Pittsburgh Issues Boil Water Advisory Following Bird Poop Contamination
Pittsburgh has had its fair share of water quality concerns these days, but the latest may be one of the worst yet. -
Philadelphia Struggles With Water Main Breaks
The need for Philadelphia to update its water infrastructure is never more apparent than in the winter. -
Preserving Pressure, Protecting Service: Upgrading Hydrant Infrastructure In Kent County
When Kent County Water Authority faced the urgent replacement of a 94-year-old hydrant tied to a 1931 cast iron main, they were determined to maintain fire protection and avoid customer disruption. -
Cincinnati On Brink Of Infrastructure Disaster
Cincinnati is undergoing a water infrastructure crisis, and it is unclear where it will find the funding it needs to make upgrades.
Action at the EPA
We decided to skip reporting EPA actions for August. They were numerous and very much the same. Most EPA activity for August consisted of rolling back regulatory policies of previous administrations in an effort to “make America great” by freeing businesses from onerous environmental protection standards.