Study: Some cancer cases could be avoided through water treatment

by Jo-Anne MacKenzie

CONCORD — Hundreds of cases of cancer could be avoided if more New Hampshire residents tested — and treated — their private wells, according to a new study.

The study, funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looked at the long-term health effects of drinking water with elevated levels of arsenic. It estimates between 450 and 600 cases of lung, bladder or skin cancer here could be avoided if well water was tested and treated.

Some 46 percent of N.H. households get their drinking water from a private well, according to Paul Susca, a supervisor in the Department of Environmental Services drinking water division. Ninety percent of those wells are bedrock wells, which is where the arsenic is found.

Maine and New Hampshire rank highest nationally in the percentage of residents who use private wells, he said.

About one in five — some 20 percent — of private wells in New Hampshire have elevated levels of arsenic, according to NHDES Commissioner Thomas Burack.

Arsenic is considered a Class 1 carcinogen. It’s long been known that there’s a high incident of arsenic in many private wells, particularly in Rockingham, Merrimack, Strafford and Hillsborough counties. As many as 41,000 people in those four counties alone may be drinking water with arsenic levels higher than the EPA standard, the study says.

But there’s a problem just as significant as the arsenic levels — getting residents to have their well water tested and then doing something about it if arsenic or other contaminants are found. Although radon is even more commonly occuring, this study only looked for arsenic.

Dartmouth College did the report for NHDES and the state Department of Health and Human Services. The reporters held focus group meetings with residents of four towns, including Londonderry, each with a high number of private wells, all in areas with relatively high arsenic levels and all with a high percentage of children.

The experts found many residents associated contaminants in water with taste, smell or appearance, none of which hold true for arsenic, radon and many other contaminants.

There appeared to be a significant lack of knowledge among residents about water testing standards, according to the report. Those who did have their water tested often stopped there, the study showed, either because the results were tough to interpret or because they thought the cost of treatment would be prohibitive.

But, Susca said, cost ought not to be a factor.

“In most cases, people can use a point-of-use, under-the-sink kind of system to treat arsenic at levels that commonly occur,” he said. “It’s not a hazard for skin exposure, it’s the consumption, including cooking, so you only need to treat water you’re consuming.”

He said a typical under-the-sink system costs “hundred of dollars.”

Officials don’t have a firm grasp on the percentage of residents who use well water who have their water tested, Susca said, although a survey to get that number is underway.

Those conducting the study surveyed — or tried to — thousands of households with private wells. But the response rate was just about 3 percent.

Of those who did respond, 82 percent always or frequently drink tap water, according to the report.

The risk of consuming untreated well water with high levels or arsenic is significant. The study estimates of 688 cases of cancer among residents with arsenic-contaminated well water, 451 cases could be avoided if the water were treated for elevated arsenic levels.

Chronic arsenic exposure potentially leads to bladder and lung cancer. The state’s rate of bladder cancer is the highest in the country at 29.7 cases per 100,000, according to the National Cancer Institute.

That statistic can’t be entirely attributed to arsenic in well water, the study reports, but it’s noteworthy that Maine  ranks second for bladder cancer incidence and also has high levels of arsenic in its groundwater.

The study authors recommend improved communication about the importance of well water testing, testing events and campaigns in targeted towns as a next step.

“We want to emphasize that people should test their wells and do something about it if (arsenic) is at an elevated level,” Susca said.

The NHDES is working to develop an online tool that would allow residents to plug in their test results and get recommendations for treatment. That’s expected to roll out in the first half of 2015.

In the meantime, he said, people should have their water tested and if it needs treatment, consult several water treatment vendors.

There’s a lot of information available at http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/dwgb/.

Source: Eagle-Tribune

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Research: Fracking Uses No More Water Than Traditional Oil Production

Research done at the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas has cleared fracking of one of the most serious allegations leveled against it by environmentalists who oppose the practice—that is uses a disproportionate amount of water and risks depleting water sources for agricultural and residential users, especially in already water challenges south Texas.

But researcher Dr. Bridget Scanlon tells Newsradio 1200 WOAI that claim is not true.

“The water used to produce oil using hydraulic fracturing is similar to the water used in the U.S. to produce oil using conventional techniques,” she said.

She says even though fracking works by blasting, or ‘fracturing,’ hard rock shale formations with a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals, the total amount of water used during the life of the well is not appreciably different than the amount of water used for traditional types of oil wells.

She says the only difference is the point in the drilling process where the water is used.

“We use the water for hydraulic fracturing up front, right after we drill the well,” she said.  “In conventional production, we use the water later in the production, with water flooding and enhanced oil recovery,” she said.

The alleged overuse of water is one of several techniques environmental groups have used to try to shut down or limit the fracking wells which are close to making the USA energy independent.

Scanlon says her research did not study whether water used for fracking is in fact depleting the water table under the Eagle Ford, but other studies have indicated that the total water use for fracking is about the same as the water used to keep a golf course irrigated.

“The reason we’re using more water is because we are producing more oil,” she said.  “Not because hydraulic fracturing is any more water intensive.”

Source: WOAI Radio News.

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Gazette Numerical Wizard Bea Sharper brings you up to date on the current water news in numbers. These facts surfaced in water news stories during September 2014.

Percentage of trash found on Australian beaches that is plastic — 75%. 

Percentage of dead seabirds examined in a recent study that had plastic in their guts — 43%. 

Percentage of people in Georgia who drink water from private wells — 43%. 

Estimated percentage of US wells that have over 10 ppb arsenic — 7%. 

Estimated number of private wells in Georgia in 2012 — 648,000. 

Percentage of these wells that were tested during 2012 — 3.5%. 

Percentage of beer samples tested recently that contained plastic microfibers — 100% 

Number of years that it takes most plastic water bottles to decompose — 500. 

Number of African children who die each day of diarrhea – 4,000.

Amount that the California Water Resources Control Board has already allotted to buy bottled water for residents of East Porterville, which has run out of water. – $500, 000. 

Amount it would cost to connect East Porterville homes to the nearest municipal supply – $50,000,000. 

Time required for such a connection (if there were no political objections) – 5 years.

Year when the US Toxic Substances Control Act went into effect — 1976.

Number of times it has been updated since 1940 — 0.

Number of registered chemical compounds that have been recorded by the EPA — 84,000.

Number of these that have been tested fully for health effects on humans — unknown, but a tiny fraction of the total.

Rank by size in 1900 of the now dry Aral Sea among the world’s lakes — 4.

Number of residents of Sao Paolo, Brazil, which is dangerously close to running out of water — 20,000,000.

Current percentage of capacity of Cantareira, the lake complex that supplies half the water for Sao Paolo — 7.6%.

Fraction of China’s farmland that is located in the northern part of the country — 2/3.

Fraction of China’s natural available freshwater that is in the northern part of the country — 1/5.

Year in which Mao Zedong first proposed sending water from southern China to the north — 1952.

Year in which the new Grand Canal project sending water to the north was completed — 2014.

Number of people moved from their homes to make room for the great new canal — 330,000 plus.

Factor by which Chinese industry uses more water than the average western industrial country — 10 times.

Gallons of sea water needed to produce one gallon of potable water by reverse osmosis desalination — 2.

Daily production capacity of the largest sea water desalination in the United States, located at Carlsbad, CA — 50,000,000.

Daily production of the modest sized plant in Santa Barbara, CA — 2, 800,000.

Number of US desalination plants currently in planning or under construction — 15.

Number in Mexico — 3.

Number of square miles covered by the extension of the great marine sanctuary created in September 2014 — 490,000.

Amount of increase in the antimony content of bottled water stored at 158 degrees F. as compared with the same water stored at refrigerator conditions – 319-fold.

According to recent NSF research, percentage of Americans who are concerned about contaminants in tap water — 82%.

Percentage who are concerned about detergents — 24%.

Rank of pesticides among the concerns documented in the survey — #1.

El Capitan girls water polo scores — 6-3, 4-2, 3-1.

These items appeared originally in the Pure Water Occasional during Sept. 2o14.

Final Barrier Treatment: A Concept that Makes Sense

by Pure Water Annie

The Water Quality Association of America uses the term “final barrier” to describe the practice of doing water treatment at the point where water is actually used.  In the case of drinking water, this means providing a “final barrier” of defense at the point where the water is consumed–the kitchen sink, in most  homes–rather than attempting to prepare perfect drinking water at a distant water treatment and send it through miles of piping to the point of use.

Only about 1% of the water that leaves the water treatment plant is actually consumed by people; the other 99% is classed as “working water” that  waters lawns, washes automobiles, flushes toilets and performs dozens of other tasks that require good quality but not perfect water.

According to the WQA, ” treating 100% of the water in a municipal system to ‘drinking water quality’ and then wasting 99% of that quality through leakage, flushing toilets, watering lawns, fighting fires, is an unsustainable strategy for the future .” 

Municipal water departments in advanced countries do an incredible job of turning millions of gallons per day of water from lakes, rivers, and wells into aesthetically acceptable and microbiologically safe water,  But to get to the end user,  the treated water has to pass through miles of often ancient and always questionable infrastructure where it is subject to ruptured pipes, accidental backflow contamination, corroding metal, and contaminants that are leached from the pipes themselves.

The practical solution is to threat the water immediately before human consumption with a “final barrier” device.

Final barrier devices are by now familiar objects.  The most common and reliable are reverse osmosis units, ion exchange devices,  carbon filters, and, to an increasing extent, small ultraviolet purifiers.

 A high quality undersink filter or reverse osmosis unit can turn tap water into  exceptionally high quality drinking water.

 The Water-Energy Nexus

 Click image for larger view.

Editor’s Note:  This piece is adapted from CleanTechnica.com.  Go to the source for a more complete version and additional references. –Hardly Waite.

Did you know that it takes 3,000-6,300 gallons of water per year to power just one 60W incandescent light bulb? Now, I know that that must sound a little farfetched, but unfortunately it’s true. But how can this be, don’t light bulbs use electricity? In short, yes, but what most people don’t know is that we use large amounts of water to produce electricity. You see, electricity and water are connected through what is known as the energy-water nexus, and while that phrase may not mean anything to you at the moment, it will by the end of this article. So what exactly is the energy-water nexus, and why should you care?

The water-energy nexus is best understood as a connection between water and energy, however it goes much deeper than that. First, let’s look at the connection between the production of energy and water. The three most common ways we produce power today are coal, natural gas and nuclear power and all three of these require the use of water. Essentially these systems heat fresh water and turn it into steam, and that steam spins a turbine which creates energy. Curious just how much water these systems use? Click on the image below to see just how much water each of these systems needs to produce just 1 kWh of energy:

As you can see, supplying power to our homes requires a ton of water, but what about supplying them with water? Well, in short, it requires a ton of energy. You see, before water reaches your home it’s passed through a water treatment plant which ensures that it’s safe to drink and use in your home. After its been treated a series of electrical pumps will bring the water to your home where it will be used and then pumped back to another waste water treatment facility to be re-treated and sent back out. All the while, using energy which requires water to create it. So what does this mean to you as both an energy and water consumer? Take a look at your latest water bill, odds are you’ll find an electrical charge listed under your current charges. This is to cover the cost of the electricity required to pump the water to your home.

As you can see water and energy a far more than just connected, and by conserving one we can directly conserve the other.

Source:  CleanTechnica.com. 

 The Aral Sea’s Disappearing Act

 by Anna Nemptsova

Satellite photos show how the depredations of dictators have turned the world’s fourth largest inland sea into a poisonous desert. 

The vanishing sea is a warning: a harbinger of the long feared war over water in Central Asia.

If the pictures are new, the news of the Aral Sea shrinking is old. The story goes back to a Soviet desire to create a new breadbasket, far from southern Russia and Ukraine and possible Western invasion, where, indeed, war rages today.

The giant irrigation projects began in the 1960s in the dry lands of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. To irrigate cotton fields in Central Asia, Soviet workers built 45 dams diverting the twin rivers of Central Asia’s “little Mesopotamia,” the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, into the so-called “virgin lands.” By the late 1990s the sea level dropped by 16 meters, leaving fishing boats and ships resting on the sandy and salty bottom.

As a result, disaster struck dozens of villages and small towns. In vain, fishermen waited for the sea to come back: there were no fish, there was no money for their families. The wind blew dry, salty air from the former seabed far to the south and east. The air mixed with fertilizers and pesticides that for decades were washed from the fields into the sea by irrigation water. The noxious winds poisoned the local population.

The final chapter began in 2005, when the World Bank gave Kazakhstan the first $68 million credit to build a 13-kilometer-long dam to split the Aral Sea into halves: the Northern Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and the Southern Aral Sea in Uzbekistan. The dam prevented water from Kazakhstan’s Syr Darya from flowing into Uzbekistan’s half of the sea.

By 2008, Kazakhstan had managed to completely take control over the Syr Darya water, reviving 68 percent of the northern sea, reducing the salinity by half, and once again developing the fishing industry.

On the southern, Uzbek side, however, the sea dried up that much faster. Uzbekistan, largely dependent on cotton, the industry of white gold, could not afford to re-channel water to its half. Also, with the water vanishing, the Russian oil company Lukoil found a silver lining in the disaster, setting out in 2006 to explore for oil and gas on the bottom of the Aral Sea in the Uzbek sector.

In the last couple of years, neighboring Central Asian countries have had tense disputes about their water, which is so vital to their prosperity.

The construction of a hydroelectric power plant in Kyrgyzstan, which has border skirmishes from time to time with Uzbekistan, threatened the future independence of cotton farmers there. Each year their fields need at least 53 billion cubic meters of water for irrigation. Once, in 2013, Kyrgyzstan halted water for its reservoirs, and at least 11 regions of Uzbekistan suffered shortages.

In the past decade both Russian and Western ecologists expressed concerns about the worsening environment for millions of local people exposed to the salty wind. But that is not the only risk posed by the ghost of this vanishing sea.

An abandoned Soviet military base sits on Renaissance, or Vozrozhdenie, island, and was a test site for the Soviet biological weapons program. Rumors persist that the weapons were buried there. Where better to test cultures of anthrax, typhoid, plague and tularemia than on an island in a sea in the middle of the desert? No longer on an island, the site is now left exposed to anybody willing to walk across the drying sands. 

via earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Article Source:  The Daily Beast

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Should you worry about BPA in reverse osmosis tanks?

Because of the widely publicized presence of BPA in some plastic products, the public has developed a general suspicion of all plastics as a source of BPA.  Actually, the plastic products that contain BPA are mainly the hard, shatter-resistant,  usually clear water bottles as well as baby bottles and a few other plastic containers. You normally will not find BPA in plastics like polypropylene and polyethylene.  BPA is not one of the materials used in preparing these plastics.

If a product is NSF certified (certified to ANSI/NSF standard 58), the certifying agency has scanned the product for BPA.  If the product contains BPA, it will fail the extraction test and will not be certified.

The materials in high quality RO tanks that touch the water are stainless steel (the spout only), polypropylene (the liner in the chamber that holds the water), and butyl (the bladder that holds air and pushes the water out of the tank).  The butyl (aka chlorobutyl) bladder material in high quality tanks is specially cured so that it will not put out bad tastes or contaminants.

There are lots of things that contaminate food and water that we should worry about.  but reverse osmosis tanks aren’t one of them.

US announces world’s largest marine sanctuary in the Pacific 

Washington: The United States on Thursday announced the creation of the world’s largest marine sanctuary in the Pacific, where commercial fishing and energy exploration are off limits.

The move expands the already existing Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, west of Hawaii and northeast of Australia to six times its previous size.

“We’re talking about an area of ocean that’s nearly twice the size of Texas, and that will be protected in perpetuity from commercial fishing and other resource-extraction activities, like deep-water mining,” said Secretary of State John Kerry.

Former president George W Bush declared the area a national monument in 2009, and an executive order from President Barack Obama makes the protected space even larger. The total protected area now includes 490,000 square miles (1.27 million square kilometers) around the Wake and Jarvis Islands and Johnston Atoll.

“This is the grand-daddy of all marine protected areas around the world. Some of these areas had like a 50-mile radius around them, now they are going to have a 200-mile radius,” said Jackie Savitz, vice president for US oceans at the advocacy group Oceana.

A key goal is to protect the undersea mountains that provide habitat and hunting grounds for tuna, sea turtles, manta rays, and sharks, and to allow them to breed and multiply.

The area “is also home to millions of seabirds that forage over hundreds of miles and bring food back to their rookeries on the islands and atolls,” the White House said in a statement.

Coral reefs that are in peril from bleaching and ocean acidification are plentiful in the area, and protecting them allows scientists to use them as a benchmark for global research on climate change.

The marine protected area is considered federal land where commercial fishing is prohibited. However, some recreational fishing will continue to be allowed, with special permits.

Biologists at the US Fish and Wildlife Service say the establishment of the protected area has already helped boost some creatures that had all but disappeared at Johnson Atoll.

They include “Great Frigatebirds, Sooty Terns, Red-tailed Tropicbirds, and other species that are known to feed as much as 300 to 600 miles offshore,” the statement said. Obama first announced plans to expand the marine reserve in June at a two-day conference on the world’s oceans, hosted by the State Department.

With just one to three per cent of the world’s oceans currently under protection, Kerry called on global powers to take more steps to end overfishing and protect global fish stocks.

“There’s just too much money chasing too few fish,” he said.

Source: IBN Live.

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USGS report: Pesticides contaminate nation’s streams

by Laura Lundquist

Source: Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

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