The News Review:
- Ground broken for major water system to serve Clarendon, Manchester
- China: Shrinking Wetlands Underline China’s Water Problem
- Rights of way being obtained by water supply district
- Capital reeling under water crisis
- Project to tackle water shortage, pollution
- Decision on ADB loan tomorrow
- EPA attacks report questioning safety of Taiwan’s water
Ground broken for major water system to serve Clarendon, Manchester
Jamaica Observer – Feb 21, 2006
The system will cost $166 million, and is to be constructed by the National Water Commission (NWC). Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony at Alston in Clarendon, Buchanan said the new system would directly benefit about 10,000 people. Areas to be served include Alston, Santa Hill, Bailleston, Zinc Shop, Spalding, White Shop, Comfort, Laughton Town, Bullocks and adjoining areas,” he said. He said work on the project would include the construction of a new intake at the joining of the Cave and Yankee Rivers; construction of a new water treatment plant at Two Meetings; construction of a new high lift pump station at the water treatment plant to pump water in two stages to Spalding; construction of a new storage reservoir, a new high lift pump station and a new pumping main from the Bailleston reservoir to Spalding; rehabilitation of the existing transmission network, reservoirs and pumping stations; as well as replacement of existing connections. The project is being done through grant funding from the European Union under phase two of its Rural Water Project. The project is expected to run for 20 months with the construction component to be completed by September 2007 and the work will be carried out by Contractors M & M Ltd in collaboration with consultants H P Gauff, said Buchanan… Areas to be served include Alston, Santa Hill, Bailleston, Zinc Shop, Spalding, White Shop, Comfort, Laughton Town, Bullocks and adjoining areas,” he said. He said work on the project would include the construction of a new intake at the joining of the Cave and Yankee Rivers; construction of a new water treatment plant at Two Meetings; construction of a new high lift pump station at the water treatment plant to pump water in two stages to Spalding; construction of a new storage reservoir, a new high lift pump station and a new pumping main from the Bailleston reservoir to Spalding; rehabilitation of the existing transmission network, reservoirs and pumping stations; as well as replacement of existing connections. The project is being done through grant funding from the European Union under phase two of its Rural Water Project. The project is expected to run for 20 months with the construction component to be completed by September 2007 and the work will be carried out by Contractors M & M Ltd in collaboration with consultants H P Gauff, said Buchanan. Member of Parliament for North West Clarendon Richard Azan said the new system would relieve water supply problems for seven primary and high schools, one community college and four basic schools in the area. Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for North East Manchester Audley Shaw said the system would lessen the already stretched workload of the Moravia water supply system, which now assists in serving a large number of communities in North Manchester and Clarendon and allow the Moravia system to better service sections of North East Manchester.
China: Shrinking Wetlands Underline China’s Water Problem
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty – Feb 21, 2006
The story is the same over all of northern China. The region is an economic powerhouse, producing one-third of China’s gross domestic product (GDP), and is home to just over one-third of the country’s population. But the north has less than 8 percent of the country’s water resources. The result: Water supplies amount to only 500 cubic meters per person. That is far below the 1,700 cubic meters seen as the international benchmark for a water shortage. Some 300 cities are short of water, and things are expected to worsen over the next 25 years. Thinking Big What can be done to prevent the situation becoming a national crisis? In keeping with the central government’s inclination for mega-projects, work is under way on a huge project to divert water from the Yangtze River in the wetter south, to the Yellow, Huaihe, and Haihe Rivers in the parched north.
Rights of way being obtained by water supply district
Daily Home Online – Feb 21, 2006
Daily Home – Rights of way being obtained by water supply district. datchison02212006st_clair_county42defaultleftleft –> Daily Home > News > St.
Capital reeling under water crisis
Hindu – Feb 21, 2006
The water supply situation is so bad that many of the posh colonies of South Delhi have not received any supply for the past one month. And with the Delhi Jal Board unable to provide enough tankers and free water to compensate the resident, people are having to spend as much as Rs 5,000 per month to procure it. “Already it is worse than the summer of 2005. While last year we had to ask for tankers only in peak summer, this year the water shortage has hit in February. One wonders what the situation would be like by the time summer is at its peak,” said a worried resident of Gulmohar Park who claimed that in her colony there is only skeletal water supply and that too only once in three days… Elsewhere the crisis has forced the societies to resort to rationing of water as the supply has become very limited. “We have been eating on paper plates for the past several weeks since the water supply in our society has really dipped and we want to save as much of this precious commodity as possible,” said a resident of Printers’ Apartments in Rohini. While the Delhi Jal Board had on Thursday blamed problems at Bhagirathi Water Treatment Plant on account of low turbidity in the raw water received through the Upper Ganga Canal for the crisis, saying the production capacity has dropped by around 25 per cent primarily affecting East and South Delhi, there appears to be no end to the woes of the people as yet. Though earlier it was expected that the problem would be overcome by Tuesday, now that appears unlikely. The DJB spokesperson said this was the first time that the problem had cropped up and even Noida was facing an acute water shortage of around 50 per cent. She said while experts have been called and work is going overnight to rectify the problem, no time frame can be set on when it would be solved. Till then, she said, the colonies at the tail end would have to face some inconvenience.
Project to tackle water shortage, pollution
chinadaily.com.cn – Feb 21, 2006
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Project to tackle water shortage, pollution By Ma Lie (China Daily) Updated: 2006-02-21 06:05
XI’AN: Qinghai plans to provide cleaner water for more than 1. 7 million
farmers and herdsman who suffer with poor supplies over the coming years,
according to local official sources. Xing Lianwen, an official with the water resources bureau in the inland
province in Northwest China, said that 1 million farmers and herdsmen who are
suffering from water shortages or polluted drinking supplies will see
improvements by the end of 2010. “The remaining 730,000 people will be provided with adequate clean water
during the period of 2011-20,” the official told China Daily. Starting from this year, Qinghai will focus its effort on water resources’
development, and will further speed up construction of a number of medium and
large-sized water storage and supply projects which will provide enough clean
water for people, the official said. Qinghai, the source of China’s largest rivers the Yangtze River and the
Yellow River, and also the source of Lancang River has total water resources of
more than 62. 9 billion cubic metres, among the richest water resources of
provinces in China, according to Ma Shenglu, a water resources expert in Xining,
capital of Qinghai province… Over the past several years, the province has been trying the tackle the
problems. From 2000-2004, the provincial government invested 550 million yuan (US$68
million) for the construction of 604 water supply projects for people and
livestock in its rural and pastoral regions, Xing said. “Those projects provided better water supplies to more than 1. 35 million
farmers and herdsmen in the province, and greatly improved local agricultural
production and animal husbandry. The survival rate of baby livestock has risen
to 80 per cent at present, from 20 per cent five years ago, in the pastoral
areas which used to suffer from water shortages,” the official said. Zhong Gengquan, a herdsman living in Hualong, one of the poverty-stricken
counties in the province, enjoyed a better water supply in early 2005 and his
family enjoyed a good income thanks to an agricultural production growth because
of proper irrigation. “The better water supply did not only give us better water to drink, but also
helped the vegetables in my greenhouse, which helped me to earn 8,000 yuan
(US$1,000) last year for my family,” Zhong said.
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Decision on ADB loan tomorrow
Hindu – Feb 21, 2006
“We don’t have that number of public taps as mentioned in the ADB report. The quantity of water lost is also not realistic as there has been a reduction in the quantity of water that is available in Periyar,” she said. The Mayor was also critical about the absence of water treatment plants in the water supply component for the Kochi Corporation. The council will assert that its supreme rights cannot be surrendered. The Corporation council should have a decisive say in the implementation and monitoring of various projects, she said.
EPA attacks report questioning safety of Taiwan’s water
Taipei Times – Feb 21, 2006
The EPA was responding to a report in the Chinese-language Minsheng Daily that claimed the level of microcystins in nine reservoirs exceed the acceptable level set by the WHO, posing a threat to tap water users. Commonly found in lakes, ponds and reservoirs, microcystis bacteria produce natural toxins, called microcystins, that are very potent. Microcystins are hepatotoxic, and widespread scientific studies show that accumulation of the chemicals can cause liver damage. Safe levels
EPA officials, however, rebutted the report by showing the results of a study on 10 reservoirs and nine water-treatment plants nationwide… According to the study, total microcystin concentrations in samples of treated water were all lower than 65. However, Chen said microcystin concentration in public water supply reservoirs varies and these changes deserve more attention. “During droughts or on hot days, the microcystin concentration can climb dramatically,” Chen said. Real-time monitors
To ensure the safety of drinking water, Chen said this year the EPA will advise water-treatment plants to set up real-time monitoring systems to check toxin levels. “Once the concentration starts climbing, plant operators should be wise enough not to draw water from the upper water column of the reservoirs. Microcystins mostly float on the surface or upper part of the water,” Chen said.
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