The News Review:

- Common Fish Used to Detect Terror Attacks on Municipal Water Supplies
- Cheap water hinders new supplies
- Sonia Gandhi dedicates Sonia Vihar water plant to the Capital
- Manchester Parish Council frustrated with NWC

Common Fish Used to Detect Terror Attacks on Municipal Water Supplies
FOXNews – Sep 19, 2006
11, the government has taken very seriously the threat of attacks on the U. Federal law requires nearly all community water systems to assess their vulnerability to terrorism. Big cities employ a range of safeguards against chemical and biological agents, constantly monitoring, testing and treating the water…
The computerized system in use in San Francisco and elsewhere is designed to detect even slight changes in the bluegills’ vital signs and send an e-mail alert when something is wrong. San Francisco’s bluegills went to work about a month ago, guarding the drinking water of more than 1 million people from substances such as cyanide, diesel fuel, mercury and pesticides. Eight bluegills swim in a tank deep in the basement of a water treatment plant south of the city. “It gave us the best of both worlds, which is basically all the benefits that come from nature and the best of high-tech,” said Susan Leal, general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. New York City has been testing its system since 2002 and is seeking to expand it. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection reported at least one instance in which the system caught a toxin before it made it into the water supply: The fish noticed a diesel spill two hours earlier than any of the agency’s other detection devices. They do have limitations.

Cheap water hinders new supplies
The Age – Sep 19, 2006
There is no doubt that shortages exist. Dam levels in virtuallyall urban areas are close to critical and growth is adding to thepressure. Sydney is consuming water faster than it can sustainsupply; Brisbane’s dams are below 30 per cent capacity andprovincial cities such as Toowoomba and Goulburn are in severecrisisBut there is also no doubt that imposing more severerestrictions on demand is not a long-term solution if the economyand population are to keep growing. And it is clear that a range ofscarcely used possibilities exist to boost supply, including pipingwater from rural areas to the cities, better use of stormwater,fixing leaking pipes, recycling and desalination. At base, it’s an issue of price. As the Prime Minister’s juniorminister for water, Malcolm Turnbull, puts it: “Water is not afinite resource…
It has many parallels with reforms that have already occurred inelectricity, involving market pricing, more competition and privateownership. It would mean properly functioning urban (and rural) watermarkets, with pricing that reflects consumer use and the real costof supply, not unlike the way electricity prices werederegulated. This would not only bring forward more supply but direct waterto its most economically efficient uses. (Ironically, allowingprices to reach their true level would also be the most effectiveway to encourage users to conserve water. )Reform would include “disaggregation” of water utilities intotheir monopoly bulk supply and competitive local supply and retailfunctions, as has occurred in electricity and rail. There could also be “horizontal disaggregation”, making bulkwater suppliers to cities distinct competitive businesses, akin tothe way the old state-owned monopoly of baseload electricitygenerators in Victoria was split up. These changes would also require effective access regimes forpipes and other monopoly infrastructure and a consistent nationalregulatory framework.

Sonia Gandhi dedicates Sonia Vihar water plant to the Capital
Hindu – Sep 19, 2006
Stating that the Congress Government in Delhi had undertaken a number of new initiatives and developmental activities, Ms. Gandhi said the Metro Rail was one of the best in the world and the Capital’s skyline was now dotted with flyovers and other infrastructure projects. Project delay Referring to the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant, she said the project got delayed because of apprehensions of the Uttar Pradesh Government and the farmers of western Uttar Pradesh over the diversion of water to Delhi for drinking purposes. However, due to consistent efforts of the Delhi Government everything was sorted out and now water was flowing into the taps of lakhs of Delhiites. Apart from Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, seated along with Ms. Gandhi on stage were Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor B…
Gandhi on stage were Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor B. Joshi; Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal; Union Minister for Power Sushil Kumar Shinde; Union Minister for Water Resources Saifuddin Soz; Union Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken; DPCC president Ram Babu Sharma; and Delhi Chief Secretary S. In his brief speech, Mr. Shinde said steps had been taken to ensure that the Capital got uninterrupted power supply. He said efforts were under way to get power for Delhi from various sources and the recent agreements on the power front indicated the efforts of the Union Government to provide a buffer to Delhi as far as power was concerned.

Manchester Parish Council frustrated with NWC
Jamaica Observer – Sep 19, 2006
Councillor Brenda Ramsay (PNP – Bellefield Division) told the meeting that infrastructure for water supply had recently been installed on Clark’s Town road in Porus, but no water was being supplied to that area. However, Claude Grindley, water production manager for the parishes of Manchester and St Elizabeth had no knowledge of pipes having been laid on that road and could not predict when the area would receive water. “I don’t know about or have any information on those pipes,” Grindley told the meeting. “I’ll have to look into it further,” he added.