The News Review:
- Power failure hits water supply
- Word Water Day : ICRC helps restore water supply for over 16 millions…
- Local tap water bubbles up in restaurants
- FEATURE-Tempers flare over water at Chile mine
Power failure hits water supply
Hindu – Mar 21, 2007
Ratheesh Kumar THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The pumping of drinking water from Aruvikkara to various storage reservoirs of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) in the city was disrupted for close to three hours on Tuesday following power failure at the pumping stations, once in the morning and once in the evening. This led to an acute shortage in water supply to most parts of the city, especially to those areas serviced by the reservoir at Peroorkada. According to KWA officials, the disruption in power supply first occurred on in the morning for about 15 minutes when the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) shut down one feeder line for routine maintenance work. The engineers of the KWA at Aruvikkara said that the KSEB notified the shut down only this morning. Pumping was disrupted for a second time when the KSEB switched back to the feeder line on which maintenance work was carried out. Activists of the Youth Congress gheraoed KWA managing director T…
I will also initiate action to install a generator at the Aruvikkara plant so that pumping is not affected by power disruptions. I will meet with the chairman of the KSEB to discuss the issues relating to the supply of power to Aruvikkara. A special squad was set up Tuesday to look into shortage of water supply in the city and to take appropriate action. It must be borne in mind that if there is disruption of pumping from Aruvikkara for two hours, normal supply of water in the distribution network can be done only over the next two days,” he said. Steps will be taken to ensure that there are at least two metres of water above the outflow point at the Peroorkada reservoir, he added.
Word Water Day : ICRC helps restore water supply for over 16 millions…
Reuters AlertNet – Mar 21, 2007
In those river basins concerned by recurrent instability, inadequate access to water often stems from a lack of infrastructure. In some cases, it occurs where use exceeds the natural recharge rate. The scarcity of this vital resource leads to competition among communities large and small for control over water supplies, and generates tensions and even armed conflict. In 2006, thanks to the hard work and commitment of more than 800 engineers and technicians, the ICRC provided water and sanitation for over 16 million people in 40 countries at a cost of 100 million Swiss francs. The expertise acquired by the ICRC in this field over the past 24 years has enabled the organization to bring rapid assistance to communities facing emergencies and thus to avert conflict or to mitigate its effects. In some places, up to 30 per cent of the household income goes to securing an adequate water supply. Women in particular bear the brunt of bringing water home.
Local tap water bubbles up in restaurants
San Francisco Chronicle – Mar 21, 2007
At Nopa, “Our goal is to be local,” says co-owner Jeff Hanak. “We can’t do it with a lot of things, like Scotch, but we try to do it with the things we can. ” Water is fundamental, and it used to be that the questions about it, at least in restaurants, were as simple as “still or sparkling?” Among the new questions about bottled water: Is it spring water or filtered tap water? Does it come in plastic or glass? How much energy is spent to bottle and ship it, often thousands of miles from Italy or France? And are municipal water supplies at risk from corporations thirsty for bigger shares of the lucrative bottled water business? Bottled water habits When it comes to water, Americans chose bottled stuff to the tune of 26 gallons per person last year, according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation. That’s $11 billion worth. Restaurants are a small, but influential, part of that. Their move away from bottled water reflects concerns not about the bottom line, but about the environmental costs of bottling and transporting water, the energy spent recycling the glass, and keeping plastic out of landfills. At Chez Panisse, which typically goes through 24,000 bottles of Santa Lucia a year, the only hard part of the switch has been logistical — carving out space for a carbonator in what’s essentially an old house crammed to the gills with two busy restaurants, Kossa-Rienzi says…
Bottled water is a big money-maker for restaurants, which can buy it for $1 or $2 a pop, and sell it for $7 or $9. The profitability of bottled water overall — not just in restaurants — has created another issue that plays into decisions about what kind of water to drink. Municipal supplies at risk? That’s the potential risk to municipal water supplies, according to the authors of a new book “Thirst: Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water,” (286 pages, John Wiley & Sons, $27. Much of it is public water, and it’s being filtered, bottled and sent to other regions and countries. The book, by Alan Snitow, Deborah Kaufman and Michael Fox (.
FEATURE-Tempers flare over water at Chile mine
Reuters AlertNet – Mar 21, 2007
L> is building a dam to contain processed waste rock near the small town of Caimanes, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Pelambres, one of the country’s biggest copper mines. The El Mauro dam, located at the top of an arid valley, has polarized the remote community, with each side accusing the other of everything from bribery to greed and excess ambition. Farmers say the tailings dam has cut off existing water supplies and could poison what’s left as residues from the waste rock, treated to extract copper, filter into ground water. Others, who have benefited from new jobs and investment, accuse the farmers of standing in the way of development. The dispute has injected new vigor into a national debate about how to attract mining investment — the economy’s top driver — while at the same time protecting dwindling resources like water. "Water is becoming increasingly scarce, especially in Chile’s north, and cost and availability are a growing issue for existing and developing mine projects," said David Maarse, an expert in water issues at Golder Associates, a global group providing engineering and environmental services. "The bottom line is that there is increased environmental vigilance that comes on top of the decreased availability of water in general…
Farmers say the tailings dam has cut off existing water supplies and could poison what’s left as residues from the waste rock, treated to extract copper, filter into ground water. Others, who have benefited from new jobs and investment, accuse the farmers of standing in the way of development. The dispute has injected new vigor into a national debate about how to attract mining investment — the economy’s top driver — while at the same time protecting dwindling resources like water. "Water is becoming increasingly scarce, especially in Chile’s north, and cost and availability are a growing issue for existing and developing mine projects," said David Maarse, an expert in water issues at Golder Associates, a global group providing engineering and environmental services. "The bottom line is that there is increased environmental vigilance that comes on top of the decreased availability of water in general. " WATER RIGHTS The dam was approved in 2004 but its future was cast into doubt when farmers from the valley below won a court appeal over water rights, which Antofagasta needs for the project to proceed. That case is now before the Supreme Court.