The News Review:

- Pulling the plug on wasting water
- Water supply scheme to become a reality
- Water supply cut
- S. Ossetia threatens to block water supplies to central Georgia
- Failing water supplies destroyed Angkor Wat in Cambodia

Pulling the plug on wasting water
BBC News – Aug 13, 2007
A report by the Earth Policy Institute last year revealed that we consumed 154bn litres of bottled water a year, 25% of which was imported. Nor do consumers fully appreciate the costs and technological challenges of providing and maintaining water supply and treatment infrastructures. Regulatory changes are an important requirement in promoting a more responsible attitude towards water usage, but perhaps the greatest progress will result from greater acceptance of the concept of water reuse, particularly by Western consumers. Huge advances are being made in water treatment by chemical engineers across the world. But ironically, it is currently cheaper to use treated water for non-drinking purposes, such as washing vehicles or watering our gardens, than to introduce methods that use alternative sources. This has to change.

Water supply scheme to become a reality
Hindu – Aug 13, 2007
Water pilferage from the main pipelines of the two schemes also continues unabated. As a result, the quantity of water reaching the city remains well below the specified level. Under the Salem – Attur combined water supply scheme, the Corporation is able to get only 52 to 58 mld of water a day instead of the stipulated 60 mld. The burgeoning population has increased the demand for water manifold. At present, the Corporation is able to supply 87 litres of water per head a day. As per the norms, it should ensure the supply of at least 135 litres of water per head a day. After the execution of the scheme, the civic administration will be able to provide 135 litres of water per day to a person, senior officials say…
Under the Salem – Attur combined water supply scheme, the Corporation is able to get only 52 to 58 mld of water a day instead of the stipulated 60 mld. The burgeoning population has increased the demand for water manifold. At present, the Corporation is able to supply 87 litres of water per head a day. As per the norms, it should ensure the supply of at least 135 litres of water per head a day. After the execution of the scheme, the civic administration will be able to provide 135 litres of water per day to a person, senior officials say. They also said that the Corporation could draw a maximum of about 188. 54 million litres per day (mld) from the scheme, which has been designed to cater to a projected population of about 13.

Water supply cut
Hindu – Aug 13, 2007
Tito Marg on Monday will cause a disruption of water supply at Sheikh Sarai, Pushp Vihar, Dakshinpuri, Dakshinpuri Extension, Madangir Phase I and II, Tigri J. Residents have been advised to store sufficient quantities of water as water supply will resume only by Monday evening.

S. Ossetia threatens to block water supplies to central Georgia
RIA Novosti – Aug 13, 2007
Tskhinvali continues to insist that Georgian police and military denied S. Ossetian experts access to damaged sections of the Edis-Tskhinvali water pipeline, threatening to open fire on repair workers. "There is no water supply to the [Tskhinvali] city despite Georgia's announcement that the pipeline has been repaired," the S. Ossetian official said. South Ossetia, which declared its independence from Georgia following a bloody conflict that left hundreds dead in 1991-1992, is a sensitive issue in bilateral relations between Georgia and Russia. Georgian authorities are seeking to bring it back under their control, and have accused Russia, which has peacekeepers in the area, along with Georgian and South Ossetian troops, of encouraging separatist elements. Highly-anticipated new round of talks on the settlement of the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict, scheduled for August 9-10, has been postponed until late September due to fears that the security of South Ossetian leaders during the talks could be compromised.

Failing water supplies destroyed Angkor Wat in Cambodia
Mongabay.com – Aug 13, 2007
The study, published in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences, suggests that the urban settlement sustained an elaborate water management network extending over more than 1,0000 square kilometers. Analyzing hand-drawn maps, ground surveys, airborne photography, and ground-sensing radar provided by NASA, archeologist Damian Evans of the University of Sydney and colleagues identified over a thousand previously unknown manmade ponds and at least 74 long-lost temples. The research shows that Angkor was sustained by a single hydraulic system which delivered a stable water supply to the network despite unpredictable monsoon rains. “Even on a quite conservative estimate, Greater Angkor, at its peak, was therefore the world’s most extensive preindustrial low density urban complex,” wrote the authors. “The scale of the urban complex also has implications for its history and its demise.