The News Review:

- State trying to decide how to protect its water supply
- Namibia: Water Supply to be Disrupted
- People want reliable service
- Water supply problems now in question

State trying to decide how to protect its water supply
Daily Mail – Charleston – Nov 28, 2007
Wednesday November 28, 2007 State trying to decide how to protect its water supply by The Associated Press After soothing industry concerns, West Virginia has been trying to measure its water supply. But the pilot program has expired, just as historic droughts force other states to fight over scarce resources and consider such steps as rationing. The joint legislative commission overseeing the state's Water Resources Protection Act appeared uncertain Tuesday how to proceed. A Department of Environmental Protection official advised the committee to renew and expand the survey program. But Lisa McClung, director of DEP's Water and Waste Management Division, also estimated the annual cost of a sufficient effort at between $600,000 and $5 million…
Wednesday November 28, 2007 State trying to decide how to protect its water supply by The Associated Press After soothing industry concerns, West Virginia has been trying to measure its water supply. But the pilot program has expired, just as historic droughts force other states to fight over scarce resources and consider such steps as rationing. The joint legislative commission overseeing the state's Water Resources Protection Act appeared uncertain Tuesday how to proceed. A Department of Environmental Protection official advised the committee to renew and expand the survey program. But Lisa McClung, director of DEP's Water and Waste Management Division, also estimated the annual cost of a sufficient effort at between $600,000 and $5 million. The high end reflects an "aggressive'' approach that would require the state to craft a water management plan within five years. It would also call for new county and local boards to weigh in on the issue.

Namibia: Water Supply to be Disrupted
AllAfrica.com – Nov 28, 2007
Announcing this in a media release yesterday, Public Relations Officer of the City of Windhoek Liz Sibindi said the City of Windhoek's technicians would be doing maintenance work on the outgoing pipeline of the low level reservoir from 09h00 until 16h00 in the afternoon. In view of this situation, the City of Windhoek is urging all residents, consumers and businesses to take notice of the situation. "This is part of our regular maintenance of the underground water system.

People want reliable service
Fiji Times – Nov 28, 2007
“When there is water cut businesses have to send staff home, school closes early and it causes all sorts of problems,” he said. Mr Maharaj said governments needed to make long term plans to cater for the growing population instead of just meeting the immediate consumption demands. He said while privatisation of water supply would probably ensure efficiency, low income earners could suffer so there was a need for the Government to subsidise rates. Mr Maharaj said maybe it was time people considered buying water tanks as it rained a lot in areas like Suva and and such supply would be more reliable than piped supplies. The Consumer Council of Fiji received 13 complaints between July to September, with most related to unfair disconnections, wrong billings and unrealistic estimates. The most pressing of the issue is on bills despite not having a drop of water in the taps. Consumer Council of Fiji chief executive Premila Kumar said apart from rapid urbanisation and the increased demand for water supply, ageing water pumps and neglected pipes and repairs by PWD caused the problems…
Ministry of Public Utilities project manager for the ADB-sponsored Suva-Nausori water supply Sereicocoko Yanuyanurua said around 350,000 people in the Suva-Nausori corridor had metered connections to piped water supplies. He said the average water consumption for a person in a day was designed for 200 litres per person, leaving the daily water demand for the Suva-Nausori population at around 75 million litres a day. The two water treatment plants at Waila and Tamavua produce 150 million litres water daily, double its design demand requirement. Mr Yanuyanurua said the problem was not a shortage of supply but things like leakages, a shortage of 10 engineers, old pipes as well as electrical and mechanical faults. Capital funding for the Suva-Nausori projects has been $1million to $2m a year before 2002, while a significant increase began in 2002, which was $5m and $15m for 2003. From 2004 to date, Government secured a loan of around $US70m (F108. 52m) from the Asian Development Bank for system rehabilitation and augmentation for both water and sewerage infrastructure.

Water supply problems now in question
Roanoke Times – Nov 28, 2007
It’s not the first time that the chemical, a byproduct of chlorine mixing with organic matter found in the New River, has reportedly exceeded the state-set requirement in the communities. In July, the authority notified customers about high levels of haloacetic acid in water at the Plum Creek facility monitored from July 1, 2006, to June 30. That’s when they “initiated a program to vigorously approach” the problem, Public Service Authority Director Bob Fronk said…
In July, the authority notified customers about high levels of haloacetic acid in water at the Plum Creek facility monitored from July 1, 2006, to June 30. That’s when they “initiated a program to vigorously approach” the problem, Public Service Authority Director Bob Fronk said. Fronk said the authority worked with the Radford water department, where the county’s water is purchased, to flush the system and remove old water. The authority also collected and split water samples among several laboratories to eliminate laboratory error. For the past several years, the authority has used REI Consultants in Beaver, W. , to test its water, Fronk said.