The News Review:

- Dam good idea holds water
- GE, Dow aid Beijing water supply
- Higher standards for private water supplies
- Water supply to be cut to Sumgayit residents for several days
- Joburg Water warns of conmen
- Fluoride is not needed in our water supply

Dam good idea holds water
The Age, Australia 
Premier John Brumby has suggested that the competitive tender process may result in a lower price. This is not unreasonable, since the scheme is perhaps the most expensive water supply proposal in the world. The plant would produce water for Melbourne at more than 300¢ a kilolitre — five times the cost of water from a new Gippsland dam. It is also considerably more expensive than the 214¢ and 240¢ a kilolitre cost of water from desal plants in Sydney and Adelaide. And it is more than twice the cost of water from the state-of-the-art plant in Ashkelon in Israel. Although a tender process for a plant would provide some welcome pencil-sharpening regarding cost, this is beside the point.

GE, Dow aid Beijing water supply
Water Technology Online, NY 
GE water filtration technologies also are in place at the Qinghe Waste Water Recycling Project, where the water will be recycled for landscaping during the Olympic Games. GE Water donated two advanced water treatment systems to provide clean drinking water for more than 60,000 Chinese. Working with the Ministry of Water Resources in China, GE also will supply a mobile treatment plant to bring clean water to areas that lie out of reach of the nation’s centralized municipal water infrastructure, according to the GE press release. Dow Water Solutions is employing the use of 5,000 FILMTEC 8-inch diameter reverse osmosis (RO) membrane elements to treat water at a treatment plant, the Beijing International Airport and the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area. This project will help the city reach the goal of reusing 50 percent of its water, according to the Dow press release. To read the full press releases, click.

Higher standards for private water supplies
Media Newswire (press release), NY 
A consultation published by Defra today asks for views on how new regulations should be applied. This includes new standards, new monitoring requirements, and the action that can be taken when standards are not met. Around one third of a million people in England use private water supplies for their day to day needs. Although single private dwellings account for around 60 per cent of the 42,000 private supplies, businesses also rely on them, including breweries, food manufacturers and some holiday homes and bed and breakfast accommodation. Around 25,000 of the supplies are to single private homes. Water Minister Phil Woolas said:’Everyone has a right to wholesome water, and in England we have some of the best tap water in the world, with over 99 per cent of public water supplies meeting drinking water standards. ‘For private supplies though, water quality varies much more widely and typically around 50 per cent of private supplies meet the standards.

Water supply to be cut to Sumgayit residents for several days
Today.Az, Azerbaijan 
They have to supply water to the maternity hospital in large plastic bottles. It is unclear when water supply will be resumed. The city residents also announced that it is already two days that there is no water in the 9th and 10th microdistricts of Sumgayit. They say only muddy water is supplied to some houses at times.

Joburg Water warns of conmen
Independent Online, South Africa 
It had received several calls from mainly Glenvista residents complaining about calls from people claiming to represent Johannesburg Water and wanting to test or confirm the quality of their tap water inside their properties, the company said in a statement. “It should be pointed out that water samples for the city are taken by qualified Johannesburg Water employees with identity cards and branded vehicles,” it said. Johannesburg Water routinely collected more than 500 water samples from the bulk water supply, reservoirs and other parts of the city, including informal settlements, and sent these to an accredited facility for testing and analyses of 41 determinants. “Should residents be approached by these unidentified agents they are advised to report them to relevant law enforcement agencies,” Johannesburg Water said, condemning this kind of action as “malicious and unethical” and a “disservice” to the city’s residents.

Fluoride is not needed in our water supply
Sarnia Observer,  Canada 
” As you are well aware, this drug has been added to our water supply for over 30 years. At the time, the argument was for the health benefit of reduction of dental caries; however, current literature indicates that to be effective against dental caries, fluoride should be applied directly to the teeth. I would respectfully bring to your attention that there are undesirable health effects from fluoridated water consumption and the opportunity exists now to rectify the unwitting consumption of an unnecessary additive. Just “Google” fluoride and thyroid disease and you will find a plethora of articles discussing the negative health effects of this drug. Are you aware, for instance, that until the 1970’s in Europe, fluoride was the drug of choice used to suppress thyroid function in persons with overactive thyroid? Thyroid medication, for hypothyroidism, is now one of the most prescribed drugs in North America.