Apiqe Water

Regulations reduce gas-drilling impact

Chris — Tue, 15 May 2012 23:25:55 +0000

A new study by the University at Buffalo finds that implementation of environmental regulations reduces the rate of environmental violations due to drilling shale gas wells. The study looked at drilling in Pennsylvania between 2008 and 2011, and found marked reductions in the number of violations per well. In 2008, 58% of wells incurred an environmental violation while in 2011 that number had dropped to 28% of wells, a decrease of more than half. However, because of the increase in the number of wells drilled, the total number of environmental violations more than tripled from 99 to 331.

Read the full report at:

Environmental Impacts During Marcellus Shale Drilling: Causes, Impacts, and Remedies - State University of New York at Buffalo

Dip Chip Technology Tests Toxicity On the Go

Chris — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:47:54 +0000

Many different contaminants can render water unsafe to drink. Biosensors can simultaneously detect multiple contaminants, but require bulky and expensive equipment to implement. Profs. Yosi Shacham-Diamand and Shimshon Belkin have recently developed a portable biosensor called a “Dip Chip” capable of detecting toxic materials in water and determining if it’s safe to drink. They suggest that these sensors could one day be plugged into mobile devices to display a toxicity reading. This would make it a cheap and easy tool for campers or soldiers.

Continue reading at:

Dip Chip Technology Tests Toxicity On the Go – Science Daily

Time is not on the side of aging water plants

Chris — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:05:14 +0000

In 2000 Congress established the $135 million San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund to treat carcinogens and rocket-fuel contamination in the San Gabriel Basin aquifer, as well as the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority to oversee the cleanup effort. The fund still contains $53 million for operating and maintaining treatment plants, but without an extension for the Restoration Fund that money could soon disappear, jeopardizing cleanup efforts. This is because, while pollution removal often takes 35 years, the Federal funding expires 10 years after the construction of each plant. With plants turning 10 years old between 2012 and 2014, some plants may soon grind to a halt, leaving toxic pollutants swirling deep beneath the Valley floor and forcing San Gabriel Valley residents to import water from Northern California or the Colorado River.

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Time is not on the side of aging water plants that treat pollution – Pasadena Star-News

EPA to Work with Drinking Water Systems to Monitor Unregulated Contaminants

Chris — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:06:45 +0000

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today published a list of 28 chemicals and two viruses that approximately 6,000 public water systems will monitor from 2013 to 2015 as part of the agency’s unregulated contaminant monitoring program, which collects data for contaminants suspected to be present in drinking water, but that do not have health-based standards set under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
EPA will spend more than $20 million to support the monitoring, the majority of which will be devoted to assist small drinking water systems with conducting the monitoring. The data collected under the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 3 (UCMR 3) will inform EPA about the frequency and levels at which these contaminants are found in drinking water systems across the United States and help determine whether additional protections are needed to ensure safe drinking water for Americans. State participation in the monitoring is voluntary. EPA will fund small drinking water system costs for laboratory analyses, shipping and quality control.

The list of contaminants to be studied includes total chromium and hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium-6.

Continue reading at:

EPA to Work with Drinking Water Systems to Monitor Unregulated Contaminants – US EPA

Water park suffering after dozens of possible cases of cryptosporidiosis discovered

Chris — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:49:52 +0000

For the Edgewater Resort & Water Park, it’s been the month from hell. After dozens of possible cases of cryptosporidiosis were traced to the waterpark last month, the costs in lost business and new technology could total a half-million dollars. Staff has been inundated with calls about the waterborne disease that causes flu-like symptoms. They’ve been hit with cancellations and forced to cut employee hours.

Bottom line: The resort has seen a 25 percent drop in bookings and revenues as its critical summer season approaches.

“We hit the panic button at five percent,” said Jon Driscoll, vice president of operation for ZMC Hotels, which owns the Edgewater. “We can’t go on like this.”

They still don’t know how the “Crypto” outbreak happened or how they could have kept it from happening.

“Somebody just might not have washed their hands,” Driscoll said.

Continue reading at:

Edge waterpark in Duluth to install new equipment to prevent waterborne illness – Duluth News Tribune

Restrict shale gas fracking to 600m from water supplies, says study

Chris — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:01:11 +0000

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Controversial “fracking” for shale gas should only take place at least 600 metres down from aquifers used for water supplies, scientists said on Wednesday.

A new study revealed the process, which uses high-pressure liquid pumped deep underground to split shale rock and release gas, caused fractures running upwards and downwards through the ground of up to 588 metres from their source.

The research, published in the journal Marine and Petroleum Geology, found the chance of a fracture extending more than 600 metres upwards was exceptionally low, and the probability of fractures of more than 350 metres was 1%.

Researchers said the study showed it was “incredibly unlikely” that fracking at depths of 2km to 3km below the surface would lead to the contamination of shallow aquifers which lie above the gas resources.

Shale gas extraction has been controversial in the US because of claims that cancer-causing compounds used in the process have polluted water supplies, and that the flammable methane gas itself can pollute drinking water.

Continue reading at:

Restrict shale gas fracking to 600m from water supplies, says study – The Guardian

Expert says all Pa. oil, gas waste needs treatment

Chris — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:49:27 +0000

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH — A former top environmental official says Pennsylvania’s successful efforts to keep Marcellus Shale wastewater away from drinking water supplies should be extended to all other oil and gas drillers.

“It’s the same industry. It is the same contaminants. And the goal should be the same,” said George Jugovic Jr., who was formerly the Department of Environmental Protection’s southwest regional director. He’s now president of PennFuture, an environmental group.

An AP analysis of state data found that in the second half of 2011 about 1.86 million barrels — or about 78 million gallons — of drilling wastewater from conventional oil and gas wells were still being sent to treatment plants that discharge into rivers.

The core issue is whether a problem in waterways has been solved, or if more needs to be done.

In 2010 health experts raised alarms when they found soaring levels of ultra-salty bromides in rivers and streams that are major sources of drinking water. The general view was that wastewater from Marcellus Shale gas drilling — polluted with heavy bromides from deep underground — was contributing to the problem.

High levels of bromides can contaminate drinking water with levels that exceed national safety standards and are potentially harmful. Though not considered a pollutant by themselves, the bromides combine with the chlorine used in water treatment to produce trihalomethanes, which may cause cancer if ingested over a long period of time.

Continue reading at:

Expert says all Pa. oil, gas waste needs treatment – The Wall Street Journal

EPA Reaches Agreement with GE and SI Group to Protect Drinking Water in Nassau, New York

Chris — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:03:34 +0000

(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that it has entered into an agreement with the General Electric Company and SI Group, Inc. (formerly Schenectady Chemical) to collect and properly dispose of contaminated ground water and liquid leaching from the Dewey Loeffel landfill that is threatening several nearby drinking water wells. The liquid seeping from the landfill, called leachate, and the ground water are contaminated with volatile organic compounds, which can cause cancer in people. The extent and nature of potential health effects depend on many factors, including the level and how long people are exposed to the contaminants.

The EPA is currently collecting the contaminated liquid waste and sending it off-site for disposal. Under the agreement, General Electric and SI will take on the collection and removal of the waste and the construction of a treatment plant adjacent to the landfill, all with EPA oversight. The waste will continue to be sent off-site until the construction of the treatment plant is completed. Treated water from the new system will be discharged to surface water only after the EPA verifies that sampling data shows that the treatment system is working effectively and is capable of meeting stringent state discharge limits. GE and SI Group have agreed to reimburse EPA for certain costs, including an upfront payment of $800,000.

Continue reading at:

EPA Reaches Agreement with General Electric Company and SI Group, Inc. to Protect Drinking Water at the Dewey Loeffel Landfill Superfund Site in Nassau, New York – USEPA

The Positives and Negatives of Ionized Water

Chris — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:50:18 +0000

By LAURA JOHANNES

It would be hard to improve the healthfulness or cleaning power of water without adding any chemicals or supplements to it. But companies are claiming to do just that by “ionizing” water.

Companies are selling machines that put drinking water through an “ionization” process. According to the companies, the process, also called “electrolysis,” is accomplished using negatively and positively charged electrodes. In the process, water atoms give electrons to the electrodes or receive them, according to a graphic on Chanson Water USA Inc.’s website. The result is a chemical reaction that results in water becoming more acid or alkaline. Tap water typically has a pH of around 7, or neutral; alkaline water has a pH of more than 7; acidic water, less than 7.

Companies say alkaline water has a variety of benefits, ranging from giving you energy to counteracting unhealthy effects of acidic foods you eat. Some scientists, however, say there aren’t any good studies supporting the ionized-water companies’ marketing claims.

Continue reading at:

The Positives and Negatives of Ionized Water – The Wall Street Journal

Capsule for Removing Radioactive Contamination from Milk, Fruit Juices, Other Beverages

Chris — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:49:56 +0000

ScienceDaily (Mar. 27, 2012) — Amid concerns about possible terrorist attacks with nuclear materials, and fresh memories of environmental contamination from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, scientists have described the development of a capsule that can be dropped into water, milk, fruit juices and other foods to remove more than a dozen radioactive substances.

In a presentation at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), they said the technology could be used on a large scale by food processors or packaged into a small capsule that consumers at the home-kitchen level could pop into beverage containers to make them safe for consumption.

Continue reading at:

Capsule for Removing Radioactive Contamination from Milk, Fruit Juices, Other Beverages - Science Daily