Construction is underway on a new 32 million litre concrete water tank in Green patch, which is set to increase the region’s water storage capacity.

The water tank is part of SA Water’s ongoing investment in securing Eyre Peninsula’s drinking water future.

Once completed, the six-metre-high, 88-metre wide tank will increase the utility’s total storage at the site to more than 50 million litres of safe, clean drinking water, supplying towns such as Port Lincoln and as far west as Ceduna.

SA Water’s General Manager of Sustainable Infrastructure, Amanda Lewry, said the project involves a fresh approach to designing and constructing drinking water storages.

“Rather than adopting a conventional design, the storage tank will feature a floating cover – enabling a more cost-effective and efficient construction,” Ms Lewry said.

“This is a new concept we’re applying to our water storages and by lining the tank with a geomembrane and using a floating cover, it means the tank doesn’t require additional construction such as a concrete floor, steel roof structure and internal columns.

“Our innovative approach is also allowing for modular construction due to the lining’s ability to retain water, which will see our crews safely lift 112 pre-cast concrete perimeter wall panels along the tank perimeter to build the storage in a shorter time frame.”

SA Water completed the construction of another concrete water tank – holding a capacity of 10 million litres – in early 2021, with the new larger storage tank being built adjacent to the existing tank.

Ms Lewry said the Green Patch tank is expected to be supplying water to the Eyre Peninsula network by the end of 2022, in time for next summer.

“Augmenting our network with additional water storages enhances our ability to sustain a reliable supply, particularly during periods of warmer weather when we typically experience an increase in customer demand,” Ms Lewry said.

“These works are just one of many as part of our four-year, $1.6 billion capital investment across South Australia’s water network, which will deliver a series of diverse projects to enhance the Eyre Peninsula’s water security and improve our customer’s water services.

“Our expansive network and sustained capital program often creates opportunities to harness the expertise of local businesses, and together with construction partner McConnell Dowell Diona joint venture, we’ll be teaming up with EP-based Shillabeer Crane Hire, Whyalla Earthworks and MACTRANS to deliver our new tank.”

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Each year oysters in North Carolina contribute 27 million dollars to the state’s economy, but for many growers that’s just the beginning of what the industry could contribute in the next ten years.

But it’s not as simple as just putting more oysters in front of people. It takes a lot of work on several different fronts to get oysters to your plate.

As the state’s beautiful coastline continues to grow and develop there’s an unintended downside: run-off from these new developments and farms are affecting water quality.

Having good water quality not only impacts the environment, where you can safely swim, but also a growing industry that packs a large punch to the state’s economy – oyster and shellfish farming.

“If there are toxins or pollutants in the water humans can’t consume shellfish that’s in poor quality of water so it’s incredibly important and that’s why you have areas that are closed to harvest in waters that have a lot of run-offs from either development or farms or poor sanitation,” said Chris Matteo with Siren’s Cove Shellfish and Oyster Farm.

That’s why groups like the North Carolina Coastal Federation are working to restore areas that can help improve water quality and while it’s taken a lot of hard work and dedication from hundreds of volunteers the work at one site along the north river is beginning to pay off.

“We’ve planted upwards of 150,000 trees, and probably close to a million different shrubs and wetland plants to put it back to what we think it once was and by doing this we’ve increased the water quality quite a bit,” said Mark Smith, North Carolina Coastal Federation preserve manager

For years the Coastal Federation has been working to purchase and restore 6,000 acres of farmland along that area, and they are now nearly finished working on the north river wetlands preserve.

“To see something being reversed to its natural state is rare nowadays,” said Matteo.

But the benefits of their work are not just improving the water quality along the river- it’s also greatly impacting shellfish farmers like Matteo, as more areas of the river are now being able to be used to grow and harvest shellfish like oysters and clams.

“We are just a couple of miles south of them in the north river so clearly whatever they are doing there for the benefit of water quality affects us in a positive way,” said Matteo.

Restoring areas like the north river wetlands preserve is just one step to improving water quality along the entire coast and why groups like the coastal federation hope to continue their work to reduce run-off.

The growing shellfish farming industry hopes to expand its economic footprint to 100-million dollars by 2030.

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Residents of one Illinois community filed a class action lawsuit against their city over the quality of the water supply. A bad odor, discoloration and even high levels of lead made the tap water nearly unusable, according to the residents. We take a closer look at the issue.

We hear from parents navigating the public health and political interests when it comes to masks in schools. And there’s an effort to bring more doctors to rural areas.

Those stories and more on Statewide.

Our rundown:

* Steph Whiteside looks at a medical school’s effort to add more physicians in rural communities.

* Kristen Schorsch reports on a plan to track outpatient drugs that can help fight COVID-19.

* Sarah Nardi of WGLT talks with parents who say masking their students is not about politics, but rather keeping them safe.

* Eric Schmid follows up on his investigation into structural safety of warehouses, such as the one in Edwardsville that collapsed during a December tornado, killing six.

* Yvonne Boose brings us the story of a northern Illinois music organization that recently celebrated the life of a folk singer.

* Michelle O’Neill interviews the author of the book Tractor Wars.

WNIJ

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* Peter Medlin looks at lead levels in water. The town of Sycamore faces a class action lawsuit from residents. First up, a report on water testing procedures in schools. Then, we hear from residents who say they’ve received little guidance for dealing with lead.

* Emily Hays has a conversation with the new Decatur Public Schools Superintendent Rochelle Clark, who is taking over at a challenging time.

* Jake Harper and Lauren Bavis of Side Effects Public Media report on how incarcerated people often face retaliation for calling out staff sexual misconduct.

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A simple test for water pollution involving engineered strands of DNA can report levels of contamination, and this biological system can carry out logical operations like those done by computers

Technology

17 February 2022

By Matthew Sparkes

The DNA computer – although not set up for a formal analysis

Julius Lucks/Northwestern University

A biological computer controlled by DNA offers a cheap and simple way to test the concentration of contaminants in drinking water. And experiments show that logical operations borrowed from computer science can be engineered into the DNA to make future biological computers far more powerful at detecting contaminants.

Julius Lucks at Northwestern University in Illinois and his colleagues created a biosensor in 2020 that can detect contaminants in a single drop of water. It contains proteins that react to the presence of certain chemicals by producing fluorescent molecules. This easily spotted reaction acts as a warning that a water sample is polluted with these chemicals.

The reactions involved were inspired by mechanisms that evolved naturally within bacteria. Lucks says that scientists initially tried engineering the bacteria to carry out the tests, but that it was a challenge to keep them alive and stop them from spreading into the environment. This led to research into a cell-free, synthetic biological version, where the protein-based mechanisms are removed from the bacteria and used in isolation.

Join us for a mind-blowing festival of ideas and experiences. New Scientist Live is going hybrid, with a live in-person event in Manchester, UK, that you can also enjoy from the comfort of your own home, from 12 to 14 March 2022. Find out more.

“In synthetic biology, we’re trying to repurpose those molecular machines that detect toxins and re-engineer them so they work how we want them to, maybe rewire them so they do different things,” says Lucks. “You don’t really want to be releasing an engineered microbe into the water that you’re trying to measure the quality of.”

Now, the team has created a more advanced version of the system that can not only warn of the presence of dangerous chemicals, but also report on the amounts present so that proportionate steps can be taken.

The system, dubbed ROSALIND 2.0, has eight small test tubes, each containing a biosensor with a different sensitivity to contaminants. If only one tube glows, then the water sample has just trace levels of contamination. But as more tubes glow, the water is shown to be increasingly more polluted.

Lucks says that the test works by using “decoy” strands of DNA. These are designed to bind strongly to a key intermediate product in the reaction with the contaminant, preventing the final fluorescent product from being produced.

Each tube has progressively larger quantities of this DNA. Because the final fluorescent step of the reaction only occurs after the decoy DNA is used up, this means a tube with a low amount of decoy DNA may fluoresce in the presence of the contaminant, but a tube with a high amount of this DNA may not. It is possible to measure the contaminant level simply by looking to see where along the row of eight tubes the fluorescent reaction stops.

Lucks and his team demonstrated that ROSALIND 2.0 could successfully detect zinc, an antibiotic and an industrial metabolite.

The cell-free tests can also be freeze-dried for easy storage and transport, and then activated when needed simply by dropping a water sample into each test tube.

Establishing the concentration of a contaminant helps to decide on the necessary remedial action. If you have tiny amounts of lead in your drinking water supply, for example, then you might only need to flush water pipes before use. But if you have high levels, you may need to immediately stop drinking the water.

“Everybody should have these things,” says Lucks. “You should know your water is safe to drink.”

Given that existing technology to assess water quality can be expensive, he hopes ROSALIND 2.0 can help with this. “We’re trying to make the most simple and robust thing you can imagine, so it’s hopefully foolproof,” he says.

Lucks and his team also demonstrated that the engineered DNA can be used to carry out logical operations, like those in computers. Not only can it be made to react to the presence of one material, as in ROSALIND 2.0, but they believe it can be made to react only when two specific chemicals are found, or when neither is found. This paves the way for far more sophisticated analysis to be built into equally robust and simple-to-use tests.

Journal reference: Nature Chemical Biology, DOI: 10.1038/s41589-021-00962-9

 

More on these topics:

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BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Service 1st Financial, LLC (“Service 1st”), a disruptive financial technology company serving the residential home services contracting industry, and HALO Water Systems (“HALO”), a leading provider of residential water filtration and purification technologies, announced today a business partnership.

HALO is the water filtration and purification brand most recommended by leading residential plumbing contractors. The company was founded to address water quality issues faced by many communities in the United States. Today, HALO offers a comprehensive lineup of innovative water filtration and purification products to meet customers’ needs, including its flagship HALO 5 system. 

The partnership will provide HALO contractors access to Service 1st’s Premier Program™, a worry-free service for homeowners to replace and upgrade their plumbing, heating, cooling, and back-up power systems for a low monthly payment, while eliminating the common pain points associated with owning, maintaining, and repairing such systems.

“What excites me about our partnership with HALO is the expansion of our portfolio of worry-free home comfort services. The Premier Program is the most comprehensive worry-free home comfort program serving the residential plumbing, HVAC, and electrical trades. We are fortunate to enter the water filtration and purification space with Glen Blavet and his talented team at HALO. We look forward to serving HALO contractors from coast-to-coast,” said Tom Towe, Vice President of Business Development at Service 1st.

“At HALO, we believe everyone deserves clean drinking water for their families.  In many areas, such water is not available without water filtration and purification systems, which often require a significant upfront investment. By offering worry-free, properly conditioned, and clean water as-a-service for a low monthly payment, our contractors can now reach an even larger segment of homeowners. Moreover, the Premier Program provides valuable benefits to participating contractors, including increased customer loyalty, profitable recurring revenue, and marketplace differentiation. These benefits to homeowner and contractors are what make me most proud of our partnership with Service 1st and its Premier Program,” stated Glen Blavet, Founder & CEO of HALO.

About Service 1st Financial
Based in Bethesda, MD, Service 1st Financial is a leading financial technology company serving the residential home services contracting industry. Through Service 1st’s network of authorized contractors, homeowners can rely on the Premier Program to cover all their home comfort plumbing, heating, cooling, indoor air quality, and backup power needs, including the latest energy-efficient equipment, annual maintenance, consumables replacements, no-charge covered repairs, and complete peace-of-mind, all for a low monthly payment.

For more information, please visit www.worryfreehomecomfort.com.

About HALO Water Systems

Based in Carlsbad, CA, HALO Water Systems is a manufacturing and training organization founded by a contractor for contractors. HALO’s mission is to provide state of the art products that deliver homeowners water quality that meets the standard of service plumbers are charged with – “to protect the health and safety of the nation.”  HALO serves both the residential and commercial water filtration and purification markets with products designed to serve homeowner, food service equipment, and various commercial water treatment needs. 

For more information, please visit www.halowater.com.

Media Contact:
Tom Towe
240.800.7568
[email protected] 

SOURCE Service 1st Financial, LLC

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Zwonaka Muswede, who has lived in Itireleng since 2018, walks 3km and uses a bucket and rope to get water from this makeshift well she discovered. Photos: Chris Gilili

• More than 2,000 people living in Itireleng near Tshwane have been without tap water since October last year.
• Water trucks have been scarce and people have been desperately sourcing water wherever they can find it.
• A municipal official promised that relief would come with water trucks and jojo tanks on Friday.

Residents of Itireleng village have been without water since October, when their communal standpipes ran dry. This village of 2,000 people is in Madibeng municipality in North West Province, close to the Gauteng border.

Villagers get water from streams and have to walk long distances.

Isaac Ralhogo says “life has been hell”. He has over 30 pigs who need a lot of water. “I have to clean their compound and pour water on them every now and then,” he explains. He has to drive to get water from an underground source.

“The councillor has told us that they are planning to bring water trucks and Jojo tanks for relief, but this is not a solution. We need water from taps,” he says.

Zwonaka Muswede walks 3km with a wheelbarrow to a makeshift well. She uses a bucket with a rope. She boils the murky water because she doesn’t think it is safe to drink.

Mahlodi Mokgosi, a resident, says a water truck was last seen in November 2021. Mokgosi says water has been an ongoing challenge in Itireleng. The taps are communal and there aren’t enough of them.

News24 reported in August that the City of Tshwane threatened to restrict water supply to Madibeng because the local municipality owed it over R200 million.

Ward 10 Councillor Fenky Phaloane (ANC) appeared to confirm this, saying the problem was caused by water pressure being reduced by the City of Tshwane. He said talks have begun to transfer water infrastructure from Tshwane to Madibeng.

Fafi Mthombeni, an official responsible for water services at Madibeng, said, “I know that water tankers were sent to Itireleng in the past weeks, so I am not sure why certain areas are not covered by the tankers but I will follow up.”

Mthombeni promised that 5,000 litres of water would be delivered to Itereleng on Friday (but this amounts to just 2.5 litres per person). Mthombeni said rain tanks would also be installed at some households but was not sure when water would be restored to the taps.

Madibeng municipal spokesperson Tumelo Tshabalala did not respond to our queries.

There has been no tap water in Itireleng under the Madibeng Local Municipality since October 2021. People source water wherever they can find it.

© 2022 GroundUp. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Originally Appeared Here

Barstool HQ hasn’t had water in months. Basically since we got back to the office in January, we’ve been in a draught. No water bottles anywhere. We only have a filter that mice poop in and tap water. And we all know NYC notoriously has the worst tap water in the world. So since I’ve been taking charge around here, I decided to step up and provide for everyone….

….until the water showed up. 

This is the second episode of a new around the office mockumentary-style series from Rone and I. The first episode (which you can catch up on HERE) was about me becoming the boss at HQ with Dave gone and we have a bunch more ideas. They will come out maybe once or twice a month on the Barstool Sports YouTube channel and on socials. 

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A self-proclaimed ‘water snob’ has no shame in admitting he spends $2,000 (£1,472) on designer water every month. Here he is explaining his pricey water habit below:

Ryan Dubs, who goes by @ryandubs on TikTok, describes himself as a ‘brand king and creative director to the stars’. 

However, one of his most recent videos gained over 1 million views for all the wrong reasons as TikTok users were left outraged by claiming he spends $2,000 on water every month. 

The clip begins with him telling viewers: “I spend $2,000 a month on high end water bottles delivered directly to my house and, as a water snob, it is such a luxury. 

“I know what you’re thinking, where do I keep it all?” 

Actually, that wasn’t the first question that sprung to mind… 

“Well, I have four fridges, so I’ve got that part covered,” he says. 

Credit: TikTok/@ryandubs

“I love VOSS, it’s one of my favourite water bottle brands.” 

“I’ve always been a water snob and I know that for a lot of people you’re probably like what the hell, why do you care, it’s just water, but I hate the taste of tap water. I cannot drink it. 

“I only drink bottled water – it’s the only way I’ll get it in me.” 

Ryan continues: “For the past year I actually had Fiji water delivered to my house but it started to weigh on me how much plastic waste that was creating.” 

Good to know the man has a conscience! 

“VOSS is net carbon neutral so it’s definitely a more eco-friendly choice. 

“It’s a little pricey but I do buy it in bulk from the place that would sell it to a hotel or grocery store so it’s a bit better. 

Credit: TikTok/@ryandubs

“Everyone has their thing and I guess I’m just a water snob but my guests love it, everybody loves to be handed a nice, cold glass water bottle.” 

As you can imagine, Ryan did not receive the most positive of comments after he posted the video to his TikTok. 

One person said: “This is humiliating,” as another agreed, adding: “We need a world reset.” 

A third said: “How out of touch can one person be? I’m lost for words. 1 in 3 people don’t have access to clean drinking water and this guy is flexing on $2k a month.” 

A fourth person joked: “I heard if you put the bottle to your ear, you can hear the marketing team laughing.” 

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Mosti, in a statement today, said the reports were important to the government, especially the MOH, in its effort to improve public health in line with the guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to supply clean, safe and quality water to consumers. — AFP Relaxnews pic

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 16 — The Department of Chemistry Malaysia (KIMIA Malaysia) said it had submitted a total of 146,486 National Drinking Water Quality Surveillance Programme (KMAM) monitoring reports to the Ministry of Health (MOH) in 2021, said the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti).

Mosti, in a statement today, said the reports were important to the government, especially the MOH, in its effort to improve public health in line with the guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to supply clean, safe and quality water to consumers.

The KIMIA Malaysia headquarters issued 34,101 reports while those issued by the states and KIMIA Malaysia branches were from Johor (22,282); Perak (15,702); Kuching (10,782); Sibu (9,740); Pahang (9,714); Kelantan (8,680); Sabah (7,284); Penang (7,037); Melaka (6,877); Kedah (6,091); Terengganu (4,990) and Bintulu (3,206).

According to Mosti, the reports covered microbiological water analysis and chemical water analysis.

“The results of the analyses are necessary to ensure that the drinking water supplied to the public is safe and free from water-borne diseases that can endanger health and ensure that the bacterial and chemical content complies with established standards,” said Mosti.

Mosti also said KIMIA Malaysia continued to carry out all the analyses to monitor water quality during the movement control order (MCO) last year as they were considered an essential service for the well-being of the people.

Mosti said the reports were also used by water supply companies such as Pengurusan Air Selangor, Syarikat Air Negri Sembilan and  Syarikat Air Kelantan. — Bernama

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You do your best to get your 91 ounces of water in a day, and good for you. But did you know that if you’re filling your glass from a tap, you may be getting more than you bargained for? Purify your water with AlcaPure.

According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG)’s comprehensive Tap Water Database, which compiles results from water utility testing across the U.S., the water in some communities can contain potentially dangerous chemicals. Even water that is deemed “clean” can pick up contaminants along the way as it runs through pipes to get into your home. During an EWG investigation, it was found that about 85% of the population was drinking tap water that contained over 300 contaminants and carcinogens that could potentially lead to cancer.

Scientists are continuously working to find solutions to purifying our drinking water, but many of those inventions are still unattainable or impractical for the household. You could opt to drink bottled water, but not only is that expensive, but it also adds to the already almost insurmountable plastic waste we have accumulated. This easy-to-use and eco-friendly AlcaPure is the economical answer to getting water that’s great tasting and contaminant-free.

RKIN Zero Installation Purifier – Countertop Reverse Osmosis Water Filter

Using reverse-osmosis to filter out 99% of the impurities in your tap water, AlcaPure boasts a 4-stage advanced filtration system, blocking both larger particles such as sand and rust, and harmful chemical residues such as chloroform and pesticides, while also remineralizing the water with calcium and magnesium for better taste.

It’s portable and fits on your countertop. It’s easy to install with no plumbing required and features a zero-waste design that collects the wastewater in the bottom of the tank, so it can be used for other purposes (like watering your plants). Elegant and efficient, and highly rated on Amazon, this RKIN AlcaPure Countertop Water Filter is available in either space black or silver/white, and can be yours now for more than half off the regular price. For only $424.99, you can enjoy a cool glass of purified water and support your health!

Prices subject to change.

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