The numbers of staff earning over €100,000 at Irish Water last year increased by 43 from 133 to 176.

That is according to the utility’s 2021 annual report which shows that operating profits at Irish Water last year soared by 46% to €382.34 million.

The utility’s 2021 annual report shows that Irish Water recorded the jump in operating profits as the Government subvention to the State owned utility last year increased by 9.5pc from €815 million to €893 million.

The utility’s overall revenues for 2021 rose by 12% from €1.06 billion to €1.19 billion.

The overall income includes commercial revenues totalling €298.08 million made up of non-domestic revenues increasing from €173 million to €198.4 million and revenues from new connections increasing from €73.19 million to €99.6 million.

The State has provided hefty annual subvention to the utility since first suspending domestic water charges in 2016 before formally abolishing them in 2017 after major public opposition against the charges.

The charges were set aside after more than €500 million was spent on installing around 820,000 water meters across the country.

The report shows that 11 of the 176 staff earning over €100,000 received in excess of €175,000 and they include Irish Water MD, Niall Gleeson who received a pay package of €239,000 – the same level as 2020.

This was made up of a basic salary of €200,000, pension contributions of €24,000 and short term employee benefits of €15,000.

The report shows that 13 staff received between €150,000 and €175,000; 28 staff between €125,000 and €150,000 and 124 staff received between €100,000 and €150,000.

Irish Water, which supplies 1.7 billion litres each day of clean, safe drinking water, employs 823 and staff costs last year totalled €81.8 million.

“Irish Water delivered a satisfactory financial performance during 2021, particularly in the context of the challenges associated with COVID-19 and increasing energy costs,” the report says.

It adds that “the Government continued to provide necessary capital contributions of €383m, which together with the surplus/profit generated by Irish Water, was invested to fund critical water and wastewater infrastructure projects enabling the delivery of a capital investment programme of €851m in 2021.”

After interest costs of €3.4 million and combined non-cash depreciation and amortisation costs of €152.27 million are taken into account, Irish Water last year recorded pre-tax profits of €226.63 million – an 87% increase on 2020’s pre-tax profits of €120.68 million.

All surpluses at Irish Water are re-invested to fund critical infrastructure projects.

Operating costs last year increased from €758.49 million to €799.25 million.

In a statement accompanying the report, Mr Gleeson said providing safe, clean, drinking water “is a significant challenge due to decades of under-investment in our water infrastructure, but we are making steady progress.”

He said that “with 790,000 people in 16 water supplies removed from the Remedial Action List in the past year. The number of customers nationwide on the List is now at its lowest ever level.”

Reporting by Gordon Deegan

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Gear rotation

The shape of the ratchet gear used in this study (Fig. 1a) is the same as that used in studies of bacterial ratchet motors and vibrating granular bed13,22. When a ratchet gear with an appropriate diameter is placed on water with vertical vibration (Fig. 1b), it exhibits a one-way spin under a certain vibration frequency. Figure 2a shows snapshots of the gear. When the vibration frequency (fe) is 24 Hz, a clockwise spin was observed. However, at fe = 10 Hz, the rotation exhibits only a small fluctuation. The clockwise spin is a unique result. When living bacteria and agitated granular matter collide with a gear of the same shape, the gear exhibits anti-clockwise spin in most cases. Collision against the shorter gear edge generates a larger rotational torque than that against the longer edge. Therefore, an anti-clockwise spin can be easily expected as long as randomly moving objects hit the side face of the gear. However, in this study, the spin direction was always clockwise. The spin was not observed for the symmetric gear, as shown in Fig. 1a (Supplementary movie 1 for both types of gears).

Figure 1

Experimental setup. (a) Asymmetric and symmetric gears; (b, c) experiment for video recording (b) and measurement of surface height profile using laser displacement meter (c).

Figure 2

Results for the gear rotation. (a) Snapshot of the spinning gear with 40 mm diameter at 24 Hz (top) and fluctuating gear at 10 Hz (bottom), contrast enhanced. (b) Azimuthal angle (divided by 2π) of the black dot shown in (a). (b1) 40 mm-gear at various frequencies. (b2) Various gear diameters at 24 Hz.

The azimuth of the black dot in Fig. 2a (divided by 2π) is shown in Fig. 2b. The slope of the line represents the angular velocity. At a constant gear diameter (40 mm), a one-way spin was observed at 17 and 24 Hz, but not at 10 and 40 Hz. Whenever a one-way spin is observed, the angular velocity is almost constant. The angular velocity at 24 Hz is higher than that at 17 Hz. At a constant frequency of 24 Hz, the gear with a 20 mm diameter does not experience the one-way spin. For the other gears, the angular velocity decreased with an increase in gear diameter.

Figure 3a shows the angular velocity Ω as a function of the vibration frequency fe, where the gear diameter D is 40 mm (Data for other diameters are shown in SI-1). The experimental results with pure water and 6 wt% of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-containing water are shown in Fig. 3a. PEG is used mainly to increase the viscosity of water. The angular velocity increases steeply beyond a certain critical frequency fe,c. A similar characteristic in angular velocity was observed in vibrating granular beds21,22. This suggests that the spinning ratchet is not a result of the simple asymmetry of the gear: If the random agitation could push the gear, it would rotate toward the direction with the larger torque and/or the less dissipation, depending on the ratchet geometry. In this case, even if the agitation is small, the slow motion of the gear should be observed. However, the angular velocity of the ratchet gear starts to increase at the critical frequency in common21,22. This demonstrates that the ratchet gear motion is a result of dynamical pattern formation, although the pattern formation mechanism is dependent on the individual system. In this study, owing to the scattering of data, the critical frequency fe,c was estimated within a range, as shown by the blue belt in Fig. 3. The width of this blue belt corresponds to the error range in fe,c. The fe,c values for all gear diameters are shown in Fig. SI-1. Figure 3b shows fe,c (with the range) as a function of the gear diameter (D). The result shows that fe,c decreases monotonically with an increase in the diameter: the data are correlated by the line of fe,c ∝ D−1. Figures 3c and d show the effect of viscosity (μ) on angular velocity and fe,c. The angular velocity decreases more steeply than the line (Omega propto {mu }^{-1}) at μ ≳ 2 mPa s. In contrast, fe,c is almost constant except the result at the extremely high viscosity.

Figure 3

Properties of angular velocity. (a) Dependency of angular velocity on the frequency for pure water and aqueous solution containing 6 wt% PEG. The critical frequency is shown using the blue belt. The gear diameter is 40 mm. (b) Dependency of the critical frequency on the gear diameter for pure water and aqueous solution containing 6 wt% PEG. (c, d) Effects of viscosity on the angular velocity (c) and critical frequency (d), for the gear with 40 mm diameter. The PEG concentrations are 0 (the lowest viscosity), 3, 6, 8, and 12 wt%. The frequency is 24 Hz.

As shown in Fig. 3a, the angular velocity was scattered, even at the same frequency. However, this did not affect the range estimated for fe,c. We observed gear rotation every 2 Hz at a fixed gear diameter. The experiments were performed five times to determine fe,c, which was the lowest frequency with gear spinning. All the values were within the error range. Image analysis to obtain the time course of the angular velocity took a long time; hence, the data shown in Fig. 3a and SI-1 are restricted. However, we consider the range of fe,c to be reliable. Although the angular velocities are rather scattered, as shown in Fig. 3a and SI-1, their absolute values are not discussed in this paper. Only the critical frequency is focused upon in the following discussion.

Oscillations of gear and water surface

The behavior of a liquid drop and small solid particles (powder) on a vibrating water bed was studied27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35. For a bulky solid object, the dynamics of the vibrating disk have been studied well36,37,38,39,40,41,42. However, to the best of our knowledge, the behavior of bulky solid objects on vibrating water beds has been less studied.

Figure 4a shows the time course of the height profile of the line that connects the points on the gear and water surfaces. This line is shown in Fig. 2a as a purple dotted line. The height profile was measured using a laser-displacement meter. The schematic of this method is shown in Fig. 1c (the duration for obtaining the data is 0.3 s. Thus, the position of the gear edge may be regarded as the same even when the gear rotates.) When fe < fe,c, the gear and water surfaces oscillated vertically. Both oscillations are in the antiphase and form stationary oscillations. This anti-phase oscillation is shown in the Lissajous figure in Fig. 4c (10 Hz). This figure represents the phase relationship between the oscillations of the gear and water surface. The graph becomes diagonal, anti-diagonal, and circular for the phase differences 0, π, and π/2, respectively (the method to draw the Lissajous figure is explained in SI-2). The oscillation of the water surface was measured from 3 to 9 mm from the gear edge, as indicated in Fig. 4c (the duration for obtaining the data for the Lissajous figure was 0.2 s. Thus, the position of the gear edge may be regarded as the same even when the gear rotates). The 10 Hz Lissajous figures exhibit a clear anti-phase oscillation between the gear and water surface.

Figure 4

Height profile of water and gear surfaces measured by the laser displacement meter. (a) 3D graphics. The coordination system and their scales are common (shown on the right). The height is shown along the color bar. The gear diameter is 40 mm, and fe,c is approximately 15 Hz. (b) The ratio of maximum vibration displacements, Agear/Awater, is plotted against fe. The blue belt indicates fe,c determined from Fig. 3a. (c) Lissajous figure for the oscillations between the gear and the water surface. The coordinate system and scale are common. The measurement positions are shown at the top.

By contrast, at fe = 20 Hz (> fe,c) in Fig. 4a, the gear height is almost constant. The gear did not oscillate significantly against the water surface, although oscillations with small amplitudes were observed. The anti-phase relationship shown at 10 Hz was not observed. The same trend is observed at 24 Hz, as shown in Fig. 4a and c where the Lissajous figure does not show a regular pattern. Therefore, an anti-phase relationship was observed only at fe < fe,c. This trend was confirmed in almost all experiments performed in this study. This indicates that the critical frequency fe,c is the maximum value for the gear to oscillate in the antiphase against the water surface.

The maximum vibration displacement of the gear (Agear) is shown in Fig. 4b as a ratio to that of the water surface (Awater). Agear/Awater monotonically decreased with an increase in fe to reach a constant value at fe ~ fe,c. The low value at fe > fe,c indicates that the gear does not oscillate significantly against the water surface. When Agear/Awater reaches this value (~ 0.2), the anti-phase oscillation of the gear is lost. In other words, the anti-phase oscillation and the larger oscillation amplitude of the gear are coupled.

Surface waves generated by vertical vibrations exhibit various types of patterns on the water surface29,43,44,45,46,47,48. When the oscillation frequency of the water surface (fw) is half of the external frequency (fe/2), it is called a Faraday wave. The wave pattern, which depends on the vibration frequency, has been extensively studied. In this experiment, the relationship between fw and fe is determined. The results reveal that fw = fe/2 for fe > 30 Hz and fw = fe for fe < 30 Hz (SI-3). Figure 5a shows a photograph of the water surface. When fe < 30 Hz (fw = fe), the pattern is circular. However, when fe ≳ 30 Hz (fw = fe/2), the circular texture was violated and restricted to the central portion (Supplementary movie 2). A one-way spin is obtained with almost perfect reproducibility when the circular pattern dominates the entire water surface. This circular pattern was not violated by the presence of the gear.

Figure 5

Pattern formation on the water surface. (a) Snapshots of the surface pattern. The line for laser irradiation for the displacement meter is shown (without gear). (b) Space–time plot at the irradiation line and the Fourier spectrum at the red dashed line without gear. (c) Those with the gear. The laser irradiation line was between 2 mm apart from the gear edge and 10 mm from the sidewall of Petri dish. (d) Relationship between wavelength and frequency in the absence of the gear. (e) Space–time plot on the line involving the gear. The red portion is on the gear. The space–time plots with the gear is affected by the meniscus shape formed by the gear. Hence, detecting the wave form by visual inspection is difficult compared with the gear-free case.

Figures 5b shows the space–time plot of the height of the water surface without the gear. The measurement line is shown in Fig. 5a as a laser irradiation line. When fe = 10 Hz (< fe,c) and 24 Hz (> fe,c), circular patterns were formed, and the space–time plot along the radial direction was independent of the azimuth. The space–time plot is that of a simple stationary wave for both frequencies. A stationary wave is formed by two oppositely traveling waves of the same wavelength and frequency. The wave velocity of each wave may be estimated from the line diagonally connecting the wave crest (or bottom) in the space–time plot. More precisely, the velocity was obtained from the relationship between the wavelength and frequency, as shown in Fig. 5d. Here, the wavelength λ is estimated from the space–time plot, and the frequency is fe. The oscillation frequency of the water surface fw is equal to fe when fe ≲ 30 Hz. This is shown in the Fourier spectra in Fig. 5b. The result in Fig. 5d is well correlated by the line λ (mm) = 235/fe (Hz). This indicates that the wave velocity was 235 mm/s. The diagonal line that expresses this velocity, which well connects the wave crests (or bottoms), is shown in Fig. 5b. This value agrees with the theoretical calculation for the surface wave of shallow water ((sqrt {gH} = sqrt {9800{text{ mm}}/{text{s}}^{2} cdot 5.6 {text{mm}}} = 234frac{{{text{mm}}}}{{text{s}}}.{text{ Here}},{ }H{text{ is the depth of water}})).

Figure 5c shows the space–time plot of the height of the water surface with the gear. The measurement line was located on the water surface, which did not contain the gear. When fe = 10 Hz, the one-way spin was not observed. The pattern exhibits a simple stationary wave. The space–time plots with the gear are affected by the meniscus shape formed by the gear; hence, the pattern is not simple, even when a stationary wave is formed. However, the space–time plot is that of a stationary wave because almost the same horizontal (spatial) color profile is repeated periodically in time. A one-way spin was observed at 24 Hz and the space–time plot was then slightly distorted. However, the basic feature of the stationary wave pattern was maintained, that is, the positions with the extrema of the oscillation were almost unchanged. This distortion is probably caused by the effects of the spinning gear. Figure 5e shows the space–time plot measured along a line, including the gear surface. As the gear rotates, the gear region in Fig. 5e advances and recedes, tracing the gear shape. Distortion of the space–time plot was also observed. The inclination of the same colored part is opposite at the tip and at the dent of the gear. As shown later, surface flow caused by the spinning gear was observed. The flow directions were opposite at the tip and dent of the gear. This surface flow, which is shown later, distorts the space–time plot. Although a small distortion was observed, the space–time plot can be understood as a stationary wave pattern.

Considering the volume conservation of water, the upward and downward motions of the water surface accompany the radial motion when the surface wave has a circular pattern, as shown in Fig. 5a (fe ≲ 30 Hz). Such fluid motion is often modeled by the trochoid motion of a fluid element, that is, circular motion in the vertical plane49. Even if the wave is not a typical trochoid, volume conservation must cause horizontal transport of the water volume. The horizontal motion oscillates when a stationary wave is formed. Figure 6a (left) shows the antiphase oscillation. Considering a concentric ring-wave pattern, the damping wave crest excludes the water volume under the crest toward the radial direction. Nearly half of the water volume moved toward the gear. If the gear moves upward, water volume enters under the gear. This results in the anti-phase oscillation between the gear and water surface. Therefore, the anti-phase oscillation requires a larger gear amplitude to absorb the water volume excluded by the damping wave. When the vibration amplitude of the gear is small compared to the amplitude of the water surface, the water volume does not enter under the gear. This is shown in Fig. 6a (right), where the water volume pushed the side face of the gear. As shown in Fig. 6b, the shorter edge of the gear was not pushed effectively because it was parallel to the radial direction. However, this pressure effectively pushes the longer edge. This results in clockwise rotation of the gear.

Figure 6

Schematic representation of the mechanism of the spinning gear and the related result. (a) Schematic representation of the effect of damping wave crest on the gear motion. (b) Pressure acting on the side face of the gear. (c) Relationship between the gear diameter and wavelength at the critical frequency of the diameter.

When the gear diameter is smaller than or comparable to the wavelength of the surface wave (λ), the gear rides on the surface wave. This results in anti-phase oscillation of the gear against the water surface. Therefore, to push the side face of the gear, the gear diameter should be sufficiently larger than the wavelength; that is, a one-way spin appears when the ratio D/λ is much larger than unity. As the wavelength becomes shorter with an increase in frequency, the critical frequency fe,c exists at a given diameter D, that is, beyond fe,c, D/λ can take values much larger than unity. Figure 6c shows the relationship between D and λc, where λc is the wavelength at fe = fe,c and is calculated as λc (mm) = 235/fe,c (Hz). The maximum and minimum wavelengths were plotted as the critical frequencies for a range. All the plots can be correlated using a unique line, D = 2.5 λc. The gear does not ride on the surface wave when D ≳ 2.5λc. Then, the radial motion of the water volume cannot enter under the gear and push the side-face.

The addition of PEG violated the circular pattern on the water surface, which was observed at fe≲30 Hz (Fig. 5a). Photographs and space–time plots for the PEG-containing experiments are shown in SI-4. An almost perfect circular pattern was observed only at fe < 15 Hz. This may have been caused by the decrease in the surface tension by PEG, which was supported by the increase in the oscillation amplitude of the water surface at higher frequencies. Such a violation of the circular pattern reduces the angular velocity because the water volume excluded from the damping wave crest can move in the peripheral direction in addition to radial motion. The angular velocity then decreases more steeply than the line (propto mu^{ – 1}), as shown in Fig. 3c. Owing to the violation of the pattern, it is difficult to estimate the wavelength over a wide range of frequencies from the space–time plot on a radial line. Thus, the space–time plot for the lower frequency is shown in SI-4, where the circular pattern is maintained. The wavelength was almost the same as that of the PEG-free water at the same frequency. This result suggests that fe,c in PEG-free and PEG-containing water is nearly identical because fe,c is determined by the relationship between D and λ (Fig. 6c). This expectation is supported by the results shown in Fig. 3d, which show that the effect of PEG addition on fe,c is small (almost none).

The pressure that pushes the side face rotates the gear. However, the rising wave crest pulled the water volume from the gear. The experimental results indicate that the pushing pressure effectively rotates the gear, whereas the pulling force does not work well. When water pushes the gear, the volume of water directly collides with the side face. For the back flow, however, the compensated flows originate from anywhere around the gear: from a deeper place and from under the gear. In this case, it may be difficult for the back flow to generate an effective pulling force, even if there is adhesion between the water and the gear.

Surface flow by vibration

It has been reported that vortices (circulation) spontaneously form on the surface of a vibrating water bed27,28,29,50,51. Subsequently, numerous randomly distributed circulations were developed. In this section, the effect of the surface flow on the one-way spin is discussed. Circulation was also observed in this study. The trajectories of the tracers, which are shown in Fig. 7a, appear randomly distributed without the gear. (Supplementary movie 3) Fig. 7b shows the mean speed of the flow against the vibration frequency fe: more than two tracer particles were selected in a movie. The tracers were tracked for 14 s (fastest particle) to 90 s (slowest particle). The velocities were calculated every 0.5 s by image analysis. The maximum and minimum velocities are shown as error bars in Fig. 7b. The mean speed gradually increased at low frequencies and exhibited an almost discontinuous change at approximately fe = 30 Hz. This probably results from Faraday wave formation. However, the angular velocity of the gear did not exhibit such a discontinuous change at approximately fe = 30 Hz (Fig. 3a). Furthermore, for the critical frequency (fe,c) at which the angular velocity of the gear starts to increase, there is no significant change in the speed of circulation around fe = fe,c (fe,c depends on the gear diameter, and they are distributed from 10 to 40 Hz, as shown in Fig. 3b). In addition, the mean speed was lower than the speed of the gear tip. This is estimated by the angular velocity multiplied by the gear radius, approximately 8 mm/s, as shown in Fig. 3a. Circulation formed on the water surface is not a direct power source for the spinning gear.

Figure 7

Motion of charcoal (tracer) particles on the water surface. (a) Trajectories in the absence of the gear at 10 Hz (left) and 20 Hz (right). (b) Mean speed with the error bar for the tracer particles as a function of the vibration frequency in the absence of the gear. (c) Trajectories of the tracer particles in the presence of the gear at 10 Hz (left) and 20 Hz (right).

Figure 7c shows the trajectories of the tracer particles with the gear (refer to Supplementary movie 4). In the absence of one-way spin (fe = 10 Hz), the pattern is similar to that without the gear. For the one-way spin of the gear, the trajectory exhibits a zigzag shape. The movie (Supplementary movie 4) shows the zigzag results caused by the gear shape. When the tip of the spinning gear approaches the tracer particle, it departs from the tip by an outward flow. In contrast, the tracer particles are pulled toward the dent of the gear. The distortion of the space–time plot in Fig. 5e seems to be associated with these surface flows because the inclination of the same colored part is opposite at the tip and at the dent of the gear. The surface flow may perturb the wavelength and/or frequency at a fixed point (it was confirmed with a sinusoidal wave that such a perturbation can cause the inclination of the same color part in the space–time plot). The form of the stationary wave on the water surface was likely affected by these surface flows. However, these flows are not the power source for the spin but the result of the spin. This is reasonably accepted by the observation that once the external vibration is turned on, the gear starts to rotate immediately (Supplementary movie 5). The development of such a highly regulated flow pattern within a short period is difficult.

Results at higher frequency

The angular velocity increases monotonically at fe > fe,c. However, the angular velocity is smaller (almost zero) at extremely high frequencies (> 40 Hz), as shown in Fig. 3a and SI-1. When fe ≳ 30–40 Hz, a complicated wave pattern often appears instead of a circular texture on the water surface, as shown in Fig. 5a. This probably reduces the stability of the one-way spin because the radial motion of the water volume may be violated by this complicated wave pattern, that is, the water volume by the damping of the wave crest (Fig. 6a) may move toward the circumferential direction. This event destabilizes the one-way spin.

The formation of the noncircular pattern of the surface wave is probably the main reason why the one-way spin is destabilized in the high-frequency range. However, another factor may affect this result, which is based on the simple consideration that the falling gear cannot catch up to the descending water surface. Consider a disk that falls under gravity. The condition that the falling gear cannot maintain contact with the water that descends by mechanical motion is expressed by

$$ f_{max} = frac{1}{2pi }sqrt{frac{g}{a}} $$

(SI-5), where a denotes the amplitude of the external vibration. Under the present experimental conditions, fmax becomes 40.7 Hz. This frequency approximately agrees with the frequency beyond which the one-way spin is destabilized.

Even when fe > fmax, the adhesion force between the gear and water may maintain contact. This may increase the actual fmax. Because the precise estimation of fmax is not easy in experiments, further discussion is difficult at present.

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According to a new study, Australia needs a national drinking water quality database – we speak to Paul Wyrwoll and Evie Rose, two authors of the study, about why on this episode of Policy Forum Pod.

How many Australians lack access to safe and good-quality drinking water? What does it mean for people’s lives to not have access to water that meets Australian health and aesthetic standards for water quality? And how can policymakers ensure people in regional and remote Australia have agency and power in decision-making around their water services? On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, Dr Paul Wyrwoll and Evie Rose join Professor Sharon Bessell and Dr Arnagretta Hunter to discuss their new research about water access in Australia. Listen here: https://bit.ly/3ps6rxY

Paul Wyrwoll is a Research Fellow at the ANU Institute for Water Futures and Crawford School of Public Policy. He works on water economics and policy in Australia and the Asia-Pacific, with a focus on drinking water provision, large water infrastructure, and nature-based solutions to flood and water quality control.

Evie Rose is a PhD Candidate at Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University researching the policy challenges of drinking water security and quality in remote Aboriginal communities in Central Australia.

Arnagretta Hunter is the Human Futures Fellow at ANU College of Health and Medicine, a cardiologist, physician, and a Senior Clinical Lecturer at ANU Medical School.

Sharon Bessell is Professor of Public Policy and Director of both the Children’s Policy Centre and the Poverty and Inequality Research Centre at ANU Crawford School of Public Policy.

Show notes | The following were mentioned during this episode:

‘How many Australians lack safe and good-quality drinking water?’, Paul Wyrwoll et al, Policy Forum (2022)

‘Measuring the gaps in drinking water quality and policy across regional and remote Australia’, Paul Wyrwoll et al, NPJ Clean Water (2022)

Purple House

‘Securing supply: governing drinking water in the Northern Territory’, Liam Grealy and Kirsty Howey, Australian Geography (2020)

Policy Forum Pod is available on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Subscribe on Android or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to [email protected]. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.

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On a tour of increasingly parched California on Thursday, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited a water recycling project in Irvine to tout her department’s allocation of more than $310 million to combat a western “megadrought” fueled largely by climate change.

Joined by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton, Haaland stood before heavy equipment at the Syphon Reservoir Improvement Project and said she felt “overjoyed” to announce the funding of 25 water recycling projects, 20 of which are in California.

“These projects will advance drought resilience by bolstering water reuse and recycling techniques while supporting over 850,000 people in providing clean, reliable drinking water to families throughout the West,” Haaland said.

Haaland’s announcement comes a week after Gov. Gavin Newsom warned that California could stand to lose 10% of its water supply by 2040. The governor released a pledge to revamp the state’s strategies to meet the challenges of a “hotter, drier future,” including boosting its water recycling capacities.

The funding announced Thursday will come from the bipartisan infrastructure bill that President Biden signed last year. It allocated $8.3 billion to the Bureau of Reclamation for water infrastructure projects.

The Irvine Ranch Water District’s Syphon Reservoir Improvement Project, which seeks to store enough recycled water to meet future needs, is set to receive $12.2 million from the Interior Department; the district serves 500,000 customers.

Porter called the Irvine Ranch Water District a “national leader” in the effort to conserve and expand water supplies. She applauded the funding allocation announced by her former congressional colleague.

“The longer we wait to take action,” Porter said, “the harder and more expensive it will become to solve both the water crisis and climate change.”

Paul Cook, general manager of the Irvine Ranch Water District, described the project as a large undertaking that would entail four years of construction before being completed by 2028.

Another water official, however, voiced frustration over how the federal government awarded assistance, and said there needed to be a “new paradigm” for grants in the face of recurring drought.

“$310 million does not provide new water supply, and we are running dry in California,” said Steve Sheldon, president of the Orange County Water District. “Instead of sprinkling multimillion-dollar grants to projects that by and large will already be built, our federal and state government should prioritize funding and expedite approvals to construct large-scale water supply facilities that under existing circumstances would not be constructed.”

Sheldon said that currently, in order for projects to apply for grants, they must have an approved environmental impact report, which he said can cost millions of dollars. Most water districts will not spend that money unless they are relatively sure that they will go forward with the project, he said.

Water infrastructure in the western United States has become an increasingly urgent focus as the region struggles through the driest 23-year period in 1,200 years.

Recently, the Bureau of Reclamation invoked previously negotiated water cuts to Arizona, Nevada and Mexico after Colorado River basin states failed to agree on water usage reductions ordered by the Biden administration. And, as the drought is expected to continue, many of the projects slated to be boosted by Interior Department funding won’t be operational for years.

At Thursday’s press conference, Wade Crowfoot, California secretary for natural resources, urged Californians to reduce their water usage in the meantime.

He said that despite “some slow starts,” Californians were making progress. In July, he said, residents had cut water use “upwards of 10%” compared with 2020 — the first year of the drought. Newsom, however, has asked urban water users to voluntarily cut back by 15%

When asked by reporters about how close California is to mandatory statewide cuts, Crowfoot acknowledged that “all options are on the table.”

The Interior Department announcement also came on the heels of Biden signing the Inflation Reduction Act into law, which officials lauded at the Irvine press conference. The legislation includes $4 billion to address the water crisis along the Colorado River.

Haaland touted both laws as representing the “largest investments in drought resilience” in the nation’s history.

“Water is essential to everything we do,” Haaland said. “None of us can live without it. It powers our economy, sustains our environment and, quite frankly, keeps us alive.”

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OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Metropolitan Utilities District (MUD) says the drinking water they treat is safe and they’re aware of concerns surrounding news of a child’s death possibly connected to an amoeba contracted from swimming in the Elkhorn River.

In a press release, MUD says they’re in contact with state and Douglas County health officials and are monitoring the situation.

See the full press release from MUD below.

“Metropolitan Utilities District (the District) is aware of the news of a child’s death possibly connected to an amoeba (N. fowleri) contracted from swimming in the Elkhorn River. The District is monitoring the situation and is in contact with state and Douglas County health officials.

There is no risk when drinking water treated by the District. The water supply continues to be safe for drinking and other domestic uses and meets all federal and state standards.

The District operates three water treatment facilities which provide multiple barriers of protection. The treatment processes are effective in removing and killing the amoeba. The water goes through a multi-step process including clarification, disinfection and filtration. In addition, the District maintains a level of disinfectant residual to protect water quality throughout its distribution system.

For other information, please visit the District’s website.”

RELATED: Child in Douglas County dies from a suspected ‘brain-eating’ amoeba infection

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Flood vicitms in the district have been going through immese sufferings due to crisis of food and pure drinking water.

“We have neihter any food nor have received any relief at the shelter,”said Terab Bibi, a resident of Chararpar of Sylhet city who has taken shelter at Ramkrishna Primary School in Chalibandar area amid the worsening flood situation.

“I failed to provide any food to my children as no relief materials have reached the shelter yet. I gave some puffed rice to my children. How can I stay here?” said the 35-year old woman. 

Floods are ravaging the country and vast areas starting from Sylhet-Sunamganj to northern Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram have been submerged by floodwaters.

As rains ceased, floodwater started to recede in some flood-hit areas on Sunday. However, many rivers are still flowing above the danger level.

Power supply has partially restored in some areas of Sylhet city after eight hours of disruption around 8 pm on Saturday, said Abdul Kadir, Chief engineer of Power Development Board, Sylhet.

The power supply to Sulhet was suspended Saturday afternoon as flood water entered the Kumargaon Power Grid substation.

Power supply was restored in a number of areas in the city including Jindabazar, Chouhatta, Ambarkhana, Bandarbazar, Nayasarak, Naiurpool, Shahi Eidgah, Tilagarh, Baluchar and Mirer Dokan on Sunday.

Also read: Sylhet: A city tries to cope with its worst flood in living memory

Many people have taken shelter in the houses of their relatives while many people in government declared shelter homes. 

Ruhul Alam, executive engineer of Sylhet City Corporation (in-charge of shelter homes), said at least 30 shelter homes have been opened in the city but it is difficult to know how many people are residing there.

“Already 30 metric tonnes of rice have been allocated but we failed to distribute these at the shelter homes due to incessant rainfalls,” he said.

During a recent visit to different shelter homes in the city, the UNB correspondent found that an acute shortage of food and pure drinking water has intensified the sufferings of the people who have talen shelter in many primary schools and other educational institutions.

A large number of people are still waiting at their respective houses as they failed to arrange any transport to reach the shelter homes or other safer places.

Nitesh Sarkar, a resident of Sylhet Suburb area, said all shops were closed and there is no way to go to other places as the roads were submerged by floodwater.

Shamsuddin Ahmed, a resident of Fatehpur area in Goainghat upazila of the district said they are suffering from pure drinking water as the only tube-well of  his house was submerged by 
floodwater.

During a visit to differtnt parts of the Sylhet city including Subidbazar, Sobhanighat and Dakkhin Surma Station Road, the correspondent learnt that the roads, shops and dwelling houses were submerged by the floodwater and people were waiding through knee-to waist deep water.

Besides, the prices of daily essentials have shot up in the kitchen markets. 

Also read:2 lakh people stranded as flood situation worsens in Kurigram

The unprecedented flooding inundated 80 percent of the territory in Sylhet district, and 90 percent area of Sunamganj, according to Flood Forecast and Warning Center. 

The water levels of all major rivers in Sunamganj are also well above their danger marks. 

A limited number of vehicles were plying on Sylhet- Sunamganj road as large sections of it went under flood water, effectively cutting off the two districts from each other. 

Authorities were also forced to disconnect power and gas supply in some flood-hit areas to avoid the risk of a bigger disaster.

Already nine teams of the army in eight upazilas of Sylhet and Sunamganj districts are conducting the rescue operation. They were involved in taking the flood-hit people to the nearest shelter homes, said Major General Hamidul Haque of Sylhet Cantonment.

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CALABASAS, CA — Las Virgenes residents taste-tested the purest water around on Saturday — in the form of gelato made from ultra-filtered recycled water. The event showed off a massive and ambitious water treatment project, which ultimately aims to generate 20 percent of the region’s water amid an unflinching Southern California drought.

Beloved local sweets shop Tifa Chocolate and Gelato whipped up sorbet and gelato using purified water from the Pure Water Project’s demonstration facility located at the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District in Calabasas.

Hundreds of local residents on Saturday taste-tested water that had gone through the facility’s intensive treatment process, took tours of the facility, played games such as Jenga and four-square and got their faces painted.

“This is the second of three events that we’re having that’s sorbet and gelato, making people aware of the everyday uses of water, including pure water. Again, it’s just as safe or even safer than normal drinking water,” said Joe McDermott, Director of Engineering and Public Affairs for the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District.

The Pure Water Project is preparing a full-scale facility, which will eventually produce six million gallons of drinkable water per day, McDermott said. This would provide up to 20 percent of the district’s water supply. The facility will be located in Agoura Hills and is expected to be up and running in 2028. The Pure Water Project is an initiative of the Las Virgenes-Triunfo Joint Powers Authority.

The district, which currently imports 100 percent of its drinking water, has faced intense drought conditions in recent months.

The region’s two key sources of water are Lake Oroville, which was at 48 percent of its water capacity in April, and the Northern Sierra snowpack, which was only at 15 percent of normal capacity in April, according to the district.

Residents have cut usage down to one-day-per-week outdoor watering and had their unique outdoor water allocations reduced by 50 percent.

The district was also recently denied its request for additional water given the region’s high fire risk.

“What we’re really trying to highlight is this is a [reality] — not just here but anywhere in Southern California, any place that has water supply constraints like we do right now. This is a new water supply, and this will provide — at the full-scale facility — up to 20 percent of our water needs,” McDermott said.

The facility will lengthen the existing lifespan of local water resources. Currently, water that is used in local homes is retreated and made safe enough for uses like landscaping before it eventually washes out into the ocean as runoff, according to Riki Clark, Public Affairs Associate for the district. This treatment will take that already treated recycled water and purify it through a three-step process, starting its life cycle over again, Clark said.

The water that comes out is free of 99.999 percent of any contaminants, Clark said. Clark hosted facility tours at Saturday’s event

“It is truly more pure than anything else that’s out there, it’s very safe and we feel good about it. This is the future,” McDermott said.

The district handed out goodies and practical items at Saturday’s event, like buckets to catch extra water in the shower or while washing dishes. Agoura Hills resident Lauri Markson encouraged her neighbors to make small changes to contribute to conservation. The changes such as keeping a bucket in her shower to catch excess water and using that water for plants and flushing her toilet are easier than many people think.

The district hosted an event featuring coffee made with pure water, and will host a beer event in the fall.

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Drinking a lot of water does not seem to lower the risk of
dry eye disease (DED) but may rather contribute to a modest risk increase, as reported in a recent cross-sectional study.

A team of investigators from Oslo University Hospital in Norway and University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands looked at 51,551 participants from the population-based Lifelines cohort (mean age 51.2 years, 60.5 percent female, 98.7 percent European White) and found that higher water intake was associated with an increased prevalence of Women’s Health Study (WHS)-defined DED (odds ratio [OR], 1.011 per 100 ml/day, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.004–1.017; p=0.003). [Acta Ophthalmol 2022;doi:10.1111/aos.15227]

Even after excluding participants with clinical DED, the analysis still showed that drinking greater amounts of water conveyed a higher likelihood of having DED symptoms (OR, 1.010 per 100 ml/day, 95 percent CI, 1.006–1.015; p<0.001).

The same was true for higher 24-hour urine volumes – a biomarker of hydration status – with each 100 ml/day increment in urine volume correlating with a 1-percent increase in the risk of WHS-defined DED (OR, 1.010, 95 percent CI, 1.005–1.015; p<0.001).

These associations persisted when beverage water and food water were assessed separately.

“While greater water intake has been associated with health benefits in other general populations, such as lower risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and chronic kidney disease, this large epidemiological study did not find it to be associated with a reduced risk of having DED,” according to the investigators. [Eur J Clin Nutr 2021;75:801-1808;
Medicine 2021;100:e26009]

“The European Food Safety Authority recommends daily intake of food and beverage water of 2.0 L/day for females and 2.5 L/day for males, but no upper limit was defined. This includes water from all food and beverage sources, but excludes metabolic water,” they noted.

In this study, 74.5 percent of men and 39.8 percent of women did not meet the said water intake recommendations. The investigators used this cutoff in a sensitivity analysis and obtained results similar to that of the primary analyses. That is, water intake above the cutoff was positively associated with WHS-defined DED.

There is no substantial literature to establish a biological link behind the relationship between habitual hydration and DED. Yet, the investigators noted that some clinicians recommend drinking more water as supplemental therapy for dry eye. Additionally, the internet perpetuates the claim that drinking water is beneficial for dry eye, with some of the information even suggesting that improving whole-body hydration through fluid intervention could have a therapeutic effect on dry eyes. [Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2012;53:6622-6627; J Med Internet Res 2013;15:e220]

“Due to this, patients may be inclined to think that increasing water intake would alleviate dry eye symptoms,” they said.

Based on the present data, the investigators deemed that advising dry eye patients to increase their water intake to be unjustifiable. They called for interventional studies to fully understand any effect of water consumption on dry eye.

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Water quality trading has been proposed as a way to address water pollution, where one source of pollution is allowed to emit a pollutant at levels greater than required by buying “credits” from another source that is able to control pollution levels below the required threshold. An article published in Contemporary Economic Policy provides a comprehensive review of experiences with water quality trading programs worldwide over more than four decades.

The authors note that one of the biggest challenges of making water quality trading programs work is that agricultural production, an important source of pollution in many watersheds, remains largely unregulated.

“There is potential for water quality trading to evolve further and serve as a cost-effective pollution control instrument, but this requires nudging political will, in particular creating regulatory drivers for all pollution sources, streamlining competing policy programs, and making costs and benefits of trading clear and visible to all program participants,” said corresponding author Haiyan Liu, PhD, of the University of Waterloo, in Canada.

Journal

Contemporary Economic Policy

Article Title

What is the future of water quality trading?

Article Publication Date

17-Aug-2022

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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CLAIM: Polio has been found in New York City tap water.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The virus that causes polio has been detected in New York sewage samples, not tap water. Sewage (also known as wastewater) and tap water flow through separate systems, which eliminates the possibility of tap water being contaminated by sewage, city and state officials told The Associated Press.

THE FACTS: The New York City and New York state health departments announced Friday that poliovirus has been found in city sewage samples. Shortly afterward, a post claiming that polio had been found in the city’s tap water began spreading on social media.

“Under Biden, they are now finding Polio in tap water,” reads the post, which received more than 112,000 likes on Instagram. “Congratulations, your vote has put us in a third world state all because you don’t like ‘mean tweets.’” It includes a screenshot of a tweet featuring a promotional video in which Mayor Eric Adams touts the city’s tap water. The tweet captions the Adams video: “Do you all remember that time when Mayor Adam’s told everyone in New York City to drink the tap water? Anyways, they found Polio in the New York City water.”

But poliovirus was found in sewage samples, not tap water, and people cannot contract polio by drinking the city’s tap water, multiple city and state officials said.

“New Yorkers should know that wastewater is not the same as drinking water, and it cannot be a source of infection or transmission,” Samantha Fuld, a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Health, told the AP in an email.

Wastewater — used water from toilets, sinks, showers and household appliances — does not come in contact with the city’s drinking water, she said, adding there are no plans to test tap water for poliovirus.

Edward Timbers, director of communications for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, confirmed to the AP in an email that the city’s wastewater cannot end up in its tap water and that the presence of poliovirus in sewage samples does not imply that the virus is also in drinking water.

“There are two separate systems in NYC,” he said. “There’s drinking water and there’s wastewater.”

New York City drinking water is treated with purifying agents, such as chlorine, ultraviolet light and fluoride, to ensure that it is safe to consume and free of pathogens, according to the city’s 2021 Drinking Water Supply and Quality Report.

“You definitely don’t need to be worried about the well-treated drinking water in New York,” Dr. Kimberly Thompson, a polio expert and president of health nonprofit Kid Risk, Inc., told the AP.

Polio can be spread through water contaminated with feces from an infected person, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though it typically spreads through person-to-person contact.

Friday’s announcement noted that poliovirus’ presence in New York City sewage samples indicated “a risk of community transmission.” The state Department of Health began monitoring wastewater for signs of poliovirus through repeated sampling after a Rockland County, New York, resident developed paralysis as a result of poliovirus earlier this summer, Fuld said.

According to the state agency, the CDC has confirmed the presence of poliovirus in sewage samples from New York City, Rockland County and New York’s Orange County. Thompson explained that repeated samples of poliovirus found in wastewater are indicators that the virus is spreading, since it can be transmitted through an infected person’s feces.

A similar false claim about disease transmission via tap water — that monkeypox was found in Georgia drinking water — spread on social media earlier this month.

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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.

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