Jal Shakti minister Swatantra Dev Singh said besides providing tap water to all households, his department was also engaged in providing employment to every villager.

“My department is working on a simultaneous plan to empower rural women by increasing their income while working from home,” Dev said on Tuesday while talking about the 100-day achievement of his department.

“Jal Jeevan Mission has completed piped drinking water schemes in 574 villages of the state in 100 days. These include 64 drinking water schemes of Bundelkhand/Vindhya and water connections have been given to 3.76 lakh houses under these schemes,” he said.

Work on 63 other schemes was completed in Bundelkhand in 100-day period, he said.

“Against the target of drinking water connection in 50,000 houses, household tap connections were given in more than 66,000 houses. Water supply with tap connections has also been started in more than 33,000 houses under the scheme,” he added.

“A total of 1,236 gram-panchayats are going to benefit from 17 projects in Mirzapur and Sonbhadra of Vindhya region and 2,961 revenue villages will be benefitted. We aim to provide more than 6.5 lakh functional household tap connections (FHTCs) in Vindhya region by December 2022 so that over 40 lakh people get pure drinking water through a piped drinking water scheme,” he added.

He also said through Har Ghar Nal Yojana, 7,56,522 people will be employed in rural areas of the state.

“The villagers are being employed on contractual basis for posts like plumber, fitter, operator, caretaker and security guards,” he said.

He also said efforts were on to make Ganga river flow clean in Varanasi for which restoration work has been completed by cleaning and lining the 7.5 km long ‘shahi nullah’.

“Drains opening into the Yamuna at Panki in Kanpur and in Mathura were tapped and the construction of new STPs at Masani, Jaunpur and Baghpat were completed. Also, 34 drains have been tapped in Mirzapur, Ghazipur, Farrukhabad-Fatehgarh and Bareilly,” he added.

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AFRICA/RWANDA – Water supply: Access to clean water for 50,000 people

Wednesday, 20 July 2022

MLFM

Kigali (Agenzia Fides) – “How can you wash your hands in a context of health emergency without water?” asks Omar Fiordalisio, head of the office in Rwanda of the Italian charity Movimento Lotta Fame nel Mondo (MLFM), based in Kigali with reference to a project in which he worked together with the local population to implement a water supply system in Gatsibo. “We have finally officially completed the MLFM’s largest water supply project to date,” reads his report, “It’s been three intense years of work, hard work and big and small difficulties”. “The main obstacle was the COVID pandemic: the unforeseen increase in costs and a forced break of several months threatened to delay the construction of the aqueducts. Fortunately, after discussions with the local authorities, we were included in the Rwandan government’s list of priority projects and the works were rescheduled. In the three years on site, we involved up to 700 Rwandan workers, to whom we taught the trade and guaranteed a salary. We provided 10,000 families with clean drinking water. In total, we helped more than 50,000 people”. The MLFM volunteer talks about the emotion seen in the eyes of the people who now have clean water near their home. “In those moments – he explains – there is almost a touch of magic floating in the air. They are looks that speak without making sounds, but only emotions. The children are amused: they take water from the hose and carve out a place to fill their tank. They laugh out loud with joy, dance to celebrate and make some jokes with friends and splash the water. The mothers, on the other hand, are calmer, almost serious: but I see so much gratitude in those shining eyes. For them, water means hygiene, health, cleanliness, water close to home means less effort and a few minutes to get it, which means they have more energy and time to take care of their children and and family needs”. (OF/AP) (Agenzia Fides, 20/7/2022)

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Nicholas Pongratz

Wednesday, Jul 20, 2022, 10:40

Image by Shutterstock.com

In the summer heat, the demand for drinking water increases significantly, and providers are already preparing for this, the Ministry of Technology and Industry announced on its Facebook page.

The increased demand for water is typical in touristic areas and in the part of the Budapest agglomeration where the number of properties and the population have grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, the ministry wrote.

In the Balaton area, on an average mid-year day, the amount of water extracted and used is 70,000 cubic meters per day; on a summer day, this increases to 90,000 cubic meters, and during prolonged heat, it can be up to 130,000 cubic meters per day.

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Hundreds of thousands of Australians in more than 400 remote or regional communities lack access to quality drinking water, new research shows.

More than half a million Australians in at least 400 remote or regional communities lack access to quality drinking water.

An estimated 408 rural locations with a combined population of 627,736 people failed to measure up to health-based guidelines in 2018-2019, according to researchers at the Australian National University.

The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines’ aesthetic determinants of good water quality across taste, colour and odour were used.

Researchers reviewed public reporting by 177 water utilities to measure potential gaps in drinking water quality in regional and remote areas.

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About two million people are not included in this reporting, as national water quality statistics only include those service providers with at least 10,000 connections.

Additionally, 40 per cent of locations with reported health-based non-compliances were remote Indigenous communities.

Lead researcher Dr Paul Wyrwoll called for greater transparency in Australia’s national reporting of drinking water quality.

“Our national statistics misrepresent the challenges facing households and water service providers across regional and remote Australia,” he said.

It comes amid growing concerns about safe access to clean drinking water in remote Indigenous communities across the Northern Territory.

A 2020 Power and Water report found water in the remote Aboriginal community Laramba was contaminated with 0.052 milligrams per litre of uranium, which is more than three times the recommended limit under national drinking water guidelines.

Dr Wyrwoll has pushed for a national drinking water database to ensure the public is better informed.

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• Six-year-old Derek Greathouse, left, and his 4-year-old brother Eli, of Austin, Texas, visit Muir Beach on Monday, July 18, 2022. Muir Beach was among Marin beaches to get top marks in a water quality report by the environmental nonprofit Heal The Bay. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

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  Waves wash over rocks and mussels at Muir Beach on Monday, July 18, 2022. Muir Beach was among Marin beaches to get top marks in a water quality report by the environmental nonprofit Heal The Bay. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

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  Kids and coaches from Big Dog Surf Camp get in the water at Muir Beach on Monday, July 18, 2022. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

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  People walk along a trail at Muir Beach on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

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  A wave crashes at Muir Beach on Monday, July 18, 2022. Muir Beach was among Marin beaches to get top marks in a water quality report by the environmental nonprofit Heal The Bay. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

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  Kids and coaches from Big Dog Surf Camp come ashore at Muir Beach on Monday, July 18, 2022. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

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  Six-year-old Derek Greathouse, left, and his 4-year-old brother Eli, of Austin, Texas, play at Muir Beach on Monday, July 18, 2022. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

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  Visitors arrive at Stinson Beach on Thursday, April 1, 2021. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

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  Waves spray behind visitors at Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

Marin County beaches received high marks for water quality for a fourth consecutive year, a performance that could be influenced by the drought.

All 26 beaches tested in Marin received either A or B grades last year as part of the latest “Beach Report Card” released by Heal the Bay, an environmental group based in Santa Monica. The grades are based on concentrations of fecal bacteria contamination such as E. coli, which can indicate the potential presence of harmful bacteria, viruses and microorganisms that can cause disease.

Arti Kundu, project manager with the Marin County Environmental Health Services division, said the severe drought last summer meant that rains that would typically flush pollutants out to the beaches did not occur until the last week of October, which is the final month of the county’s beach monitoring period.

“We didn’t get a lot of rain events and when we don’t get that we see that beach water quality is a little bit better compared to when you get a lot of rain,” Kundu said.

Similar trends were seen throughout the state. Heal the Bay said 91% of beaches monitored from Marin to Del Norte counties received A or B grades during the summer. The region also received 42% less rainfall than average, the report states.

Marin beaches and coastal areas are tested weekly for water quality from April through October. The tests are not conducted from November through March because the county does not receive state funding for those months.

While Marin and other northern California beaches had high grades for tests performed during dry weather, several beaches received below-average scores for tests following significant rains. In Marin, nearly a third of beaches tested after wet weather received F grades for water quality, including Drakes Estero, Lawson’s Landing, Miller Park, Millerton Point, Shell Beach, Chicken Ranch Beach and Heart’s Desire Beach.

For Marin, most of the data for these wet-weather scores were from the robust storm that occurred at the end of October. The storm was the first significant rainfall in nearly 10 months and flushed out pollutants that had built up over that time, leading to the lower scores, Kundu said.

“It’s not highly correlated that if it’s going to rain a bit more, you get worse grades,” Kundu said. “The one thing the report mentions is that it also depends on the length and frequency of the storms. That can have a serious effect on bacteria concentrations.”

Marin County also had 34 sewage spills in 2021 that totaled 381,519 gallons, according to the report. A 132,500-gallon spill at Schoonmaker Beach resulted in the county issuing a health advisory.

The 2021 report card also included two new Marin locations not included in recent reports: Drakes Beach and Drakes Estero. The data for these locations were collected by the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin, an environmental nonprofit based in Point Reyes Station, which has been monitoring the locations since 2020.

Morgan Patton, executive director of the nonprofit, said the beach and estero used to be monitored through a partnership between the county and the National Park Service that ended several years ago.

“Our interest was to actually have some updated data to understand what those water bodies look like,” Patton said. “We had no information on what was happening on Drakes Beach and Drakes Estero.”

Patton said her nonprofit now has a formal partnership with the Point Reyes National Seashore and the county to monitor Drakes Beach, Drakes Estero and Abbott’s Lagoon, which will be included in next year’s report.

The Point Reyes National Seashore has come under scrutiny by local environmental groups and the state for water quality issues caused by runoff from the dairy and beef cattle ranches that rent land in the park. The National Park Service was monitoring water quality between 2000 and 2013 at several locations, including South Kehoe Creek, Kehoe Lagoon, Abbotts’ Lagoon, East Schooner Creek and the main stem of Schooner Creek. Park staff said they ended the monitoring after upgrades at the ranches — such as fencing to keep cattle from waterways, manure control, the installation of onsite water sources and creek stabilization projects — have led to major reductions in bacteria levels, in some areas by as much as 95%, according to a 2020 assessment by the park.

Some environmental groups say the ranches are still causing an unacceptable amount of bacterial runoff into local waters and beaches. In January 2021, the Western Watersheds Association nonprofit organization conducted its own water quality tests over two days after heavy rains. The study found E. coli levels that were 40 times above the state health standard at Kehoe Lagoon. County environmental health staff and park officials said several years of water quality data are required to draw conclusions and identify trends as to the water quality at these sites.

As part of an agreement with the California Coastal Commission last year, the park restarted long-term testing of these previously monitored water bodies and creeks near the coastline. The park also stated it plans to conduct studies to determine the point sources of pollution. However, the commission voted unanimously in April to reject the park’s submitted water monitoring strategy. Commissioners said the plan lacked details such as identifying priority areas for cleanup, creating benchmarks to determine whether restoration projects were working and specifying enforcement actions against ranches that did not comply.

The park staff plans to resubmit a new plan to commission for review in September.

Attempts to contact the National Park Service for comment were unsuccessful.

Laura Cunningham, California director for the Western Watersheds Project, commended the partnership between the park and the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin to resume water quality tests.

“I hope that the park service comes with a much better and stronger plan for water quality improvement,” Cunningham said. “There is still a lot of pollution happening out there according to your local grassroots hikers in the park. I would specifically hope to reduce or remove livestock grazing from these creek watersheds that drain into Drakes Estero. To me, the only way to get better water quality is to stop the manure flow from land into the water.”

More information about the Heal the Bay’s beach report can be found at healthebay.org/beachreportcard2022.

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Known for encouraging people to drink more water with its microdrinks and sustainable accessories, the
Austrian brand is determined to position itself as the global hydration specialist by entering the filtration
industry an exclusive product designed to provide everybody with a safe hydration solution. The LUCY®
cap will be available from June 30th on www.waterdrop.com and at waterdrop® retail locations.

LUCY®, a new step toward a more sustainable & healthy lifestyle.
In the United States alone, 43% percent of adults drink less than four cups of water a day. That includes
36% who drink one to three cups, and 7% who drink no water.
Determined to encourage water consumption while reducing the use of plastic, waterdrop® decided to created a new product category called LUCY® in order to provide everybody – at home, at the office or on the go – with a safe and sustainable filtration system.

LUCY® smart cap
“Clean, track and remind” are the main features proposed by LUCY®, the new smart cap by waterdrop. This connected cap was developed to make the hydration experience even more unique. Thanks to its UV-C technology it’s now possible to filter water on the go and drink clean water directly at the point of
consumption. LUCY® can be used on every waterdrop® bottle.

● UV-C filtration system
Effectively cleans your water with a powerful UV-C sensor
● Tracks your daily hydration rate
Automatically tracks daily hydration progress in tandem with the waterdrop® Hydration App
● Reminds you to drink
Sends light signals as drinking reminder and thereby helps to reach your daily hydration target

CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/data-statistics/plain-water-the-healthier-choice.html#:~:text=During%202015%E2%80%932018%2C%20US%20children,an%20average%20of%2044%20ounces.

The LUCY® UV-C purification function deactivates up to 100% of potential contaminants in drinking water. The water is purified, without the use of any chemicals, and your bottle remains clean and odorless. UV disinfection is a reliable and harmless way of deactivating all kinds of viruses, bacteria and germs.

Improve your hydration level by connecting LUCY® smart cap with the waterdrop® Hydration App
LUCY® tracks drinking progress on the device automatically, and it regularly synchronizes all the data with the waterdrop® Hydration App. No extra action is needed but the app offers many possibilities.
“Tap water is an excellent alternative: it is available everywhere at all times and does not require transport or plastic. Our platform is based on the concept of decentralized (filtered) water, and our customers will enjoy the taste and functionality they desire – at point of consumption. Our approach is
to actively develop ecological solutions to promote responsible consumption of tap water: it is a safe, economical and sustainable source of drinking water.” says Martin Murray, CEO & co-founder of the company.

Improving your well-being & protecting our planet is now as easy as a sip of water!

Price : $129.00

About waterdrop® waterdrop®’s vision is to become the world‘s leading hydration brand empowering all people to live healthier and more sustainable lives, it’s all about DRINKING MORE WATER!
waterdrop® is revolutionizing the beverage industry with the world’s first ‘microdrink’: a compact sugar-free cube that dissolves in water and enriches it with natural fruits, plants and vitamins. waterdrop® microdrinks significantly reduce plastic use and CO2 emissions by using 98% less plastic compared to traditional bottled drinks, through the individual recyclable packaging of each cube. The plastic contained in a single cap of a traditional bottle is equivalent to 10 microdrinks.

Passion & purpose – In partnership with Plastic Bank, waterdrop® pledges to collect one plastic bottle for every 12-pack sold, meaning consumers can not only drink more sustainably, but they can also support waterdrop’s cause for a better future for the environment.

After only 5 years, the Austrian company has grown to more than 1 million online customers, currently has over 250 employees, is listed in more than 10,000 retail outlets, operates more than 20 own stores between Europe and the USA and is developing through drinktech, drinkware and filtration systems to provide its customers with a complete hydration ecosystem. More information available on www.waterdrop.com

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The City of Cheboygan’s water systems are getting some much-needed upgrades.

It’s one of three northern Michigan communities included in the latest round of loans and grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Officials in Cheboygan said the loans will cover the costs of a new water tower, storage facilities and improvements to wells – all of which were identified as deficiencies in an assessment by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE).

Communities in Benzie County were also included in the loans. The Village of Elberta will use a $1.4 million loan and a nearly $2 million grant to make improvements to their water system. The Village of Honor will use a $158,000 loan to complete wastewater treatment system improvements.

In Cheboygan, along with much of Northern Michigan, aging infrastructure has been a long-standing issue. Parts of the city’s main water line are more than 100 years old.

And with increased tourism, the old system struggles to keep up.

“This is great news not just for the people in the affected communities, but everyone who values our precious water resources,” said USDA State Director for Michigan Brandon Fewins. “USDA Rural Development has the tools to help communities revitalize existing infrastructure or increase its capacity and we are always looking to build new partnerships.”

Cheboygan Director of Public Works Jason Karmol said the loans will address three issues; water storage, equipment storage and well water improvements.

To improve water storage, the city intends to store more water in a second tower located across the Cheboygan River.

“We have about half-a-million gallons in the water tower we have now, but we typically serve more in a given day,” Karmol said. “In the summer (during tourist season) we can serve about 900,000 gallons.”

A second water tower will improve water pressure throughout town, help with firefighting efforts and assure the east side of the Cheboygan River has water pressure if the river crossing lines should fail.

The city will also construct a small storage facility next to the existing wells to keep clean water equipment separate from wastewater equipment.

Even though we store them on opposite sides of the facility, we need more room anyway,” Karmol said. “We’re going to take our water meters and other clean water gear and put it in its own storage facility and keep it away from our wastewater parts.”

The wells themselves will be getting upgrades to better distribute and contain chemicals like phosphate and chlorine.

Karmol says bidding for the projects will roll out in three phases starting with the new water tower. Construction could begin by next year.

The loans will be paid back over 40 years at 1.25 percent interest – record lows according to Fewins.

At its July 1 meeting, the Cheboygan City Council voted to increase utility rates and fees for city water and sewer customers from $7.05 to $9.57 per 1,000 gallons used to account for the future developments.

The USDA also recently invested $73.9 million in communities in central and southern Michigan.

Fewins said infrastructure improvements will be especially important in rural communities.

“Over the next several years, we’re going to see record investments in expanding access to broadband, clean drinking water, sewer projects, alternative energy, upgrading our power grid, and resiliency to protect against the changing climate,” Fewins said. “USDA is going to be at the forefront of these efforts.”

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Welcome to “What’s Up With Water” – your need-to-know news of the world’s water from Circle of Blue. I’m Eileen Wray-McCann.

In Florida, a state judge delivered a setback to grassroots environmental movements. Circuit Court Judge Paetra Brownlee struck down an amendment to the Orange County Charter that protected lakes, wetlands, and streams from pollution by granting those waterways a legal right to exist. The county’s “rights to nature” amendment was passed overwhelmingly by Orlando-area voters in 2020 by a nine-to-one margin. The vote of approval came four months after the Republican-led Legislature tried to prevent similar local movements from starting. Lawmakers put a clause into an omnibus bill that prevented local governments from giving the natural environment its own legal rights. In her opinion, Judge Brownlee referenced the omnibus bill, writing that the Florida Legislature holds the power to set environmental policy and preempt county and local laws. Supporters of Orange County’s rights to nature amendment said they were unsure of their next steps but could appeal the decision.

In other legal news, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency faces a lawsuit over its recent action in response to PFAS chemicals in drinking water. In June, the agency issued non-binding health advisories for four of the so-called ‘forever chemicals.’ Now the agency is being sued by one of the companies that makes the chemicals. E&E News reports that the lawsuit from the Chemours Company targets the EPA’s health advisory for the chemical GenX. The company alleges that the EPA’s advisory “lacked scientific integrity” by overstating the harm of GenX in drinking water. No PFAS chemical is currently regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. But the agency is developing binding regulations for two of the chemicals, PFOA and PFOS. Draft versions of the rules are expected this fall.

This week Circle of Blue highlights five things to know about the drought in the American West.

The drought is tragic and tenacious. But could it also be transformative?

The dry conditions parching much of the American West are setting records nearly every week. Lakes Mead and Powell, the country’s largest reservoirs, dropped to new lows this year. The Great Salt Lake did as well. This spring, New Mexico endured its largest wildfire ever. And even these extremes may be but a prelude. The hottest months of the year are still to come.

Shortened time frames are now the norm. In the Colorado River basin, water cuts that were once nearly unthinkable even in the long term are now happening in a matter of months, not years or decades. Even so, some see opportunity in calamity, a chance to reposition the region for the trials to come.

John Entsminger, is the general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. On June 14, he addressed a Senate panel, saying “While the situation is objectively bleak, it is not in my view unsolvable,” Officials in the Colorado River basin are preparing to negotiate on water use, knowing that the time, like the water, is limited. The negotiations will be intense. This could be a season of long-lasting change for some of the country’s fastest-growing states and largest economies.

Here are five things to know about how drought is re-writing the story of America’s drylands.

1) It’s a Hot Drought

The drought is not just a failure of precipitation. The region’s rivers are also being depleted by rising temperatures due to global warming. The mechanisms are rather straightforward. Extreme heat bakes the land surface, even as the warmer, drier air absorbs and retains more water. That means less available water for soils, so when rain and melting snow do occur, the parched ground sucks up the water before it reaches rivers and reservoirs. In addition, a thirsty atmosphere also takes its share through evaporation. Between the soil and the sky, the heat is driving up drought.

2) Drought Has a Long Reach

When water stops flowing, the difficulties ripple outward. Forests become tinder boxes, a mere spark away from disaster. There have already been massive disruptions. In April, the U.S. Forest Service lost control of a prescribed burn in Santa Fe National Forest. It became the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon fire, the largest wildfire on record in New Mexico, claiming over 340 thousand acres.

When water levels drop, hydropower is weakened. With less water in reservoirs, generators crank out fewer megawatt-hours, raising the cost of electricity and increasing the risk of summer blackouts. In California last year, hydropower generation was nearly half the 10-year average. This year, Glen Canyon Dam is generating just 60 percent of its peak electrical output since Lake Powell is so low.

Depleted lakes affect human health. Earlier this month, the Great Salt Lake fell to its lowest level since record-keeping began in 1847. Receding shores expose more lakebed salts and dust, which are a respiratory hazard during windstorms.

And ecosystems are also under stress. Utah regulators see high numbers of toxic algae in the southern reaches of Utah Lake, a water body notorious for summer algae outbreaks. These hazardous outbreaks usually get worse as summer settles in.

3) Water Cutbacks Are Inevitable

When supply ebbs and reservoirs dip near record lows, authorities have a common response: reduce demand.
And that is what’s happening, in fits and starts. In June, California regulators passed an emergency order that took small steps to balance supply and demand. The order prohibits businesses, industries, schools, churches, and other institutions from using potable water on grass that is considered “non-functional,” like the kind in median strips and office parks.

But even “functional” land is feeling the pinch. Cities and farms relying on the two major canals in California have already had their allocations substantially reduced because reservoirs are below average. With less water, irrigators will cultivate less land.

The largest cuts, however, will be in the Colorado River basin. Camille Touton, the commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, said in June that the seven states in the basin have to pull less water from the Colorado River, reducing their withdrawals by up to four million acre-feet in the next year. Their plan is due next month.

4) Drought Is Political

The right to use water in the western states is subject to convoluted laws, court decrees, and precedents, some of which date back to colonial times. Those old established norms are being reexamined by residents and lawmakers in response to persistently dry conditions and a recognition of historical inequities.

In June, the Nevada Supreme Court upheld a groundwater use plan for Diamond Valley irrigators that abandons long-held principles of state water law, such as the priority system that privileges senior water rights and the “use it or lose it” requirements.

In Arizona, activists are gathering signatures to put groundwater regulation on the ballot. Their citizen’s initiative would ask voters to approve two Active Management Areas in Cochise and Graham counties, places where large farming operations have dried up shallow wells and caused the ground to fracture, damaging highways.

In California’s Central Valley, the highways are dotted with billboards proclaiming “Dams Not Trains.” It’s a plea by the region’s largest farmers, who want legislators to redirect spending. At the same time, a budget proposal in the California Legislature would allocate $1.5 billion to buy senior water rights from farmers in order to keep more water in rivers.

And across the American West, Indian tribes are increasingly involved in the political landscape of water. Acting as dealmakers, tribes have emerged as key players in water supply negotiations, particularly in Arizona, where the Gila River Indian Community has leased water to cities and pledged significant conservation this year to boost water levels in Lake Mead.

5) Drought Is Probably the Wrong Word

Some researchers and advocates say we shouldn’t even be calling this a drought. Drought, they say, implies a temporary condition, a deviation from normal. But what is happening in the Colorado River basin and other western regions is a shift in what is normal, one toward a drier climate.

Even though precipitation in this two-decade period is anomalously and historically low, climate modeling suggests that the region is not going to snap back to the wetter periods of a generation ago.

Experts describe this new climate trajectory as aridification. They argue that what we call this trend can influence how we see the problem and what we do about it – which just might help to change behavior on a scale large enough and swift enough to meet the challenge.

And that’s “What’s Up With Water” from Circle of Blue, where water speaks. More water news and analysis await you at circleofblue.org. This is Eileen Wray-McCann – thanks for being here.

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THE bathing water quality of all Andalucia’s beaches is at adequate levels, according to a recent report.

In fact, as stated in a report published by the Regional Ministry of Health and Families, the water at both beaches and inland bathing spots are all within the established quality levels for bathing except for one inland bathing area.

According to a study carried out during the first fortnight of July 2022, the one bathing place that is currently considered ‘not apt for bathing’ in Andalucia is the Guadamatillas river reservoir (La Colada dam) in El Viso (Cordoba).

Following a risk assessment of the results obtained by the Confederacion Hidrografica del Guadiana over the past month, the Territorial Delegation of Cordoba declared on July 1 a temporary ban on bathing in this area due to the presence of potentially toxic Cyanobacteria species.

Symptoms of exposure to cyanobacteria may include skin irritation, stomach cramps, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, fever, sore throat, headache, muscle and joint pain, blisters of the mouth and liver damage.

The water quality report is based on the analyses carried out by the Directorate General for Public Health and Pharmaceutical Organisation, which has monitored 359 sampling points in coastal and inland bathing areas in Andalucia and all, bar the Guadamatillas river reservoir, were found apt for swimming.

The different parameters that were taken into account to make the evaluation include: transparency, colour, mineral oils, the presence of persistent foam and floating solids, organic remains and any other residue – glass, plastic, rubber, wood – that may affect the water quality standards.

This report on bathing waters in Andalucia, issued periodically every fortnight throughout the summer season, also provides information on recommendations or bans on bathing,

The reports will be available for public consultation on the website of the Regional Ministry of Health and Families until the end of the bathing season on September 30.

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The North Texas Municipal Water District is requesting residents reduce outdoor water use because of unscheduled maintenance at a local treatment plant.

According to a press release, the NTMWD Wylie Water Treatment Plant Complex had to cease producing water July 16 at one of its four water treatment plants unexpectedly to perform critical maintenance required to return the plant back to full water purification capacity.

NTMWD officials said customers in the region are strongly encouraged to conserve water and reduce outdoor watering until further notice. The NTMWD supplies water to communities across most of Collin County, including Richardson, Frisco, McKinney and Plano. Other counties supplied by the NTMWD include Rockwall County, Kaufman County and parts of North Dallas.

The water is still safe to drink and use, but officials stated there are concerns with water production quantity in the region, according to the press release. Officials said the request for water reduction is a precautionary measure, as the NTMWD’s capacity remains adequate for household use and public safety.

The ongoing regional drought coupled with increasing outdoor water use and irrigation has stressed the water purification and distribution systems, according to the press release. NTMWD officials said the Wylie Water Treatment Plant Complex must undergo critical maintenance to restore that capacity. Maintenance crews are expected to work around the clock until capacity is restored, according to the press release.

According to the National Weather Service, the reduced water use comes during a period in which North Texas has been experiencing a heat advisory for the last week. Area temperatures have been fluctuating between 100-107 degrees Fahrenheit, according to weather service data. Similar temperatures are expected to continue throughout the week, the weather service stated. More information can be found on the water district’s website.

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Originally Appeared Here