10 Countries With the Worst Drinking Water

10 Countries With the Worst Drinking Water.
More than a quarter of the world’s population – about 2.1 billion people – lack access to clean water, according to a report released this week by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
National data were available for about 100 countries in 2015, and these are the 10 with the least safely managed water supply.
Mexico Nearly three-quarters of people in Mexico drink packaged water, and the country is a world leader in consumption of bottled water per capita.
Pakistan Pakistan is the country with the greatest gap in basic hygiene between the richest and the poorest.
Ghana More than half of people in Ghana have limited sanitation services.
Cambodia Cambodia is one of 18 countries where at least 5 percent of the population relies on delivered water.
Nigeria Nigeria is one of the fastest improving countries when it comes to water quality, but 15 percent of people still drink from unimproved water sources.
Uganda Nearly 40 percent of people in Uganda need to travel more than 30 minutes to access safe drinking water.
Read about a program in Kenya that’s encouraging better sanitation, countries with the best public health care and check out more news, data and analysis on the U.S. News Best Countries site.

Bottled water companies hit back, say they’re the targets of political parties who want water levies

Bottled water companies say they’re being unfairly targeted by political parties who want to charge a levy on water.
A water tax has become a hot political issue.
Source: 1 NEWS A water tax has become a hot political issues after the Green Party announced this week they want to charge companies who sell or export bottled water – the Government and Labour are looking at the option too.
But Nelson-based Kiwi water company E’stel Water, which bottles 1 million litres of water each year, says having to pay a tax on every litre it sells would be disastrous.
"It’s going to crush the water industry," chief executive Andrew Strang said.
"We don’t believe we could survive through it."
"We are at risk of losing what is an abundant fresh water resource in New Zealand," Greens co-leader James Shaw said.
"Putting a price on it values it and also encourages companies to be more efficient on the use of that resource."
But the industry says if water bottling companies have to pay for the 28 million litres of water they use a year, then farmers, manufacturers and orchardists should have to too since they also profit from using New Zealand water.
"In the first two minutes of this conversation, the Huka Falls would have provided enough water to go out of New Zealand, for the water bottlers – just two minutes."

Mixed signals on safety of leaving plastic bottles in summer heat

Mixed signals on safety of leaving plastic bottles in summer heat.
MISSOULA, Mont.
Hot water on a hot day is no fun, but if it’s a plastic water bottle the plastic can break down and release substances into the water that could be toxic.
In the late 2000s numerous studies like this one showed the chemical compound commonly called BPA could leach into the water in reusable plastic bottles such as those manufactured by Nalgene.
Health impacts from BPA are still nebulous, but there is evidence it can disrupt hormones because it acts like estrogen.
DEHA, the email continues, is not even used in plastic bottle construction.
​ A study in India showed levels of compounds that could be potentially toxic in certain brands of PET bottles were far below World Health Organization safety limits after months of testing.
However, a 2014 study by the University of Florida found antimony and BPA did leach into plastic bottles.
But the testing under weeks of temperatures approaching 160 degrees showed leaching of antimony and BPA far below unsafe levels.
Despite the findings the lead scientist on the study, Lena Ma, advocated in a press release by the university to not leave plastic water bottles in the heat for long periods or for even a hot afternoon in a car.

California Groups Demand Info on Nestle’s Water Pumping

(CN) — Environmentalists who want Nestle to stop pumping tens of millions of gallons from a California creek, virtually for free, to sell it as bottled water, have sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for records on the multinational corporation.
The Courage Campaign is calling for Nestle to stop bottling water from at least 12 natural California springs, to sell as Arrowhead and Pure Life bottled water.
Nestle pays the federal government just $524 a year to divert water from the forest, the groups say.
As the second-largest bottler in the state, we’re filling a role many others are filling.
It’s driven by consumer demand; it’s driven by an on-the-go society that needs to hydrate.
The public will have just 30 days to comment on the report after it is issued.
Nestle uses a 4-mile pipeline at the creek for its bottling operations in Ontario, California.
Critics of Nestle’s bottling operations say the Forest Service did not act on renewing the company’s permit for 28 years, and that the water supply in Strawberry Creek was dwindling during the state’s devastating drought.
The International Bottled Water Association, a trade group, claims bottled water accounts for less than 0.01 percent of water use nationwide, and 0.02 percent of water in California each year.
The FDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When is water clean enough? Duke Energy’s neighbors and the state debate.

The biggest concern was hexavalent chromium, which might cause cancer when found in drinking water.
Duke says the hexavalent chromium in the wells didn’t come from its stocks of coal ash stored at the plants.
But state legislators last year ordered Duke to offer alternate water to its neighbors.
But Duke plans to offer systems to filter contaminants out of well water to about 20 percent of the residents.
But, confusingly to Duke’s neighbors, the state has a separate “health goal” for hexavalent chromium.
The health goal is .07 ppb, 140 times more restrictive than the filter standard.
“While we appreciate other efforts the DEQ has taken to address the coal ash problems, we believe the newly-announced standards are far too lenient to Duke,” law firm founder Mona Lisa Wallace said in a statement Wednesday.
“They would allow Duke to install water filtration systems that could contaminate at levels far above what hook-ups to municipal water would provide.
We believe all Duke coal ash neighbors and their families are entitled to municipal water hook-ups and clean water.” WBTV this week reported on an internal memo in which two state health scientists also said the new filter standard wouldn’t adequately protect well owners.
The department said it would ask a state science panel whether the filter standard should be revised.

Did you leave the water running?

Did you leave the water running?.
That’s what Cornelia asked me on the phone when she got home one day.
I had left the house with headphones on, so I didn’t hear that I had left the water running in the kitchen.
Luckily (?
), we pay a flat rate for water as we have no meter, so my mistake — leaving the tap open for 2 hrs and thus wasting about 0.73 m3 of water ( 120*6liters/min = 720 liters) — cost nothing.
Had we paid the price of metered water (about €1.50/m^3), it would have cost about €1-2 but been far more painful (like dropping a coin in the canal).
Anyway, the point of this post is that meters make people think different about water consumption, but so do some other things.
I got a plumber to repair a leaking toilet last year (cost about €100) because we were renting out to Airbnb people and a leaking toilet is annoying.
The cost was far greater than the water lost (ignoring that I don’t pay for that), but it’s been nice to have a quiet toilet 🙂 Bottom Line: Nobody wants to "waste" water, but meters (price incentives) will encourage them to take actions to waste less.

Mayim Bialik and SodaStream Study the Primitive ‘Homoschlepiens’ and Their Bottled Water

Mayim Bialik and SodaStream Study the Primitive ‘Homoschlepiens’ and Their Bottled Water.
A cautionary tale from the year 2136 Picture a world where plastic bottles no longer exist.
A new campaign from the brand imagines a time when plastic bottles are relics from the past, relegated to display cases and museums.
Bialik plays a field researcher in the year 2136.
Her subject?
Homoschlepiens, or people who schlepped water around in plastic bottles.
The ad isn’t really meant to call people who use plastic bottles idiots, but hit home the idea that it is “primitive … to hydrate with single-use plastic bottles that pollute our Earth,” said Daniel Birnbaum, CEO of SodaStream.
“As a species, we have evolved so much, but much as we know plastic bottles pollute our environment and kill marine life, we continue to use them.
“I think that the future lies in reduction at the source.
This is what SodaStream stands for, and it’s why I am so happy to be a part of this campaign.

Anchor Hocking rolls out reusable glass water bottle

Anchor Hocking says the glass used in the LifeProof water bottles is "up to 100 percent stronger than regular glass."
Released Tuesday under their Anchor Hocking brand, the “LifeProof Glass Water Bottle” is the longtime manufacturer’s attempt to carve out a space in an increasingly crowded $1 billion industry.
Glass has been touted by some as a safer alternative to plastic and metal bottles, some of which could still contain chemicals such as BPA, although BPA-free plastic bottles have become common.
Opportunities for glass water bottles still exist on the higher end of the market, says industry research firm The Freedonia Group.
“Glass’ upscale image, superior gas barrier properties, and better preservation of taste compared with plastic have allowed glass bottles to claim a small portion of the bottled-water market, particularly in the premium segment,” a Freedonia report said.
In the past, the durability of glass bottles has been a concern to some consumers, but Anchor Hocking hopes that the LifeProof’s tempered glass construction will allay those fears.
“We’ve dedicated more than a century to excellence in glass manufacturing and glassware design right here in the U.S., and as more consumers are once again realizing the benefits of glass containers, we set out to design a glass water bottle that would be superior in strength and durability,” said Jeff Jarrett, chief marketing officer at Onedia Group, Anchor Hocking’s parent company, in a release.
The glass used in the LifeProof bottle is “up to 100 percent stronger than regular glass,” according to the company.
To protect the glass further and add some grip, each bottle comes with a textured, BPA-free silicone sleeve.
Oneida Group, parent of Anchor Hocking, moved its headquarters to Columbus from Lancaster earlier this year.

I-93 blasting may be to blame for unsafe well water in Windham

The wells had been tested before blasting began, but tests in March revealed that some wells contained water that was unsafe to cook with or drink.
“They came back and said our nitrate levels had gone up to the point that we couldn’t use our water anymore,” Mike Kerrigan said.
“It’s only inconvenient when you’re cooking,” Corey Kerrigan said.
The Department of Transportation said of the five wells with elevated nitrate levels on Tarbell Road, one showed high levels before the blasting began.
The Kerrigan family is still getting used to it.
You’ve got to get ice from the store.” Not all of the wells on Tarbell Road have been affected.
Tom Langlois, who lives next door to the Kerrigans, has not had problems with his well water.
What’s happening to my pool?
What is happening to my well?
What’s happening to the foundation you can’t see?’” Langlois said.

Sunoco to replace private well water with public supply in Chester County

Sunoco to replace private well water with public supply in Chester County.
Sunoco Pipeline agreed on Tuesday to pay for public water to be supplied to about 30 homes in Chester County’s West Whiteland Township where water from private wells turned cloudy after a Sunoco pipeline drilling operation for the Mariner East 2 hit a spring, a township official said.
Turner said the company had opted to convert the homes to public water because of an expectation that private well water would remain cloudy.
“It’s going to continue to give the people cloudy water and they are never going to be satisfied,” he said.
The company’s statement about the spring to the township came a week before it publicly acknowledged on July 3 that private well water had been contaminated, and began to supply affected residents with bottled water, extra filtration systems, and offers of local hotels in which to stay or bathe while domestic water supplies were disrupted.
“We were notified by Sunoco that they thought they had tapped into a spring,” Turner said.
“This particular drill is going in 3,000 feet, and they are not even a third of the way in when they start to see some water.” He said the township received its first complaints about cloudy water on July 3, and that Sunoco immediately responded.
“I called the Sunoco people on Monday, July 3, and within half an hour there was a team of about ten folks up there,” Turner said.
Initial test results from an independent water-testing company began to come in to the township on Tuesday, and unexpectedly showed that private well water was not contaminated with bentonite clay, also known as drilling mud, Turner said.
It’s just cloudy water,” he said.