COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – Segra Park will be the site of a water drive with all donations going to residents of Denmark, SC, a city who have long battled city and state officials about the condition of their water.
The conditions of the drinking water in Denmark have been an issue since the chemical HaloSan was discovered in the water.
The well was being treated for iron bacteria by using HaloSan, according to SC DHEC.
“DHEC recognizes that citizens have questions and concerns about the safety of the City of Denmark’s water supply, including the use of HaloSan in one well,” SC DHEC said in a previous statement to WIS. “In August, the City of Denmark notified DHEC that the well where HaloSan had been used was removed from service.
The City’s current drinking water supply comes from three other wells where HaloSan was not and is not used.” Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the city of Denmark and their use of HaloSan in the drinking water, with one lawsuit stating that the use of the chemical in the water caused "burning, rash, itching, skin discoloration/redness, blistering, and allergic-type reactions,” making the water unusable.
The drive will be from Feb. 4 to Feb. 8 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at Segra Park.
Water can be dropped off at the First Base Building – look for a sign that says "WATER DROP OFF HERE."
You can donate any bottled water – bottles, jugs, etc., just make sure they are sealed.

If there’s one place you may be forgiven for drinking bottled water, it’s out on the ocean open.
After all, where would you get fresh drinking water when you’re in the middle of the Pacific?
Oceania Cruises isn’t letting all that salty water stop it from trying to protect the environment, though.
It just announced a new sustainability initiative that could help eliminate millions of plastic water bottles per year through a new partnership with Vero Water, a water purification company.
As part of the cruise line’s OceaniaNEXT initiative, its ships will be outfitted with Vero Water’s distillation systems, which will not only eliminate an estimated 3 million plastic bottles per year, but provide guests with both still and sparkling water.
Installation of the Vero Water systems on Oceania’s fleet will be between April and June 2019, so if you take a cruse in July, expect to see lots of mermaids, whale sharks, turtles, porpoises, pirates, and manatees swimming alongside the boats and demanding sparkling water*.
While it’s a great first step, even green cruising is still pretty terrible for the environment, but at least cruise companies are becoming increasingly aware of the situation, and some are taking tangible steps to improve.
(*results not guaranteed)

CHICAGO — Crews are working to repair a water main that broke on the Northwest Side.
A 12-inch water main burst at 8 p.m. Thursday at Nagle and Catalpa in the Jefferson Park neighorbood.
Several residents haven’t had water since the water main ruptured, spilling water onto the street.
Julia Quezada lives on the block, her car tires were stuck in at least two inches of ice.
"My car is frozen and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get out to work," she said.
An 88-year-old woman called 911 for help.
Homes on Nagle, between Balmoral and Gregory, are still without water until the repairs are complete.
"I’m really grateful that they’ve been out there in this terrible terrible weather and they’ve dropped off like 3 cases of water so that was really awesome too," said Kara Wilke who lives on the block.
"They’ve been working around the clock through the morning I know this is a tremendous inconvenience to the residents and I feel horrible for them but I want to personally thank the workers for what they’ve done," said the Mayor.
As of noon Thursday water had not been restored on the block.

ILION, N.Y. — Lifelong Ilion residents, including the mayor, are calling it the worst water main break they’ve ever seen – so bad the mayor declared a State of Emergency.
Barringer Road, between West Prospect and West Main Street is still closed, as workers brave sub-zero wind chills, to fix the break.
These are fruits have been going on for more than 24-hours now.
They did finally reach the shut-off valve, so repair of the water main break started, in earnest, around 8 a.m.
The mayor says some residents near the break have no water and many others might have low pressure or discolored water.
The water infrastructure in the village is old, and it took a huge hit with this break, with thousands of gallons lost in the system before they found that shut-off valve.
“We’ll have water to everybody before the end of the day to day.
We will still be under a boil water advisory until such time that we get cleared from the health department and that would be three days.
By the time system gets back to where it should be that would be about five days out,” Ilion Mayor Brian Lamica.
Officials urge residents to boil water, and conserve water.

Fans turned out in droves to be a part of day one of the Melbourne-based grand slam on Monday, but not everybody was satisfied.
"In what universe do we need to import bottled water?"
Her comment, which featured pictures of the water labelled "Australian Open official water", was retweeted more than 500 times and received more than 250 comments.
"In a universe where the deal was worth millions of dollars a year to Tennis Australia," he wrote.
In a statement, Tennis Australia said the Australian Open was a global event with "a long history of partnering with international brands".
"Ganten water is a premium brand that is associated with other major tennis and sporting events," the statement said.
"No prize for guessing as to why that would be."
Others suggested the Open should ditch single-use plastic bottles altogether.
"Idea for next year: Ditch the one-use plastic, provide water fountains and if people don’t bring their own drink bottle make them buy one," Alexandra McKiernan wrote.
"No need to buy bottled water.

The issue stems from Wednesday’s power outage and cold temperatures, which caused pipes and valves to freeze.
She started her morning as usual, waking up at 2 a.m. to deliver newspapers.
By the time she got back four hours later, Hedstrom realized her home was without power.
Then she took her boyfriend to work, and her kids with her to stay warm since the house’s temperature began to quickly drop.
"I went to go shower and do the dishes, and the water was kind of trickling out," she explains.
Cottonwood didn’t have any water either."
Mayor Brad Robinson says city crews took steps to override the power outage, bringing in back-up power to pump water from the ground storage facility to the water tank around 7 a.m. Wednesday.
However, cool temperatures caused an additional issue for pumps and valves running to the water tank.
Carterville Mayor Bradley Robinson says the city’s Water and Sewer board will meet on February 7.
Those opposed, fear it could cause problems to pump water when there’s no power to the sewer lift station.

With no other option, they are forced to buy drinking water from local traders who charge them Krishnagiri: In Mathakondapalli village, 10 kilometers from Hosur of Krishnagiri, almost all villagers draw drinking water from a local source, highly-contaminated water containing heavy minerals and other chemicals.
With no other option, they are forced to buy drinking water from local traders who charge them Rs 30 for 20 liters of bottled water.
Now, the villagers will save around Rs 1,000 every month, thanks to the initiative of private truck manufacturer, Ashok Leyland, which has installed water ATM at villages where the water contamination is high.
A reverse osmosis water purifying plant has been installed at Mathakondapalli village which will give safe drinking water to a population of around 4,000 people.
This is a plant operated and managed by the local community and has an ATM-based dispensation unit to levy a nominal charge towards maintenance cost of the unit.
Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) for Hosur, G. Vimal Raj, inaugurated the unit and asked Ashok Leyland to provide such a facility to another 10 villages that have no safe drinking water.
President, HR for Ashok Leyland, N.V. Balachandar, said, “We have launched the first of its kind safe drinking water project in association with Hinduja Foundation.
Availability of safe drinking water in our villages means lesser chances of water related ailments and will translate to better productivity and overall domestic environment.” According to Ashok Leyland officials, the firm has so far installed around eight water ATMs in Thiruvallur and Chennai, nine ATMs in Hosur, one in Namakkal and one in Sangagiri.
…

North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC)-run Hindu Rao Hospital has been postponing surgeries since last two days due to unavailability of water in its premises.
Doctors allege that the hospital had received a notice from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), late December 2018, that there will be annual flushing of the reservoirs, but despite this, no alternative arrangements were made.
"The notice came to the hospital well in advance despite this the administration made no local arrangements.
How can a hospital run in this situation?
The entire hospital is affected as no water meant no cleaning of surgical instruments.
Even the toilets had no water.
Most of the doctors had to use bottled water to wash hands and check the patients.
We had to cancel/delay the morning operations as a precautionary measure," said a senior doctor from the Residents Doctors’ Association.
But in the last three years, the facilities have been dropping.
DNA tried to reach the medical superintendent of the hospital, but she was unavailable for comments.

Until laboratory tests are completed to confirm the water has not been contaminated, the boil water notice remains in effect.
A boil water notice means tap water should not be used for drinking, cooking or ice-making until tests verify the water is safe.
How does boiling water make it safe to drink?
Boiling does not remove them from the water, but it does kill them, preventing them from causing illness.
Tap water and antibacterial soap for hand washing is safe for basic hygiene, but if you are washing your hands to prepare food, use bottled or boiled water.
Ice already in your freezer when the boil water notice is issued is safe, but icemakers should be turned off until the notice is lifted.
It is safe to wash clothes in tap water.
The boil water notice will remain in effect until test samples show the water is safe to drink.
How will I know when the boil water notice is lifted and I can safely use tap water again?
After the boil water advisory is lifted, will my water heater be contaminated?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — We’ve heard the warnings: leave the faucets drizzling and protect your pipes because the cold is here.
Tennessee ranks fourth in the country for the amount of frozen pipe claims, and the average price tag is $19,000.
Kristil Lyle has lived in her East Nashville home for the past 26 years.
“We used everything they tell you not to use,” Lyle laughed.
She says she’d turn the stove on, use space heaters, and find heat wherever she could.
“Depending on how cold it was we’d have to sometimes block off one room and be able to just be in that one room to have enough heat,” Lyle said.
Now, she makes sure to leave her faucets running and the cabinets open.
“My water bill would just be so high because I’d leave the water running for days,” Lyle said.
“We don’t really do anything particular, we just make sure it stays warm in the apartment,” Calvina Leibig said.
Last year, The Cleo apartments in East Nashville flooded when sprinkler lines ruptured in below freezing temperatures.