Why a New Orleans Museum Displays a Can of Water.
Created at an Anheuser-Busch plant in Georgia, the can was part of a massive donation of drinking water that the beer company sent to disaster victims after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005.
But this artifact isn’t unique to New Orleans.
Every time there’s a major disaster Anheuser-Busch partners with the Red Cross to send water.
Busch wanted to help, and he sent a telegraph to the head of the Red Cross: Inspired by the President’s recommendation by confidence in you as the head of the Red Cross Society, and by the splendid condition of the national troops as I witnessed it, the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association subscribes $100,000 [equivalent to more than $2.5 million today] to your San Francisco sufferers, subject to your directions.
In 1988, the company created its current disaster-relief canned water program.
Canning pure water actually takes longer than canning beer, because the carbonation makes a difference.
According to one plant manager, it takes more than twice as long to produce the same amount of water.
But one of it canning plants, in Cartersville, Georgia, periodically switches from canning beer to canning water so there’s always a supply at the ready.
You can simply never have too much.

India will need USD 4.5 trillion by 2040 for infrastructure: report.
Mumbai: India will need investments to the tune of around USD 4.5 trillion till 2040 to develop infrastructure to improve economic growth and community wellbeing, said Global Infrastructure Hub on July 25.
According to its report Global Infrastructure Outlook’, India has an infrastructure investment need of USD 4.5 trillion by 2040, making it the second largest infrastructure market in Asia after China.
"Rising income levels and economic prosperity is likely to drive significant demand for infrastructure investment in India over the next 25 years," the report said.
Taking sustainable development goals (SDGs) into account, the country is predicted to need an additional USD 888 billion by 2030 to provide universal household access to electricity and water.
"In absolute terms, the total investment needed to meet the SDGs is greatest in India a total of USD 1.3 trillion of investment is needed by 2030, more than China, which is USD 257 billion," the report said.
The firm, which conducted an intensive study of 50 countries and seven industry sectors, found out that by 2040, the global population will grow by almost two billion people a 25 pet cent increase.
Rural to urban migration continues with the urban population growing by 46 per cent, triggering massive demand for infrastructure support, it said.
The cost of providing infrastructure to support global economic growth and to start to close infrastructure gaps is forecast to reach US$94 trillion by 2040, with a further USD 3.5 trillion needed to meet the UN SDGs (sustainable development goals) for universal household, access to drinking water and electricity by 2030, bringing the total to USD 97 trillion, the report added.

Alpine Pedal Path North Shore Drive at Stanfield Cutoff, Big Bear Lake.
Bear Valley Stage Lines Pedder Road at Pine Knot Avenue, Big Bear Lake.
Big Bear Charter Fishing Holloway’s Marina, 398 Edgemoor Road, Big Bear Lake.
Big Bear Queen boat tour Big Bear Marina, 500 Paine Court, Big Bear Lake.
Big Bear Speedway 42825 Big Bear Blvd., Big Bear Lake.
Fish Big Bear Charter Service Big Bear Marina, 500 Paine Court, Big Bear Lake.
Gold Rush Mining Adventures 40016 Big Bear Blvd., Big Bear Lake.
Open daily 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. East boat ramp, boat inspection, picnic tables, fishing pier.
Fishing, picnic tables, barbecue grills, lake access.
Meadow Park and Ski Beach 41220 Park Ave., Big Bear Lake.

Just a Drop hails Tui for securing safe water in Kenya’s Makueni County.
The project, which has impacted 6,661 people overall since concluding earlier this year, has seen safe water secured for teachers and pupils at Kilili Secondary School and Mukimwani Primary School in Makueni County through the construction of a water storage tank at each location.
The partnership, set up in 2015 to oversee the creation of self-help groups in Kenya, has provided an extra water storage tank to the two, built through the Syumbe village rock catchment project, which has enabled the village to develop a communal agricultural development shamba (a cultivated plot of ground) to improve food security.
The tanks will help to harvest rainfall from sloping rocks above, via a system of guttering and pipes and will produce water used for drinking, cooking, washing and farming.
Fiona Jeffery, founder and chairman of Just a Drop, told TTG the travel industry in general had been an “incredibly generous supporter” of Just a Drop and “vital to the charity’s development”.
She said: “Our work with Tui has been a programme of continuous development, first providing access to local clean water supply and ultimately creating sufficient water storage.
We have developed a longer-term food security programme which will lead to growing crops and selling the excess crops at market.
“Tui’s kind funding has led to reliable, clean and sustainable water, which has transformed and regenerated the communities and enabled children to spend more time at school getting an education.” Just a Drop revealed that it is currently working with Tui to deliver their seventh project together.

With a population of 420, the people have seen and experienced the effects of climate change since the 70s, affecting their way of life including food security and water supply.
Former WWF marine officer and local environmentalist Selarn Kaluwin highlighted that over the years, the villagers have tried to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Adaptation programs In adapting to climate change, the people have built a traditional seawall using stones and dead logs for protection against coastal flooding.
He added that they’re looking at coastal rehabilitation adaptation and coastal protection to minimise the impact of sea level rise on the coastlines.
MEART is focused on a coastal rehabilitation project which will include sea wall and tree planting with a proposed funding of K40 000.
The rise in sea level is affecting the drinking water source of rural communities therefore the people have ventured into using water desalination solar powered plants to access fresh drinking water.
The desalination solar powered plant project was launched in Manus in 2016 and installed on five island villages including Mbuke where three desalination plants were installed.
Kaluwin said they’re replanting carol polyps which is an approach of managing coral habitat and creating conservation areas.
The community is also putting a lot of effort into mitigation efforts to reduce their carbon footprint by using solar power.
Kaluwin and his team are now working on a solar lighting project as part of their mitigation efforts with a proposed funding cost of K30 000.

88% Indians had no access to clean drinking water in 2015.
With 88% of its population able to access “basic drinking water services” in 2015, India ranked 165 among 233 countries/regions globally, according to the 2017 report of the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene produced by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
The global average was 89%.
Among its South Asian neighbours (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), India ranked better only than Afghanistan, where 63% of the population had access to basic drinking water services.
The report, published on July 12, 2017, evaluated 233 countries/regions globally based on the percentage of population that sourced its drinking water from ‘basic services’, ‘limited services’, ‘unimproved services’ of water or from ‘surface water’.
Basic services: Drinking water from an improved source, provided collection time is not more than 30 minutes for a round trip, including queuing; Limited services: Drinking water from an improved source for which collection time exceeds 30 minutes for a round trip, including queuing; Unimproved services: Drinking water from an unprotected dug well or unprotected spring; Surface water: Drinking water directly from a river, dam, lake, pond, stream, canal or irrigation canal.
In 2015, 4% of India’s population sourced its drinking water from ‘limited services’, 7% from ‘unimproved services’ and 1% from surface water; the global average was 4%, 6% and 2%, respectively.
(Vivek is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)
Reprinted with permission from IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit organisation.
You can read the original article here

Toxins pollute even ‘safe’ drinking water in S.C. systems, with Charleston’s containing 7, controversial study says.
The Environmental Working Group’s study found that of more than 250 cancer-causing chemicals found in utilities across the country, 160 were found at levels that researchers and some state standards say pose a health risk, despite being allowed by the federal EPA.
However, the study concludes by promoting carbon water filters.
Access to it asks for a contribution for the group.
In water from the utilities serving at least 100,000 people in South Carolina, anywhere from six to nine chemicals were found at levels the group considered to be a risk.
As an example, Charleston Water System had seven, including chromium 6, the chemical that consumer advocate Erin Brockovich found in a California water system she famously researched for a successful public health lawsuit.
"It’s mind-boggling," said Nneka Leiba, director of healthy living science for the group.
"Our drinking water is safe.
The (group) is trying to establish their own standards above and beyond the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and EPA water standards that protect all of us from both naturally occurring and man-made contaminants that may be found in drinking water."
The study is an update of earlier reports.

Peru wants to partner with companies on water management.
By Marco Aquino LIMA, July 25 (Reuters) – Peru wants the private sector to play a bigger role in managing its water supplies as the government rolls out reforms aimed at ensuring that people in towns across Peru have access to running water by 2021, the housing minister said on Tuesday.
Kuczynski’s government has passed a law to allow some of the utilities to merge or be managed privately.
It also bars local mayors from owning shares in the utilities, part of a bid to "depoliticize" their services, Trujillo said.
"We want them to operate like any other company," Trujillo said in an interview.
"In coming weeks we’ll start the process of looking at initiatives from the private sector."
Trujillo said the government will invest $1.3 billion in water infrastructure this year, up 70 percent from 2016, giving 1 million more Peruvians access to running water.
"This is a priority that’s becoming reality," Trujillo said.
Some 11 million Peruvians live without sewage systems and 5.5 million lack access to potable water, including 1 million in Lima, the capital, according to official data from last year.
Peru has a population of about 30 million.

(Paris) – French police in Calais routinely abuse asylum seekers and other migrants, Human Rights Watch said today.
The 40-page report, “‘Like Living in Hell’: Police Abuses Against Child and Adult Migrants in Calais,” finds that police forces in Calais, particularly the French riot police (Compagnies républicaines de sécurité, CRS), routinely use pepper spray on child and adult migrants while they are sleeping or in other circumstances in which they pose no threat.
Police also regularly spray or confiscate sleeping bags, blankets, and clothing, and have sometimes used pepper spray on migrants’ food and water, apparently to press them to leave the area.
Such acts violate the prohibition on inhuman and degrading treatment as well as international standards on police conduct, which call for police to use force only when it is unavoidable, and then only with restraint, in proportion to the circumstances, and for a legitimate law enforcement purpose.
“It is reprehensible for police to use pepper spray on children and adults who are asleep or peacefully going about their day,” said Bénédicte Jeannerod, Human Rights Watch’s France director.
“When police destroy or take migrants’ blankets, shoes, or food, they demean their profession as well as harm people whose rights they’ve sworn to uphold.” The report is based on interviews with more than 60 asylum seekers and other migrants in and around Calais and Dunkerque, including 31 unaccompanied children, in June and July 2017.
Human Rights Watch also found that local authorities have responded to the return of migrants to Calais in increasing numbers by impeding their access to food, water, and other basic necessities.
A second court ruling, issued on June 26, directed authorities to provide migrants with access to drinking water, toilets, and facilities for showering and washing clothes, with 10 days to comply.
The Interior Ministry should also urgently remove obstacles to refugee protection, including by either establishing an asylum office in Calais or facilitating applications in existing offices.
Local and national authorities should ensure that unaccompanied migrant children have access to child protection services, including shelters with sufficient capacity and adequate staffing.

India needs $4.5 trillion for infrastructure by 2040, says report.
In absolute terms, the funds required to meet SDG for electricity is greatest for India, with $1 trillion investment needed by 2030 to provide universal access to electricity Global Infrastructure Hub along with Oxford Economics forecasts that India has an infrastructure investment need of $4.5 trillion by 2040, making it the second-largest infrastructure market in Asia after China.
The Global Infrastructure Outlook report, released on Tuesday, states, “It is important to note that over half of the forecast infrastructure spending need to 2040 is contributed by just four countries: China, the US, India and Japan.” A total of 50 countries and seven sectors – energy, telecommunications, ports, water, airports, rail and road were covered for analysis.
The report reveals the cost of providing infrastructure to support global economic growth and for closing the infrastructure gaps is forecast to reach $94 trillion by 2040, with a further $3.5 trillion needed to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SGD) for universal household access to drinking water and electricity by 2030, bringing the total to $97 trillion.
In absolute terms, the funds required to meet SDG for electricity is greatest for India, with $1 trillion investment needed by 2030 to provide universal access to electricity.
“At a global level, we estimate that meeting the electricity sustainable development goal would add $2.7 trillion of investment to our investment need scenario between 2016 and 2030.
48% of the additional requirement relates to Africa, and 43% to Asia.
India contributes almost three-fifths of the additional requirement for Asia,” read the report.
India’s gross domestic product per head currently stands at $1,600 and is forecast to rise to $4,800 by 2040, which is still some way below China’s $8,000, states the report.
“As India develops, we estimate the country will need to invest $3.9 trillion under current trends, increasing to $4.5 trillion under the investment need scenario,” the report added about India.