Welcome to Canada!
The federal government considers it a minor issue, even boasting to international agencies that 100% of households in Canada have access to clean water.
Sure, if you’re going by their official numbers that’s true, except their numbers are absolutely wrong.
Data analysis we conducted of government clean water advisories marked “active”, show that the Federal government only counted 1 in 10 of these advisories.
Officially, the Canadian government estimates that 82,400 people are without regular access to clean, and safe drinking water.
As bad as that is, this number only includes 108 of the 1,001 active advisories we could find.
Despite only having 13.5% of the population, BC had over 843 active advisories that could be found.
The province accounts for 84.31% of all advisories we could find across Canada, which shows a remarkable lack of competence from the provincial government.
Why Isn’t The Government Doing Anything?
The Government of Canada has pledged to fix most of the problem by 2021 – in 5 years.

Map Drinking Water Sources Worldwide with Freewa.
Did you know that one billion people on Earth do not have access to medically safe drinking water?
Freewa is a Zagreb-based startup that maps the locations of free drinking water in order to make drinking water accessible to everyone and reduce plastic pollution.
Part of the project is Freewa glass bottle that comes with an eco felt bag, both 100% recyclable.
You can start adding your own sources to map and buy your bottle here, or get it for free if you back the campaign.
The bottle has “thank you” written in 12 different languages on it, which was the founders’ way of saying thank you to everyone who is helping save the environment.
When you download the app, you can take photos and add the location of each source, and add stories connected to its location, which also means that you can read interesting stories and gather historical facts.
The founders Goran Ladisic, Vedrana Vrabec, Mihaela Ivanec and Marko Rasic say that their love of nature brought them together, and a firm belief that they need to protect this beautiful planet, as well as the idea that every human being has the right to use the gifts that nature had given us, clean water being one of them.
Download the app for Android and iOs phone and like Freewa on Facebook.
All photos from Freewa Indiegogo.

MEC Mashatile‘s Back to Basics goes bust in Merafong While Gauteng Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements MEC, Paul Mashatile, is boasting about the success of his Back to Basics interventions in Merafong, municipal staff from the Water and Sanitation Department are on strike over unpaid overtime and violent altercations are erupting between staff and senior management.
The MEC must immediately intervene to ensure that Merafong residents have access to water and sanitation services while municipality workers are on strike.
Merafong residents, including schools and NGOs, have been hard hit by the strike that began on Monday.
Our people cannot suffer because of the working dispute between the Merafong ANC-led administration and its workers.
Despite the fact that water is now a scarce resource, clean water is flowing on the streets as a result of unattended water leakages and burst pipes.
Furthermore, there are allegations that the current large water leak in Onyx Drive is as a result of sabotage by the municipal workers themselves.
The DA believes that the rendering of services to the community must be the first priority of any municipality.
MEC Mashatile must go back to the drawing board to assist Merafong with its chronic and severe cash flow problems that are contributing directly to the collapse of governance in Merafong.
The DA will continue to hold MEC Mashatile accountable to ensure that there is service delivery in Merafong.
Issued by Ina Cilliers, DA Merafong Constituency Head, 29 June 2017

Map Drinking Water Sources Worldwide with Freewa.
Did you know that one billion people on Earth do not have access to medically safe drinking water?
Freewa is a Zagreb-based startup that maps the locations of free drinking water in order to make drinking water accessible to everyone and reduce plastic pollution.
Part of the project is Freewa glass bottle that comes with an eco felt bag, both 100% recyclable.
You can start adding your own sources to map and buy your bottle here, or get it for free if you back the campaign.
The bottle has “thank you” written in 12 different languages on it, which was the founders’ way of saying thank you to everyone who is helping save the environment.
When you download the app, you can take photos and add the location of each source, and add stories connected to its location, which also means that you can read interesting stories and gather historical facts.
The founders Goran Ladisic, Vedrana Vrabec, Mihaela Ivanec and Marko Rasic say that their love of nature brought them together, and a firm belief that they need to protect this beautiful planet, as well as the idea that every human being has the right to use the gifts that nature had given us, clean water being one of them.
Download the app for Android and iOs phone and like Freewa on Facebook.
All photos from Freewa Indiegogo.

Nestlé Waters North America Clean drinking water is even more precious to Americans than clean air.
The overall take-away from the survey is that: -clean drinking water is more important than clean air to Americans -two out of three Americans believe their community is vulnerable to a water crisis -a majority of the public believes significant, immediate investments in water infrastructure are needed to avoid future water crises -the public and water resource scientists agree that climate change will have an increasing impact on access to clean drinking water This is a significant finding, especially in the wake of the horrible State-inflicted water crisis in Flint, Michigan and continued attempts to repeal many Obama-era EPA regulations on air and water.
With this in mind, there were some very notable results from this water study: – access to clean drinking water and the nation’s water infrastructure are major concerns for Americans across the entire country – the study, the first of its kind to gather both the opinions of the nation’s general population as well as those of experts in the field, found that water is viewed as the most important natural resource in our daily lives, a little more than clean air: 87% compared to 81% – 61% of American consumers and 66% of water resource experts characterized water problems as a crisis or major issue for the United States – two out of three Americans (66%) believe their own community’s clean drinking water is at risk – 59% say a major overhaul of U.S. water infrastructure is needed to avoid that possibility – city-dwellers are even more likely to fear their community’s clean drinking water is at risk (70% versus 63% in rural areas).
– there is almost universal agreement (96%) that if the United States does not proactively invest in the country’s water infrastructure system now, it will end up costing more in the long run Many American consumers and experts question whether the tap water in their home (36% and 30%, respectively) and schools (40% for both) is clean and safe.
See also the United States Geological Survey maps of water quality across the U.S.
About half (51%) say the impact of climate change on access to clean drinking water will increase over the next 10 years, but improving infrastructure (59%) or developing innovations for purifying water (58%) could help mitigate the impacts.
Water resource scientists and experts are especially likely to say climate change is impacting clean drinking water (76%) and are more likely than American consumers to say this impact will increase over the next 10 years (58%).
Americans who were surveyed support investment in infrastructure to address both the causes and effects of water-related issues.
American consumers expect local (71%), state (71%) and federal governments (65%) to play a role in ensuring that people have access to clean drinking water, but they expect consumers (39%) and businesses (35%) to help in some way.
Nestlé Waters, who conducted this study, is the third largest non-alcoholic beverage company in the United States, employing 8,500 people and running 28 bottled water facilities across America.

The water project to be managed by Kerwa Water Project Welfare Association (KWPWA) comprises of a 4Km water distribution line, a 225,000-litre rehabilitated water tank, a borehole, a water pump house and a water kiosk. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Diageo Corporate Relations Director, Dan Mobley said: “As a company, we seek to contribute to the communities by way of implementing innovative projects in the areas of access to clean drinking water, water conservation and management as underpinned by Diageo 2020 Sustainability Blueprint.” A World Bank study on water revealed that by 2050 over 40% of the global population will live under severe water stress; and as global population increases, so will tensions among different water uses. Today, 18 million Kenyans have no access to water and sanitation services, therefore Nduma Water Project is fundamental in…

EPA Moves to Roll Back Clean Water Protections.
COURT HOUSE – EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced the agency is moving forward with a rule to rescind the 2015 Clean Water Rule.
The Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, led by New Jersey Audubon and National Wildlife Federation, and its partners are deeply dismayed by this action.
Repealing the Clean Water Rule threatens the water resources of the entire nation, including the Delaware River Watershed, which supplies clean and reliable drinking water to over 15 million people.
“We all depend on clean water and wetlands – whether its water for our families, small business owners, or hunters and anglers – and the repeal of the Clean Water Rule threatens the vitality of our communities and economy,” said Maddy Urbish, Director of the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed at New Jersey Audubon.
The rule more clearly defined what kinds of waters are protected and which ones are exempt.
It also provides over $21 billion in ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and water filtration.
Lacking clear and understandable protection under the Clean Water Rule puts these vital resources at risk.
It protects our drinking water and the wetlands we need to filter pollutants and provide vital habitat for wildlife.” remarked Eric Stiles, President and CEO of New Jersey Audubon.
“A repeal of this rule flies in the face of science and will hurt our wildlife and economy.” Kelly Mooij, Vice President of Government Relations at New Jersey Audubon added, “To ensure all Americans have access to reliable, drinkable, clean water, the EPA and Army Corps must use the best available science on the ecological functions and connectivity of the nation’s waters to develop and implement rules for protecting them through the Clean Water Act.” Repealing the 2015 Clean Water Rule and gutting protections that have prevented the pollution of the nation’s waterways for decades is a huge step backwards, and the Coalition urges the EPA and Army Corps to reverse course and focus on providing strong protections for our water resources.

Cholera cases surpass 200,000 in Yemen: WHO.
The rapidly spreading cholera outbreak in Yemen has been "increasing at an average of 5,000 a day", said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) executive director Anthony Lake in a joint statement on Wednesday.
"We are now facing the worst cholera outbreak in the world," they said.
Since April 27, the disease has spread to almost all of Yemeni provinces, mostly reported from capital Sanaa and its suburbs, northern province of Hajah and Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, which are also under Houthi control, said WHO in its recent updated map of the spreading disease.
One quarter of the epidemic victims were children, the statement said.
They also said that rising rates of malnutrition in Yemen have weakened children’s health and made them more vulnerable to the disease.
Yemen is facing total collapse as the war continues.
Two thirds of the total population, around 19 million, need humanitarian and protection aid.
About 10.3 million people are close to famine and 14.5 million lack access to safe drinking water.
Less than 45 per cent of the country’s hospitals are operational at the moment, but even the operational ones are coping with huge challenges, on top of which is the lack of medications, medical equipment and staffs.

EPA Moves to Roll Back Clean Water Protections.
COURT HOUSE – EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced the agency is moving forward with a rule to rescind the 2015 Clean Water Rule.
The Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, led by New Jersey Audubon and National Wildlife Federation, and its partners are deeply dismayed by this action.
Repealing the Clean Water Rule threatens the water resources of the entire nation, including the Delaware River Watershed, which supplies clean and reliable drinking water to over 15 million people.
“We all depend on clean water and wetlands – whether its water for our families, small business owners, or hunters and anglers – and the repeal of the Clean Water Rule threatens the vitality of our communities and economy,” said Maddy Urbish, Director of the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed at New Jersey Audubon.
The rule more clearly defined what kinds of waters are protected and which ones are exempt.
It also provides over $21 billion in ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and water filtration.
Lacking clear and understandable protection under the Clean Water Rule puts these vital resources at risk.
It protects our drinking water and the wetlands we need to filter pollutants and provide vital habitat for wildlife.” remarked Eric Stiles, President and CEO of New Jersey Audubon.
“A repeal of this rule flies in the face of science and will hurt our wildlife and economy.” Kelly Mooij, Vice President of Government Relations at New Jersey Audubon added, “To ensure all Americans have access to reliable, drinkable, clean water, the EPA and Army Corps must use the best available science on the ecological functions and connectivity of the nation’s waters to develop and implement rules for protecting them through the Clean Water Act.” Repealing the 2015 Clean Water Rule and gutting protections that have prevented the pollution of the nation’s waterways for decades is a huge step backwards, and the Coalition urges the EPA and Army Corps to reverse course and focus on providing strong protections for our water resources.

Meeting set on Waukesha water pipeline routes.
WAUKESHA — The Great Water Alliance, a new program designed to carry fresh water from Lake Michigan to Waukesha, treat it, and return the same amount, is hosting a community open house regarding the pipeline alignments today.
The public is encouraged to attend and meet project team members, review return flow route alternatives, and discuss the program.
“This is the next step in providing Waukesha’s 71,000 residents with a clean, reliable, and sustainable drinking water source,” said Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly.
“We’ve been meeting with the leaders of our partner communities and want those who reside or do business in those communities to know more about our proposed plans for constructing these pipelines and how they may affect them.” Under terms unanimously approved by the eight Great Lakes governors and two Canadian premiers, Waukesha may access up to 8.2 million gallons a day of drinking water from Lake Michigan and return the same amount to the lake.
Current plans call for constructing a pipeline to carry Lake Michigan water through the communities of Franklin, Muskego, and New Berlin to Waukesha for use as the city’s water supply.
A second pipeline will return treated water to an outfall point in Franklin that empties into the Root River, ultimately flowing back to Lake Michigan.
Three route alternatives are being considered.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2020 with completion in 2023.
Residents can examine maps of the three alternative routes and offer comments, learn more about why Waukesha is making use of Lake Michigan as its drinking water source, and how the highly treated water will improve the health of the Root River.