A WIDESPREAD water outage in the Brisbane CBD has sent public service staffers home after water supply issues affected toilets, air-conditioners and drinking water.

by Madura McCormack, originally posted on November 28, 2016

The Department of Transport and Main Roads said staff from offices in 85 George St and 61 Mary St have been evacuated.

Water supply issues have affected toilets, air-conditioners and drinking water at 85 George Street and 61 Mary Street in Brisbane’s CBD.

“In the interests of health and safety, staff have been evacuated from buildings at these locations until services can be reinstated,” a DTMR spokeswoman said.

It is understood alternative work arrangements have been enacted.

A least 50 properties were without water in the Brisbane CBD and Spring Hill areas this afternoon after the outage.

Queensland Urban Utilities said the cause of the outage is still being investigated but water supply has been restored.

Water pressure has started to return to normal in the Brisbane CBD, according to Urban Utilities.

originally posted on January 20, 2017

FOR a city that literally sits atop water, Lagos should ordinarily not encounter too much difficulty meeting the water needs of its mammoth population. But this has surprisingly been the case. While the state has made remarkable progress in the transformation of much of its physical infrastructure, the same cannot be said about the provision of access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

The result is that residents suffer untold hardship in their daily quest for potable water, due to acutely inadequate supply from the public water agency. Many homes never had pipe-borne water and where it used to exist, the pipes have long run dry. The few lucky ones that still have pipe-borne water cannot trust the water enough for drinking for fear of contracting diseases that might come with contamination due to burst or vandalised pipes.

But in many places, people drink from shallow wells, just as others depend on the ubiquitous water vendors who peddle their ware in jerrycans, bottles or cellophane sachets curiously referred to as “pure water”; even when, in reality, there is nothing pure about the water. For those who can afford it, the best option has been to dig boreholes, regardless of the numerous hazards they pose to the environment. In short, the situation has resulted in a boom in water business which has not escaped the attention of even multinationals.

Despite the government’s seeming lack of interest in tackling the water problem, water is so important to human beings that it is believed to be next to life itself. The United Nations says access to “safe drinking water and sanitation is central to living a life of dignity and upholding human rights.” This is why the situation in Lagos has already attracted international attention. Not long ago, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights and Sanitation, Leo Heller, warned that the situation, which he described as unacceptable, had already assumed a crisis dimension, calling for it to be squarely and promptly addressed.

Ascribing the condition to years of mismanagement, Heller said, “Government reports indicate alarmingly high deficits in the sector, representing clearly unacceptable conditions for millions of the megacity’s residents.” According to him, only one in 10 people has access to water provided by the state public utility.

This may indeed seem unacceptable, but it is not altogether surprising, given the alarming rate of population growth in Lagos. A sprawling megacity, with an estimated population of 20 million inhabitants that is still growing, it should be taken for granted that Lagos will always have to deal with a situation where the population outstrips available amenities. Even when there is a headcount, many residents tend to migrate back to their states of origin, thus making it impossible to know the actual number of residents to plan with.

This has been most glaring in the area of safe water provision, as is also the case in many other areas. In a 2014 comment, the former Managing Director, Lagos State Water Corporation, Shayo Holloway, said the corporation, when fully functional, had the capacity to pump 210 million gallons of water a day, compared to the 540 million gallons requirement in Lagos. He also said that the state had developed a $3.5 billion Water Master Plan that would deliver 745 million gallons per day by 2020. This may be music to the ears but will be dependent on access to funding.

Since Lagos is not situated in the Savannah or other arid regions of the country, where access to water is supposed to be challenging, all the authorities need to do is to harness the numerous water sources available – a long stretch of coastal ocean water, the lagoon, rivers and rivulets – for processing into safe drinking water. But what is happening now is that people are left to fend for themselves.

The 18th century English poet and philosopher, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, might as well have had Lagos in mind when he wrote the Rime of the Ancient Mariner . In the lines, “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink,” he captured the situation in Lagos, a state suffering in the midst of plenty.

Needless to say, the state authorities have to take more than a passing interest in the provision of water if they are desirous of keeping a healthy population and a productive workforce. Drinking contaminated water predisposes people to diseases such as typhoid fever, cholera and diarrhoea. According to a UNICEF report, India (24 per cent) and Nigeria (11 per cent) account for more than a third of under-five deaths in the world. “These same countries also have significant populations without improved water and sanitation,” the report said.

Even those who feel that they have overcome the challenges of water by drilling boreholes may not be aware that they are only creating new problems by trying to solve an immediate one. Moses Beckley, the Acting Director-General, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, said, “It (indiscriminate drilling of boreholes) will make the underground water vulnerable to pollution and that will unleash terrible consequences for the country.” As governor, Babatunde Fashola, while inaugurating a World Bank-assisted mini-waterworks in Iponri, Lagos in 2012, identified another danger of indiscriminate drilling of boreholes as the threat of landslide.

Lagos can no longer afford to relegate action on water to the fringes.  The Ambode government should initiative a realistic water policy and strategy. In the 2017 budget, the Governor promised to employ Public Private Partnership to increase the capacity utilisation of water treatment plants. Participation by all stakeholders is fundamental to sustainable water resources management. It is argued that active consultation and transparency significantly increase the likelihood of the sound development and implementation of water resources management initiatives.

by D. E., originally posted on January 20. 2017

Boynton officials “suspect foul play” may have caused the loss of water service this week to a substantial number of the town’s customers before it was restored Thursday.

Travis Wilson, the town’s water operator, said the distribution system lost pressure Sunday, when he discovered the water tower was empty. Wilson said he began troubleshooting the system in an effort to find what he and Mayor Kay Lang initially described as “a major leak.”

Wilson estimated the town’s water distribution system was losing water at a rate of 97 gallons of water a minute — nearly 140,000 gallons a day — before the main valve was closed. Wilson, with help from the Oklahoma Rural Water Association and the town of Haskell, spent much of the week trying to locate a phantom leak.

There was some speculation that water was unable to reach the water tower due to an “air lock,” which might have been released when the line was cut to install the new valve. Wilson, however, said an air lock might prevent water from reaching the tower would not explain the significant loss of water that drained it.

“The only thing I can deduce from that is somebody put in an illegal tap, or they have some way to get water they are not supposed to be getting,” said Wilson, who expects a report will be filed with the Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office. “Whoever did this had to know we were out of water — I have lost a lot of sleep over this issue and I’m not a happy camper right now.”

Erin Hatfield, an ODEQ spokeswoman, said the agency was providing technical assistance to the town as it worked to resolve its water issues and would continue to track the situation. Before service was restored Thursday afternoon, Hatfield said town officials appeared “to be working hard to locate and repair the source of the water leak.”

Boynton water customers are urged to boil for one minute all water that will be consumed or used for cooking or hygienic purposes.

originally posted on June 2, 2016

Residents of Kuwah Town located in Kpatolie Clan, Salala District, Lower Bong, are still drinking from streams and nearby creeks because they lack a source of safe drinking water in the area. The residents are appealing to the government to provide them with at least a hand pump that

will provide them with safe drinking water, Liberian News Agency (LINA) Margibi County correspondent has reported.

During the peak of the dry season the residents, according to LINA, found it very difficult, if not impossible, to find safe drinking water.

Kuwah Town Chief Bigboy George told LINA that his town not only lacks access to safe drinking water, but also good roads, clinics and schools which, he said, subjects the inhabitants to severe hardships.

Town Chief George said the only hand pump in town, installed long ago by a local non-governmental organization, has since broken leaving the over 500 households compelled to draw a bucket of drinking water every day from nearby streams.

The residents, said Chief George, have to depend on medical services from clinics in neighboring towns after walking several hours.

“If a woman is about six months pregnant, she and her husband will have to relocate to a nearby clinic facility to avoid any unforeseen situation,” the Chief explained.

Kuwah Town currently has a population of over 600 persons, but according to the Chief, the only elementary school building in the town lacks furniture and all basic instructional materials, with one instructor assigned to teach the entire school.

By Andy Reid, originally posted on November 15, 2016

If growing Florida keeps sucking up water, we risk not having enough to meet our needs in the next 50 years, a new study says.

Residents and businesses would have to pay more to turn salt water into drinking water. More farms could disappear. And wetlands like the Everglades, already suffering from decades of draining, would be strained even further.

The environmental group 1000 Friends of Florida teamed up with the state’s agricultural department and the University of Florida to produce the Water 2070 study.

According to its projections, development-related water use could increase 100 percent — to nearly 7 billion gallons per day — if the state’s population boom and current building patterns are left unchecked.

“We don’t have the water,” said Frank Jackalone, of the Sierra Club. “We will endanger our aquifer by putting more homes on the open spaces we have left.”

To avoid a water-supply crisis, the report calls for limiting suburbia’s spread across farmland and implementing more aggressive water-conservation efforts — from less lawn watering to using higher-efficiency appliances.

Landscape irrigation is estimated to account for half of household water use.

To reduce that number, the report calls for taking steps such as not running automated sprinklers if it has rained within 24 hours and landscaping with drought-tolerant plants that don’t require as much irrigation.

Even following the report’s recommendations still would lead to a 50 percent increase in development-related water use, according to the projections.

In addition to conservation and efficiency improvements, the report calls for expanding efforts to clean up treated wastewater and use it for irrigation and other needs.

It recommends investing in water-treatment plants that can filter ocean water or tap into deep, underground saltwater supplies that are more costly to turn into drinking water.

“The numbers are very concerning,” said Cori Hermle, environmental consultant for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “We have an array of solutions that are available. … That will help us.”

The water study is a follow-up to recommendations the groups released in September about how to preserve farmland and other open spaces from development as Florida’s population grows.

Like the groups’ previous evaluation, the Water 2070 report calls for allowing more intense development within or near already urbanized areas and preserving more farmland and natural land.

That’s because suburban areas with lots of lawns to keep green tend to use more water per home than more densely populated areas, according to the study.

Reining in the reach of urban sprawl and requiring residents to do more to save water are among the ways called for to ready for 15 million more Floridians expected by 2070.

“If we put this many more straws into the aquifer to remove water, it’s going to increase the strain,” said Peggy Carr, of the University of Florida GeoPlan Center. “We better be thinking about much more stringent measures from conservation.”

Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties would continue to be among the largest water users in the decades to come, though Central Florida’s availability of remaining open spaces for development could produce the biggest eventual water use, according to the report.

The report projects that South Florida’s water use for drinking water and farming would increase 40 percent to nearly 3 billion gallons per day, based on current trends.

Following the report’s recommendations would still increase South Florida’s water use about 24 percent, to an estimated 2.6 billion gallons per day.

South Florida’s sugar cane-covered farming region south of Lake Okeechobee is projected to continue to be a big water user through 2070.

More development moving west of Delray Beach and Boynton Beach as well as into Loxahatchee could add to Palm Beach County’s water supply needs. Much of the open spaces in Broward and Miami-Dade counties have already been built on, but the study still projects a growing population there adding to the water supply strain.

To boost conservation, the report recommends updating building codes to include tougher water-efficiency standards for new homes and significantly remodeled homes.

“We really have to think about how we grow and how we use water,” Ryan Smart, 1000 Friends president. “We still have time to address this situation.”

By Stephen Peterson, originally posted on November 15, 2016

WRENTHAM — It wasn’t smooth, but residents at Monday’s fall annual town meeting overwhelmingly passed a bylaw for water use that also affects private wells.

Several amendments were offered during lengthy discussion, with a few approved, but the concern of many in the audience who opposed the measure was that it would affect private well users, as well as town water customers.

The bylaw restricts nonessential outdoor water use if a “state of water supply emergency” is declared to ensure there is adequate supply of safe water for drinking and fire protection.

Board of health member George Smith said he spent $10,000 on each of his two wells, and unsuccessfully moved to strike private wells from the bylaw.

“Removing that would pretty much negate the entire bylaw,” Public Works Superintendent Michael Lavin said.

Not only was the bylaw deemed necessary with the ongoing drought, but the state is requiring communities to focus on aquifers that also are tapped by private wells, Lavin said.

The state could impose more stringent water requirements on the town if the bylaw wasn’t enacted, Lavin cautioned.

“I’m very concerned with our long-term economic growth and capacity to provide water,” Lavin said.

The bylaw is also based on a model bylaw from the state, he said.

Resident Don Jordan questioned the town’s authority over his well, and later tried to get the bylaw postponed.

Town Counsel George Hall said the state gives the town the right to regulate private wells.

There are exceptions for nonessential use, including handheld hose watering and irrigating parks and recreational fields, outside the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

One resident, Sandra Balfe, balked at recreational fields being excluded, and called for erasing that allowance.

“We can’t water our own lawns,” Balfe said.

Recreation Director Jeff Plympton reminded residents the town put “a lot of money into our recreational fields.”

“It is going to cost the town a lot more,” finance committee member Kelly Williams warned, if the fields have to be restored. Williams also pointed out “a lot more kids benefit” from the fields.

By David Mwaura, originally posted on November 12, 2016

The term water usually sends cold shivers down the spines of millions of Kenyans whenever it is mentioned, due to the scarcity nature of this natural resource.

Although water scarcity is considered a global challenge, some people especially those living in developing countries where Kenya falls experience total lack of this vital commodity. This is a condition that has forced people to lead miserable lives; always experiencing health problems.

Approximately 17 million Kenyans lack access to safe drinking water, with the majority of them coming from North, North Eastern, some parts of Rift Valley, Eastern as well as coastal regions. Surprisingly, it has emerged that urban residents also lack access to safe drinking water, Nairobi residents being among the most affected.

People living in informal settlements in Nairobi experience a total water scarcity. This means that they do not have reliable safe water sources. The settlements include Mukuru Kayaba, Kibera, Mathare among others. Proper sanitation in these slums is also a nightmare, adding to the woes of millions of people living in the settlements. People have to brave the harsh conditions that include drinking water from unhygienic sources, eating contaminated foods and sharing rooms with animals like dogs and goats, something that exposes them to serious health hazards.

The people have no one to look up to apart from the governmental, non-governmental organizations and well-wishers. Theirs is a story of broken dreams and lost hopes. They only hope that, one day they will lead a normal life. Their children will go to school just like the other children without spending time in hospitals seeking medications from water related infections and poor sanitation.

These are just a representation of millions of Kenyans who hope that, a long lasting solution we will come together to solve the water scarcity nightmare once and for all. It hurts them when people expected to help them start engaging in unnecessary arguments and politicizing every effort aimed at raising their living standards.

Northern Collector Tunnel Project in Murang’a County is one initiative meant to supply Nairobi residents with water. The tunnel has already opened battle grounds for leaders and politicians. It is very sad that as a nation, we seem to politicize everything, even when our arguments have no grounds.

It is true that Nairobi region is not well served with water and therefore, all efforts to supply the region with water are welcome. The efforts and projects being fronted should meanwhile not be creating more problems to other people. We cannot solve a problem by creating more problems.

The issues being raised by critics of the project are matters of concern and should not be ignored. Experts and professionals from the authorized bodies should come out and advice accordingly. This is the time for politics to take a back seat as professionalism takes control.

As I wind up, my only hope is that Kenyans will be supplied with safe water as this is their right. I also hope that the mechanisms aimed at supplying Kenyans with water will honor the set guidelines and follow the stipulated laws.

By Brian Bienkowski, originally posted on November 11, 2016

This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

by Kena Cador and Angelica Salceda, originally posted on January 25, 2017

Everyone has a right to safe, clean, affordable drinking water. And the news this week means we’re going to have to shout it from the rooftops. Water is life. Water is a human right.

One of Donald Trump’s first actions as president was to issue an executive order to violate the  water rights of the Standing Rock Sioux and advance the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. In the words of Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU’s Human Rights Program, the executive order is “a slap in the face to Native Americans and a blatant disregard for the rights to their land.” The controversial pipeline could destroy ancestral burial grounds and poison the water supply for a sovereign nation — as well as millions of Americans downstream who rely on the Missouri River.

In Flint, Michigan this week, environmental officials announced that the levels of lead in the water system no longer exceed the federal limit. However, folks in Flint still have to use filters because lead levels could fluctuate in their homes as pipe replacement continues. This after over 1,000 days without clean drinking water. The ACLU of Michigan is still working diligently to investigate this crisis and hold the responsible parties accountable.

The right to water is also acutely important for rural communities in California who currently lack access to potable water and are forced to rely on bottled water to clean, cook, and bathe. In 2012, a UC Davis study found that nitrate contamination of groundwater poses a risk to one in 10 people living in the farm-rich Salinas and San Joaquin Valleys. The report estimated that 254,000 people in the Salinas Valley and Tulare Basin — primarily those who get their drinking water from private wells or small, one-well systems — are most at risk of nitrate contamination.

Thankfully, the policy landscape is changing in California. In 2013, the state fully recognized the right to water when it adopted AB 685, the Human Right to Water bill. In adopting the policy, California made an explicit commitment to improving water safety, quality, accessibility, and affordability for all Californians, at a time when drought impacts continue to disproportionately affect Central Valley residents.

Functionally, AB 685 means that all relevant state agencies must consider the human right to water when revising, adopting, or establishing policies, regulations, and grant criteria relevant to the uses of water. Both the State Water Resources Control Board and the Central Valley Regional Board made the decision in 2016 to officially recognize the Human Right to Water—a crucial step towards making the right a reality for all Californians.

This Thursday, January 26, the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is preparing to do the same. The Central Coast Board is scheduled to take up a resolution, “Adopting the Human Right to Water as a Core Value and Directing its Implementation in Central Coast Water Board Programs and Activities.” If adopted, the resolution requires board staff to prepare an annual work plan that includes specific actions for implementing the human right to water. The work plan requirement will give advocates an opportunity to work with the board on the preparation of the plan and outline specific steps to achieve safe, accessible, and affordable drinking water for all Californians.

The resolution also directs board staff to consider affordability when implementing regulatory programs and conducting enforcement activities. Communities in the Salinas Valley with nitrate-contaminated water shouldn’t have to pay twice—paying for contaminated water from their tap and purchasing bottled water as an alternative.

Adoption of the Human Right to Water by the Central Valley Board recognizes the critical importance of water and makes unequivocal the state’s obligation to ensure that right for residents in the San Joaquin Valley. This crucial framework will go a long way towards allowing advocates and communities to stand on firm footing as they continue to demand change for residents who have often remained silenced or completely ignored. It is our hope that the same will be true for residents in the Salinas Valley.

In the coming months and years, we will need to use a diversity of tactics to protect access to safe, clean, and affordable water. In California, we’re glad to see our representatives agree—water is a human right.

originally posted on January 24, 2017

PORT KLANG, 24 Jan 2017:

A glove factory here which has been raided by the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) today, is suspected of illegally siphoning water amounting to RM2.7 million.

SPAN corporate communications and consumer affairs unit senior executive Loh Pit Mui said the raid was conducted after receiving a complaint from Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd on water thefts by the factory owner.

She said the enforcement operation found the factory, which has been operating for 25 years, made two illegal connections directly from an Air Selangor main without going through the water meter.

“The supply siphoned from the connections was believed to be used for the factory’s operation.

“A chlorine test conducted at the site confirmed the water supply channeled into the premises was treated water.”

She said the offence was committed under Section 123(1) of the Water Services Industry Act 2006 and SPAN would be carrying out further  investigations.

Air Selangor corporate communications head Amin Lin Abdullah said the company began detecting illegal activities when it found the factory paid only RM4,000 a month – compared to RM50,000 a month based on Air Selangor estimates.

“Investigations found the factory has a water supply account with Air Selangor and as a result of the illegal activities, we suffered losses of about RM2.7 million for 1.2 million cubic metres of water.

“The source of supply which is connected from the Syabas main pipe measures 20m long.”

He said Air Selangor would be conducting further investigations on the extent of the factory’s illegal water activities.