originally posted on July 22, 2016

 

People in some areas in Hanoi are facing serious water shortages again after a major pipeline that transports water from the Da River Plant broke for an eighteenth consecutive time on July 11.

More than 200 households living in Lane 93, Hoang Van Thai Street in Thanh Xuan District were left without water for the past 10 days.

“We have to buy water from a truck which runs by our area every day,” said a local man, Dinh Van Thanh. “Some families even save water from air-conditioners for use.”

Thanh said that they usually face water shortages every summer but it used to last just two or three days.

“This time water has been cut for ten days which is making our lives really miserable,” Thanh said.

Besides Thanh Xuan, it is reported that people living in other districts including Ha Dong, Hoang Mai and Bac Tu Liem have also been affected by the pipe break.

The family of Thanh Trung at Lane 2/46 Thang Long Avenue in Bac Tu Liem District has had to move to live with their parents in Ba Dinh District since the water run out.

Hundreds of households living in the Rice City apartment block in Hoang Mai District have also faced the same situation for the past 10 days. According to the block’s management board, they have bought water to fill in their storage basin but this didn’t prove sufficient for the residents.

Director of the Vietnam Clean Water Investment and Construction Corporation Nguyen Van Viet said that they’ve fixed the pipe but they need to reduce pump pressure so that it would not break again.

“The water shortage may still continue in some areas,” Viet explained. “In the meantime, we’ll transport free water to people’s homes.

The Song Da Water Pipeline Project conveys clean water from the Da River Water Plant in the northern province of Hoa Binh to Hanoi.

The first phase of the project is infamous for suffering from repeated pipeline breaks, causing clean water shortages for thousands of Hanoi residents.

Dtinews

by Michael Petro, originally posted on July 21, 2016

 

New York’s senior senator is calling the major water main break affecting northern Erie County a wake-up call to address local water and sewer infrastructure issues.

In the wake of the water main break that happened around 8:30 p.m. last night, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Thursday that he’ll pursue federal funds to assist Erie County in the effort to invest in an aging infrastructure.

The water main break has impacted the towns of Amherst, Clarence, Lancaster, Newstead and villages of Williamsville, Lancaster and Depew. A Boil Water Notice from the county has been issued to all of those areas.

Schumer said he’ll be working with the Erie County Water Authority and other municipal water providers on ways to upgrade water and sewer infrastructure and pursue money from the federally-supported and state-administered Drinking Water State Revolving Fund ‎and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Each year these programs receive more than $2 billion in federal funding.

According to Schumer, New York has some of the oldest sewer and water systems in the country, and Upstate communities “desperately need their water mains upgraded.”

When water mains lose pressure it increases the chance that untreated water and harmful microbes can enter your water. Harmful microbes in drinking water can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches or other symptoms and may pose a special health risk for infants, some elderly and people with severely compromised immune systems.

“If the major water main break in Northern Erie County last night wasn’t a wake-up call that our infrastructure is falling apart, then I don’t what is,” said Schumer. “It is simply unacceptable that in the 21st century, New Yorkers have to boil their water before drinking. … Access to clean water shouldn’t even be a question for Erie County residents.”

Schumer has helped secure hundreds of millions of dollars for communities across Upstate to invest in their water systems. Recently, in the Town of Westfield, just south of Erie County, $1 million in federal funding was secured to repair aging water systems that were resulting in frequent water line breaks and boil water orders.

By Aaron Besecker T.J. Pignataro, originally posted on July 20, 2016

 

A quarter million people in northern Erie County have been told they will need to boil their water or use bottled water for the next two to three days following a major water break Wednesday night.

Thousands lost all water service and many more had low water pressure. By Thursday morning, water was running again, but they were told it’s not yet known if the water is safe to drink.

So far, there has been no indication that there’s anything harmful but it takes 18 hours for test results to come back.

Here’s what we know about the water main break:

• Who’s affected: 250,000 people are affected in Amherst, Clarence, Depew, Lancaster, Newstead and Williamsville

• Boiling water advisory: Residents in the affected communities should boil water or use bottled water for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth and preparing food, according to an Erie County Water Authority statement.

• Is the water safe? Water tests are being conducted Thursday morning, but the results of which likely won’t be known for at least 18 hours. So far, there is no indication of anything harmful in the water.

• Are restaurants affected? Establishments that serve must also use boiled water, bottled water or close.

• How long will it take? It may be two or three days before water safety is confirmed.

• Hospitals: All elective surgeries have been cancelled for Thursday at the St. Joseph Campus of Sisters of Charity Hospital per the request of county health officials. Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital is fully operational.

• Tonawanda and Cheektowaga outside of the Village of Depew are not affected.

• Communication problems: The Erie County Water Authority website was down as of about 10 a.m. and phone calls were not being answered.

• The water authority says it may update how customers are notified of problems

• Boil-water checklist: The state Health Department has a checklist for residents and homeowners on what to do in the case of boil-water advisories.

The water authority’s boil water advisory states: “It is likely that you will need to boil water for the next 2-3 days until safety of the water is confirmed.”

County Executive Mark Poloncarz tweeted Thursday morning that water in the Town of Cheektowaga outside of Depew is safe to drink, citing the county Department of Health.

Town of Tonawanda residents are not affected because the town has its own water treatment plant.

County health officials recommend water in all areas affected by the break be boiled for one minute before it’s consumed.

The results of the water tests won’t be known for at least 18 hours.

“Due to the nature of the ECDOH tests, it takes at least 18 hours for the test’s cultures to incubate” before results are known, Poloncarz tweeted Thursday morning.

Some complained Thursday morning that they hadn’t been informed about the boil-water advisory.

“I would’ve expected it to blow up on social media, but I didn’t hear anything about it,” said Melissa Vintei, a Lancaster resident who was shopping in Wegmans on Alberta Drive in Amherst.

“Had I not come into work, I would’ve never known,” said Jamie Roetzer, an Erie Community College student.

The hospital set up an emergency command center Wednesday night shortly after the water line rupture. “The hospital has a series of protocols in place in the event of a drop or loss of water pressure, which include distributing bottled water, ice, waterless hand sanitizer, and other personal hygiene products to patients, visitors and staff,” the hospital said.

Erie County Water Authority Deputy Director Robert Lichtenthal said Thursday morning that repair crews are being mobilized, along with crews to conduct testing.

The testing is done by the authority in conjunction with the health department in a manner approved by health officials, Lichtenthal said.

Officials from both agencies will then review the results. “We thank customers for their patience,” he said.

Bottled water is flying off the shelves at Wegmans’ six stores within the affected area, according to a spokeswoman.

“All of our stores have been extremely busy with customers buying water literally since last night and through the night,” said Michele Mehaffy, Buffalo consumer affairs manager for Wegmans supermarkets. “We’re doing our best to keep our shelves stocked.”

Residents in a wide area of the Northtowns and eastern suburbs lost water pressure or service entirely Wednesday evening when a 36-inch water line ruptured near Millersport Highway, north of the Youngmann Highway, the authority reported.

At 11:17 p.m. Wednesday, the authority tweeted that the leak was located and that water pressure was “expected to recover shortly.”

Reports of no water or low water pressure started coming in about 9 p.m. from Amherst, Williamsville and northern Cheektowaga.

A little more than an hour later, Amherst Police reported that the leak was located on a right-of-way near the Youngmann.

Other communities affected by low water pressure included Snyder, Clarence, Depew and Lancaster.

“The loss of a line this big brings down your pressures,” Jerome Schad, a commissioner with the water authority, said Wednesday night.

Schad said there was no indication what caused the massive water line to break.

He wouldn’t speculate whether the ongoing drought could have played a role. Nearly all of Erie and Niagara counties remain under “severe drought” conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Schad said crews wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the cause until they excavated the line. They were still working to do that as midnight approached.

“These things can happen, and they do happen,” Schad said. “It could be a lot of things.”

Schad said the water line is among the largest in the system and connects to a large water tank near the University at Buffalo’s North Campus.

The largest water main in the county – near Sturgeon Point – is 54 inches, he said.

Schad didn’t have exact figures of the number of customers affected by the break late Wednesday, but he said that the geographical areas that were affected were consistent with a large rupture in the line connecting to the water service tank in that section of the county.

After crews repair the broken line, Schad said, water pressures are expected to gradually return to normal. That process was expected to take several hours.

When the break first happened, residents took to social media to complain of a lack of water or water pressure and an inability to contact the water authority.

The water authority’s website and telephone system were down for a period of time, possibly from being overrun by customers seeking information.

When the website came back online, there was an “Emergency Notification System” announcement stating: “ECWA has a leak that is in a widespread area. We are working on the problem and have service back in a few hours. Thank You.”

News Staff Reporter Anne Neville contributed to this report. email: tpignataro@buffnews.com, abesecker@buffnews.com and chsieh@buffnews.com

 

Originally posted on July 21, 2016

 

EDITORIAL

Tanzanians have been urged to establish the culture of carrying out frequent water tests to ensure it is safe from all types of contaminants. Even piped water from public systems can pick up impurities during distribution.

So, even piped water is not safe enough. A resident Technician at Ngurdoto Defluoridation Research Station, Mr Godfrey Mkongo, said recently that testing will help reduce the possibilities of contracting waterborne diseases some of which are surefooted killers.

Technician Mkongo is right. It is imperative to note that some of the waterborne diseases are fast killers. These include cholera, dysentery and typhoid fever. But the list also includes other nasty and almost equally dangerous diseases such as salmonella, diarrhoea and E. Coli.

Hepatitis A is also in this sinister list. It should be expressly understood that these diseases, in most cases, erupt in heavily congested, unsanitary squatter areas in urban centres or in rural villages where water is drawn from ponds.

The ailments are caused by pathogenic microorganisms that most commonly are transmitted in contaminated fresh water. Infection commonly results during bathing, washing, drinking or consumption of unclean, infected food.

However, as mentioned before, even piped water is not safe enough. Cholera is, arguably, the most dangerous pandemic among the waterborne diseases. The pandemic is a fast killer that ravages whole communities if left unchecked.

It is a frightening disease. Cholera is known to thrive mostly in cities, municipalities and towns where unsanitary conditions prevail in congested places occupied by squatters — mainly the poor who live in filthy conditions with no clean piped water.

But the disease can move on to other areas. In squatter areas swarms of houseflies roam at will spreading a variety of fearsome diseases including cholera, of course. So, it is these unsanitary conditions that are often the source of numerous dreaded fast killers such as cholera, dysentery and typhoid.

These diseases, invariably, erupt where communities do not have good pit latrines, toilets or lavatories. Everyone should be aware that cholera is an acute diarrheal disease caused by an infection in the intestines that can kill even a healthy adult in a matter of hours.

Symptoms, including severe watery diarrhea, can surface in as little as two hours or up to five days after infection, and can then trigger extreme dehydration and kidney failure.

Cholera is spread through contaminated fecal matter, which can be consumed through tainted food and water sources or because of poor sanitation and hygiene, like unwashed hands. It is also a shame that not everyone has access to clean water or a good pit latrine.

Authorities should be aware that without clean, well tested water, sanitation and hygiene, sustainable development is impossible. It is high time the state sat up and took notice.

TheNetwork report shows way forward for CDA, Wasa

Islamabad

-Originally posted on July 21, 2016

 

Despite significant spending in social sectors in recent years by the government, the state of access to safe and adequate supplies of clean drinking water in twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi remains grim. Up until now, there has been no significant progress in the enactment of Pakistan Safe Drinking Water Act, which clearly means that standards exist but there is no means to actually hold the institutions accountable.

This is one of the key observations contained in ‘A Critique of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) Adopted for the Maintenance of Water Filtration Plants,’ which is basically a recommendation report on how to effectively manage and maintain water filtration plants installed in Islamabad and Rawalpindi by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa).

The report was launched by the TheNetwork for Consumer Protection here Wednesday with an aim to improve drinking water quality and bring it in line with international standards. To further highlight the issue, a comprehensive media campaign and a documentary was also screened at the report launching ceremony.

The ceremony was addressed by officials from Pakistan Council of Research in Water Recourses (PCRWR), Wasa, CDA, National Institute of Health, as well as the mayor of Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation and representatives from academia and civil society, professors and students of NUST and Bahria University, and media personals.

In October 2015, TheNetwork collected samples from 35 water filtration plants in Islamabad and randomly selected 44 water filtration plants in Rawalpindi. A comprehensive microbiological analysis was performed on samples submitted to four different laboratories. According to PCRWR results, 5 out of 35 samples were found unsafe for human consumption. According to results obtained from the NIH laboratory, 9 out of 35 samples were found unsafe, while the CDA laboratory also found 11 water samples unfit. TheNetwork undertook social, legal, technical and economical assessment of the filtration plants and made recommendations for improvement in the drinking water delivery system through filtration plants in Islamabad.

According to the report, filtration plants installed in Islamabad are 10-15 years old and have aged out. The CDA is putting its efforts to keep these plants operational and deliverable but it would be an extremely challenging task to make them desirably operational for a longer period of time, it believes.

According to the report, the condition of the filtration plants in Islamabad was unhygienic and unclean in general as muddy water was on the water disposal points all the time, mainly because of carelessness by the plant operator and by users. No tube-lights or proper lighting arrangement was found at the filtration plants since the service is provided round-the-clock.

Though CDA claims to have spent Rs16.7 million to fully renovate these plants, tiled flooring was found broken and poor quality civil works were observed. Water taps were found missing on some plants, which shows lack of proper supervision at the filtration plants.

Ultra Violet (UV) lamp, which is vital to purify the water, was found in unworkable condition at few filtration plants. Dangerously placed or installed electricity cables were observed at the premises, which is highly hazardous not only for supervisory staff but for users as well. Pipes installed inside and outside these plants were found rusty, while water seepage was also common at some filtration plants.

Moreover, since users usually fetch drinking water in non-standardised or substandard jerry cans, pots, and plastic cans, they tend to contaminate comparatively safe drinking water to the citizens abruptly at the time of filling. Water wastage is rampant at the filtration plants and users do not care of this precious commodity.

The report calls for efforts to make tap water safe for human consumption. “There should be no round-the-clock service delivery of water from filtration plants. It should be twice a day with 8 hours in the morning and 8 in the evening,” it states. The report also underlines the need for a public awareness campaign on appropriate use of water from filtration plants. “Newly-elected public representatives should be involved in policy making, legislation and implementation levels for better service delivery and improved quality of water, and CDA should renovate all filtration plants with proper civil work standards and required lighting,” the report adds. It also calls upon the CDA to ensure provision of water as per approved National Drinking Water Quality Standards.

With reference to the water filtration plants in Rawalpindi, laboratory results showed that 17 samples out of 44 filtration plants were contaminated with bacteria and were thus found unfit for drinking purpose. Of the 44 samples, Wasa laboratory found 8, PCRWR found 5 and NIH 9 samples unsafe for human consumption. There were only two samples that were found unsafe by all the three laboratories. Another two samples were found unsafe by two laboratories.

The physical condition of the filtration plants in Rawalpindi was no less dismal than those in Islamabad. The report called upon Wasa to increase the time of operation of the filtration plants from the 4 hours to at least 8 hours. It recommended that the water testing laboratory established by Wasa should be accredited with Pakistan National Accreditation Council.

Highlighting the importance of the project, Nadeem Iqbal, executive coordinator of TheNetwork said, the objective is to bring different government departments responsible for ensuring safe drinking water on one table to develop much-needed synergy and to help consumers develop understanding of safe water, its testing and how standards are enforced with their active participation.

The objectives of the project are to create understanding and consensus among concerned players about the nature of the issue and the measures that need to be taken for its effective resolution; raise awareness; and build advocacy for early promulgation of the legislative framework that will ascertain consumer’s access to safe drinking water by relevant authorities.

 

Rockhampton residents have been told to prepare for the city’s worst flood since 1954, with the Fitzroy River predicted to peak at 9.4 metres on Wednesday.
"We could see over 3,000 homes, residential homes impacted, we could see over 1,500 businesses, so now is the time to prepare, and now is the time to get ready.
Further north, Cyclone Debbie-affected residents in Bowen and Airlie Beach in north Queensland have been told to boil their tap water before drinking it as it could contain bacteria, as the clean-up from the category four storm continues.
"There are 18,000 people without power in the Mackay region … and I really want to pay tribute to all of the response teams here in Mackay for all of the work they are doing to get people back on their feet."
Whitsundays Councillor Mike Brunker said the region was slowly getting back on its feet.
Councillor Brunker said local businesses would take priority as power was slowly returned to the region.
(ABC News: Dominique Schwartz) Floodwaters cut the Bruce Highway south of Proserpine.
(ABC News: Dominique Schwartz) Low-lying areas of Mackay have been impacted by flooding from the Pioneer River.
(ABC News: Dominique Schwartz) A flooded property at Flametree, Airlie Beach.
(ABC News: Allyson Horn) The Queensland Transport office in Proserpine was extensively damaged.

84% Pakistanis lack access to clean drinking water.
About 84% Pakistanis do not have access to safe drinking water, a Minister said in Islamabad.
The startling disclosure was made by Minister for Science and Technology Rana Tanvir Hussain in the Senate, the upper house of parliament, on Tuesday, according to the Dawn newspaper.
Mr. Hussain said according to a study by Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), only 72% water supply schemes in the country were functional and 84% of those had supplied water that was not fit for consumption.
About 84% of the total 195 million population in Pakistan do not have access to safe drinking water.
The water from 14% of supply sources in Sindh and Punjab were found to be heavily contaminated with arsenic, well above the permissible limit of 50 parts per billion, Mr. Hussain said.
He said 279 million Pakistani rupees had been spent on the project — Provision of Safe Drinking Water — over the past four years.
As part of the project, six regional water quality laboratories, under the PCRWR, have been upgraded and 17 new water quality testing laboratories have been established at the district level.
Funds were also used on the capacity building of 3,000 professionals associated with water supply agencies, Mr. Hussain said.

by Kathleen Charlebois, originally posted on July 18, 2016

 

Northwest of Sioux Lookout, Slate Falls First Nation is one of many Indigenous communities with barriers to the basic need of drinking water, but things may start to change.

Kenora MP Bob Nault said on Monday, July 18, that the funding that will go towards the upgrade of Slate Falls First Nation’s water treatment system is just the first step towards improving drinking water access to all Indigenous communities.

Nault said this is part of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s campaign promise to get all First Nations off boil water advisories and get water-treatment plants up to standard over a five-year period. A monitoring process will be put in place as well.

“I’m expecting a number of other announcements to come this year and in the following years,” he said, and explained that the Slate Falls project was considered “shovel ready” and structured to be developed and built.

The water treatment plant in Slate Falls needed an upgrade along with repairs to water lines so they remained consistent and didn’t cause problems, which resulted in multiple boil water advisories.

All the community needed for years were the financial resources and the official government announcement, but Nault said the previous government was reluctant to approve.

Now the $11.6-million investment means that nine different boil water advisories in the community will be lifted by the fall.

For many other First Nation communities, the lack of safe drinking water and their isolation go hand in hand. Nault said winter roads would have to be built quickly in order to haul up the necessary equipment.

He also said he’s often spoken publicly about how poor infrastructure is an impediment to First Nations development, particularly the lack of all-weather roads into remote communities and grid systems.

“That I consider a regional priority, not just mine but other northern MPs and MPPs,” said Nault.

“That would have a huge impact on the ability to improve infrastructure if we got them off of diesel and onto the grid, and if we built all-weather roads, we could get things in and out of there all year round.”

He said they are working on a number of similar proposals that are now just a matter of government approval.

Nault is currently holding summer constituency clinics in towns and communities across the Kenora riding.

ISLAMABAD: Eighty-four per cent of the population does not have access to safe drinking water in a country where commercial banks posted windfall profits exceeding Rs475 billion in three years, the Senate was told on Tuesday.
Quoting a study, Provision of Safe Drinking Water, conducted by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), Minister for Science and Technology Rana Tanvir Hussain said only 72pc of water supply schemes were found to be functional, and 84pc of those had supplied water that was not fit for consumption.
The water from 14pc of water supply sources in Sindh and Punjab were found to be heavily contaminated with arsenic, well above the permissible limit of 50 parts per billion, Mr Hussain revealed.
He said Rs279 million had been spent on the project — Provision of Safe Drinking Water — over the past four years.
Law Minister Zahid Hamid informed the Senate that commercial banks in the country had earned profits exceeding Rs472bn in the last three years.
Of the total profit earned by commercial banks in three years, four banks had earned profits exceeding Rs270bn.
At the top is the Habib Bank Limited with a profit of Rs88bn, followed by MCB with Rs71bn, the United Bank Limited with Rs66bn and the Allied Bank Limited with Rs44.77 billion.
The Senate took up the issue of the acquittals of culprits involved in torching Christians’ homes in Lahore.
He said such incidents must be taken notice of and the culprits behind this must be traced and punished.
Noman Wazir of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf raised the issue of the power sector’s circular debt which has, once again, reached Rs560bn.

In Memoriam: our friend and colleague Piers Cross.
Piers Cross, one of the most influential global activists in the water sector, passed away on March 29, 2017.
Piers Cross worked in the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) for over 20 years in different positions, including Global Manager and Regional Director for Africa and South Asia.
Piers always had the poor very close to his heart.
He was a dynamic and personable man as well as an innovative, out-of-the-box thinker who believed profoundly in the participatory process when developing sanitation projects.
He also played a crucial roles in other water global agencies such as UNICEF, UN-HABITAT, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UNDP, as well as donor agencies, governments and NGOs.
We are deeply grateful to Piers Cross for paving the way towards a water-secure world for all.
We have lost a much loved friend and colleague.
His legacy will not be forgotten.
To share condolences and stories of Piers, please leave a comment below.