Almost two weeks after Martinborough’s water was declared unsafe to drink its council believes it has found the source of the E.coli contamination.
* Water woes putting the squeeze on Martinborough businesses * Drinkable water in Martinborough likely to be a week away * Would chlorination have prevented Martinborough’s water woes?
* Martinborough residents on boil water notice for at least four more days "All going well, and we get three days of clear water testing following the flushing, the boil water notice will be lifted early next week."
Advertise with Stuff Wharram said the UV system has been working well since January 24 and work was being done to ensure the malfunction did not reoccur.
"If you are aware of any elderly or frail neighbours who may need an update on the water situation, or who may need help gaining access to safe drinking water, please offer your assistance or contact council so we can help," Napier said.
Council is working with Wellington Water on the response plan to get the boil water notice lifted.
"All this is taking some time but is essential, along with three clear test results on three consecutive days once all the work is complete, to give confidence to the council and Regional Public Health that the boil water notice can be lifted," Wharram said.
The risk of getting sick from drinking the water during the period leading up to the notice being issued is low but possible, especially for vulnerable people.
Safe drinking water continues to be available from the emergency water bladders behind the Waihinga Centre, outside the Wharekaka aged-care home, Martinborough School, the golf club and rugby club.
* If you develop an illness with diarrhoea, vomiting and/or a fever, and are concerned about your health, get advice from your doctor or contact Healthline (0800 611 116).

Articles published under the media release byline are news produced by the relevant business and remain unedited by Brews News.
Clean drinking water en route to Townsville More than 80,000 cans of free drinking water will arrive in Townsville next week for people affected by the recent flooding.
The water will be available to charities and community groups who are supporting residents in the regions.
Potential recipients include people at evacuation centres, residents whose access to clean water has been compromised and volunteers helping in the clean-up effort.
The water has been dispatched to Townsville as part of Carlton & United Breweries’ free drinking water program.
The program was launched in December in conjunction with the Queensland Government and not-for-profit GIVIT (givit.org.au).
CUB has produced thousands of cans that are stored across the state to ensure Queenslanders affected by natural disasters have access to clean drinking water.
The water will be distributed through local charities and disaster recovery agencies.
If you have been affected by the floods and need support, please go to one of the Community Recovery Hubs.
There are four hubs operating: State Government Building in Stanley Street, Townsville Townsville Stadium in the Murray Sporting Complex, Annandale Townsville Brothers Football Club in Hi Vista Park, Mt Louisa 1300Smiles Stadium in Kirwan

About 800,000 water meters across the Dubai are set to be replaced with smart water meters by the end of 2019 Currently there are two billion people around the world who lack access to safe, clean, drinking water DUBAI: Water security is a global issue that all countries must get ahead of, Dubai’s Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) chief executive Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer warned on Monday, as he laid out Dubai’s 2036 plan for tackling the challenge.
Currently there are two billion people around the world who lack access to safe, clean, drinking water, while a shortfall of 40 percent is forecasted between water supply and it’s demand in 2030, the CEO said.
“We seek to make Dubai a global model for clean energy and green economy by adopting the technologies of the fourth Industrial Revolution and disruptive technologies including artificial intelligence, unmanned aerial vehicles, energy storage, and blockchain,” Al-Tayer said at the opening session of the second day of the World Government Summit in Dubai.
“The UAE has a holistic vision of water security and water management, utilizing the latest innovative solutions to reduce water consumption,” he added.
Al-Tayer laid out initial framework for the strategy and DEWA’s achievements in making use of every drop of water in the Dubai, with specific forecasts and points for the emirate that will begin witnessing change as early as end of 2019.
“In Dubai we adopt three pillars to ensure the sustainability of water production – these are based on using clean solar energy to desalinate seawater using the latest reverse osmosis technologies,” Al-Tayer said, adding that “excess water is stored in aquifers and pumped back into the water network when needed.” About 800,000 water meters across the Dubai are set to be replaced with smart water meters by the end of 2019, as the emirate “strives to provide infrastructure through sophisticated systems to transform Dubai into the smartest city in the world.” “In 1992, the installed capacity was 65 million gallons of water per day.
Today, in order to keep pace with the growing demand and prosperity of the emirate, DEWA’s installed capacity is 470 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD),” Al-Tayer said, while also pointing out that groundwater consumption for drinking water purposes dropped from 100 percent in 1990 to 0.4 percent in 2019.
In addition to water security, DEWA’s CEO spoke of Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Green Dubai strategy, which aims to reduce 43 billion ton of carbon emission by 2030, saving over $3.5 billion in the process.
DEWA’s plan would raise the level of efficiency and effectiveness, achieve economic saving and finally integrate electricity generated from solar power, as the authority works “to become the world’s first digital organization with renewable energy control systems.”

The Chinese Government has handed over 1,029 boreholes it constructed across 10 regions of Ghana to the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources to enhance access to potable water by rural communities towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal-Six.
The project was funded through a grant from the Chinese Government, under the Economic and Technical Corporation and Agreement signed in December 2015.
China was willing to provide 60 billion dollars to support Africa through government assistance, financial institutions and corporate investment and financing, he said.
Mr Shi said China was willing to contribute its strength and wisdom to the goal of a ‘Ghana beyond Aid’ being pursued by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
“It is in this regard that the Government would support any initiative that would enhance access to safe water and improve sanitation services to all Ghanaians.” Madam Dapaah said Ghana, the Joint Monitoring Platform and UNICEF, and the world as a whole, had managed to reduce by half the number of people using unimproved sources of drinking water, adding that 89 per cent of Ghana’s population had access to improved water source.
She noted that the report, however, identified inequalities between the rich and the poor and geographical areas as a challenge, which still pertained in many countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Another challenge, she said, was the issue of sustainability of water and sanitation services, as well as water quality right from the source to the point of use at the household level.
“The Government expects the citizenry, especially domestic consumers, who would benefit from these boreholes project, to contribute their quota by ensuring the protection and sustainability of investment in the water sector,” Madam Dapaah added.
Nana Baffuor Adu Ameyaw II, the Chief of Densusu Traditional Area, expressed the community’s gratitude to the Chinese Government for the kind gesture, saying, “It is a memorable day for us”.
He commended government for selecting Densusu as a beneficiary and gave the assurance that members of the community would put the facility to good use and ensure its proper maintenance.

Haworth-based Suez of North America, which serves 57 municipalities in Bergen and Hudson counties, needs to notify customers of its lead service lines providing water and to replace its lead lines “as soon as possible.” That’s according to Fifth District Democratic U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who told Northern Valley Press that he connected with Suez officials Jan. 22, immediately after Suez disclosed high lead levels in some customers’ drinking water.
I am deeply committed to protecting our communities from lead and other dangerous contaminants, which can be harmful to children and seniors especially.” Suez plans ‘aggressive effort’ Suez spokeswoman Debra Vial said 2019 will be a year focused on eliminating lead service lines.
Gottheimer making requests Gottheimer said he would ask Suez whether a finding of elevated lead in drinking water test results would expedite lead line removals for customers experiencing such levels exceeding federal standards.
Following Suez’s revelation Jan. 16 that a state-mandated drinking water quality sampling showed 16 of 108 homes in Bergen and Hudson counties had elevated lead levels in drinking water, Gottheimer called on Suez to take five immediate steps “to address the threat of lead in our drinking water and the serious risks it poses for children and families in the local community.” Despite repeated requests, at the Jan. 16 news conference and follow-up emails, Suez declined to provide details of specific towns where homes showed elevated lead levels, nor would it provide numbers of Suez-owned lead service lines for Pascack and Northern Valley towns.
Gottheimer wants Suez to: • Provide its customers self assessment information, as many customers are unaware they have lead pipes in their homes; • Publically disclose the action plan required by NJDEP; • Review and revise its timetable to fully replace lead pipes; • Notify residents, as well as account holders, so that renters may have immediate access to information; and • Ensure that information and test results shared with customers be provided in clear, easy to understand language.
In addition to lead dissolving or corroding from lead lines into drinking water, a key variable affecting corrosion is the chemicals Suez uses as part of its corrosion control treatment program.
How many lead lines?
Since Jan. 16, she said, 9,000 customers visited Suez’s website to check on their service line, and the utility fielded 3,500 phone calls and 480 emails on the subject and set 460 appointments to test drinking water.
She said the utility replaces 7 percent of lead service lines yearly and requests local officials notify them when service lines are exposed due to road work so they can check if lead lines are present.
Suez also provides do-it-yourself information on its website to help customers determine if their water service line—which runs from the curb line to their home—might contain lead.

From: Indigenous Services Canada February 4, 2019 — Ottawa, Traditional Algonquin Territory, ON — Indigenous Services Canada The federal government remains steadfast and on track in its commitment to end all long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserve by March 2021.
Today, the Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Indigenous Services, provided the department’s monthly progress update.
In January 2019, while no long-term drinking water advisories on public systems were lifted or added, four short-term advisories were lifted before becoming long-term.
The department currently projects that at least 15 additional long-term drinking water advisories will be lifted in the next six months.
Lifted short-term advisories in January 2019: Whitesand, in Ontario, lifted a short-term drinking water advisory from the Whitesand Public Water System on January 7.
The advisory had been in place since November 2018, and was lifted after the cistern was cleaned and disinfected.
Since November 2015, 78 long-term drinking water advisories have been lifted from public systems on reserve.
“Some months will show greater progress than others as we work to eliminate all long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserve by March 2021.
Since November 2015, 116 short-term drinking water advisories (lasting between two and 12 months) were lifted before becoming long-term.
Budget 2016 provided $1.8 billion over five years toward water and wastewater infrastructure.

This year, the challenges will continue in full force, according to an annual report from UNOCHA, the U.N. humanitarian agency, called World Humanitarian Data and Trends 2018.
That’s because the root causes are increasingly a messy mix of conflict, climate shocks, poverty and social inequalities.
Humanitarian resources must be stretched even further for more and longer-lasting crises.
More than 80 percent of the funding required that year was for just eight "mega-crises," as the report calls them, that have lasted five years or more, in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Traditional disaster response isn’t cut out for long crises.
In many cases, people lost their supply of water.
And in some conflicts, cutting off access to water was used as a weapon.
For example, the report found that in Yemen there were 28 conflict events in 2017 in which water set off fighting or was a casualty of hostilities.
Even though the cost of humanitarian assistance has increased, people are getting higher quality and better aid, she notes.
Internal displacement is notoriously under-reported, leaving many without the aid they need.

Water resources are under immense pressure from climate change, soaring demand for water for domestic use, increasing population, agriculture and industrial sectors.
In addition to this, the changes in crop boundaries could happen due to changing rainfall and temperatures, another consequence of climate change.
Alarmingly, the groundwater level is declining in Lahore with a depletion rate approximately 2.5 to 3.0 feet per year across the district.
2: Prevalence of waterborne diseases such as dysentery, diarrhea, malaria, and dengue, particularly in urban centers, is due to poor quality of water which is increasing health risks and jeopardizing the quality of life.
Stakeholders should discuss and recommend solutions such as improvements in water allocations between surface and groundwater levels, increased levels of treatment for industrial and municipal effluent and improvement in environmental flows.
National Water Policy drafted on April 2018, with a rapidly growing population – 208.8 million – Pakistan is heading towards a situation of water shortage and by corollary, is at high risk of facing food insecurity.
Pakistan is no different, as according to World Bank’s calculations, only approximately 41 percent of the country’s urban population has access to safe drinking water.
The situation in rural areas is worse.
Access to safe drinking water in rural and urban areas is declining and the provision of potable water is a key issue that people face.
A large population of major cities in Pakistan does not have access to safe drinking water as freshwater resources are being contaminated due to multiple reasons and safe drinking water should be made available to the population and industries need to ensure proper disposal of solid and liquid waste.

GEORGE TOWN: A DAP politician has hit out at a water company for cutting water supply to a squatter village near Bedong, Kedah, saying it should have taken a humanitarian approach to the situation.
In particular, he referred to a provision under Section D, Clause 20.3, which states that termination of water supply to squatters requires a court order.
The regulation, which came into effect on Aug 15, 2014, is part of a subsidiary law under the Water Services Industry Act 2006.
“If it had gone to court, the court could have considered the plight of the residents and the implications of water termination to their health and well-being,” he said, urging Sada to reconnect the water supply.
They rely on water from the well and harvest rainwater.
There are just two water pipes, one at each end of the village.
The landowners have refused to allow the installation of power lines or individual water meters.
Ramasamy urged the Kedah government not to wash its hands of the matter, saying it should waive the bill and find ways to help the villagers.
“Terminating water supply to residents, even if they are living on private land, is an act of extreme cruelty,” he said.
Previously, Kedah executive councillor Summugam Rengasamy said the state government had tried to help the squatters by getting them to stay at another neighbourhood, but they refused to do so.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are developing a water filter that could help people in countries where there is not enough clean drinking water.
That’s put pressure on scientists to develop water-purifying technologies to help increase global access to drinking water.
They combined the fibers with graphene oxide, an extremely thin material that can convert sunlight into heat, which then kills the bacteria on the surface of the filter’s membrane.
Because the technology just requires sunlight to work, that could help rural communities without reliable access to electricity, said Young-Shin Jun, an environmental engineering professor at Wash U.
“Where we don’t have electricity, we’ll still be able to utilize this membrane to kill bacteria that we worry about,” Jun said.
The filter Singamaneni and Jun developed still has years to go before hitting the market, so it’s too early to estimate its cost.
The cost of water filtering membranes remains the biggest challenge to delivering them to water-stressed communities, said Eric Hoek, a civil engineering professor at University of California-Los Angeles.
“In order to assure that the whole world has clean, safe drinking water, we do not need a better membrane,” Hoek said.
“The most impactful contribution would be to make a membrane that performs the function of a commercially available membrane but cost 10 times less.” It’s possible that the Wash U researchers’ bacteria-based filter could be less costly compared to others on the market.
Because it uses sunlight to kill microbes that accumulate on the membrane, it “can reduce the membrane maintenance cost,” Jun said.