By Paul Egan The state announced Friday that the health of Flint’s drinking water has been restored and state distribution of free bottled water in the city is ending, likely within a few days.
The announcement drew immediate outrage from residents who say the water is still not safe to drink, four years after it became contaminated with lead as a result of errors made by the state Department of Environmental Quality and other agencies.
Flint Gets Some Control Back Over Its Own Finances And a run on remaining free bottled water was under way in Flint on Friday afternoon, with long lines of vehicles forming outside depots that were scheduled to close at 6 p.m. "It’s too quick," said Flint activist Melissa Mays of the group Water You Fighting For.
Rick Snyder’s office said in a news release.
Free water filters and replacement cartridges will remain available at City Hall for residents who want or need them, such as for those who are close to lead water line replacement work that could result in short-term spikes of lead into the water, the state said.
The state said Flint’s water has tested below federal "action levels" for lead for nearly two years, and for four consecutive six-month monitoring periods.
"This is not what I want for our city and I stand by my position that free bottled water should be provided to the people of Flint until the last-known lead-tainted pipe has been replaced," Weaver said in the letter.
Mays was a party to a federal court settlement that provided for an end to bottled water distribution once test results consistently showed lower lead levels, but Mays said the state should be listening to residents’ ongoing concerns about lead, plus other forms of contamination, such as bacterial.
Nonprofit groups have also been distributing free bottled water at Flint churches, and Mays said she expects and hopes that will continue.
Flint switched back to Detroit water in October 2015, but some risk remained because of damage to the city’s water distribution infrastructure.

“For the students in NNB, this was a massive research project,” Motta said.
“They learned a lot of investigative tools.
We had groups just looking at the history of housing developments in St. Petersburg to see which houses would be the best targets for our experiment.” NNB covers the historic African-American neighborhoods of St. Petersburg’s midtown area.
One of its major projects includes Midtown K-12 news – a program seeking to improve journalism and media education in schools in south St. Petersburg.
The Academy Prep Center of St. Petersburg is one of those schools.
Students who were interested in participating in the experiment could sign up for it through an after-school enrichment program called “Community Cares.” But before they could begin collecting water samples, students were required to research the harmful effects of lead in drinking water.
“They really got to experience science firsthand,” Manke said.
“I run samples all the time, so that wasn’t special or overly interesting for me, but the fact that students were involved – and not just college-level students, but middle schools kids that collected the samples and came and saw my lab – it’s always great to have kids come and see the lab and hopefully be excited about science.” Quinn found that lead was present in the water but at levels well below the EPA limit, which is set at 15 parts per billion.
“I always believe that when you’re a reporter, it doesn’t end when you finish the story,” she said.
I just hope that NNB has that figurative, fat notebook,” Perez said.

Despite repeated promises and recruitment drives, the Saaf Pani project by the government of the Punjab could not take off.
An admission of failure was made by Punjab’s top official before the Supreme Court bench headed by the Chief Justice Saqib Nisar.
Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Saeed further informed the court that Rs 4 billion have been spent on the project.
The SC bench rejected the CEO’s report and sought more details especially the amount paid as salaries and hinted the possibility of referring the case to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which is already investigating the irregularities in the project.
The court rightly took notice of the lavish spending made on salaries and perks for high level project employees and advertising.
The court proceedings are shocking to say the least.
That clean drinking water is not a priority for the provincial government was well known but to make a mockery of this vital public issue is even more disturbing.
This is a public health crisis.
The Punjab government is evidently more interested in completing large infrastructure projects for visibility during the forthcoming election campaign.
Access to clean drinking water should be a priority for all provincial and local governments in Pakistan.

“Gaya and Bhagalpur are already experiencing declining groundwater levels and consequent water scarcity.
Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Ara, Munger and Biharsharif may also face the crisis in near future,” they said.
According to a study conducted by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), groundwater reservoirs in as many as 11 blocks of the state are in semi-critical condition.
These blocks are Gaya sadar, Rajgir and Nagarnausa in Nalanda district, Meskaur in Nawada, Kurtha in Arwal, Birpur and Naokothi in Begusarai, Masaurhi and Sampatchak in Patna, Mushhari in Muzaffarpur and Tajpur in Samastipur district.
“Overexploitation of groundwater through deep tube wells is getting the groundwater reservoir depleted faster than it is being replenished.
For a city of nearly 25 lakh people, already facing a major water crisis, the rapid depletion of groundwater would spell doom,” the CGWB scientists said.
Gaya urban area with a population of more than 4 lakh people depends largely on groundwater.
Due to limited recharge from scanty rainfall and the alarming water table decline in the underlying aquifer system, the situation has become worse.
In Bhagalpur urban area, the groundwater level has reportedly declined by 4 to 5 metres in the last four to five decades as the maximum stress of water supply lies on a single deep aquifer in the city.
“Even though there is no considerable decline in the piezometric head in Muzaffarpur urban area, the future demand of the irrigation draft in the fringe area is alarming and demands a sustainable urban water management.

As part of its ongoing commitment to bridge the gap between depleting natural water supply and the increasing demand for clean and safe water, Metito, a global provider of intelligent water management solutions, calls to reinforce access to clean drinking water as a universal human right amidst extreme climate change unravelling an even more challenging global water scenario.
With 60 years of experience, Metito is at the forefront of the water and wastewater industry with an impressive project portfolio that includes over 3000 projects most of which are in the most arid regions in the world.
In celebration of World Water Day 2018, Metito is highlighting how companies must lead by example and play an active role in spearheading knowledge transfer about water scarcity, mindful water use and wastewater recycling and reuse.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas by 2025.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and WHO reported that almost 663 million people lack access to an improved water source.
These numbers can get worse with rising populations, urbanization and industrialization and with lack of sufficient knowledge among consumers about water scarcity, the importance of safe water access and the prospects of conflicts pertaining to water security.
This year, in the lead up to World Water Day, Metito said it continues to promote the importance of information dissemination and knowledge transfer on water scarcity, water safety and security as part of its CSR program which primarily targets school and university students.
Through this program, Metito hosts workshops, presentations and site visits where students are introduced to the latest water statistics and the concept of water recycling and reuse, challenging youth to improve the water situation in their country of residence and around the world, by changing their personal water consumption habits.
“We believe that knowledge is the most effective driver able to bring about positive change.
Tapping into the youth, their unrestricted thinking space and fresh energy, is the focal point to our CSR agenda,” Metito also partnered with Planet Water Foundation, a leading non-profit organization that addresses global water poverty by delivering clean water access and hygiene education programs, to construct and deploy a clean water filtration system, or AquaTower, in Montong Tangi, Indonesia.

”Dysentery can give you some time to take care of yourself but not cholera”.
“For a community like that, there is need for people to perform filtration or try as much as possible to boil it.
”You can use chlorine tablet but it depends on the water.
Chlorine tablet works 100 per cent for water from borehole.
But for muddy waters, if you use chlorine tablet, there will be first chemical reaction which will reduce the effectiveness of that chlorine tablet.
The water needs to be clean.
Achieving SDGs Yeo, who acknowledged that government had put on the table some efforts to ensure that WASH services are delivered to the people, urged state governments to adopt the federal government’s expanded WASH programme as part of the efforts to deliver WASH services in the communities.
He urged government to make policies that would facilitate access to improved water sources and sanitation, which will, in turn, help to reduce preventable diseases.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported the UNICEF on Friday, September 29 said an estimated three million children need emergency education support occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.
UNICEF’s deputy director, Justin Forsyth, told journalists in Maiduguri that urgent interventions were necessary to address the situation.

A 2014 survey of the world’s 500 largest cities estimates that one in four are in “water stress.” In fact, right now, there are 11 major cities on the Blue Planet that are most likely to run out of drinking water—exactly like Cape Town.
Consequently, because of its looming water emergency, the thriving city of Cape Town has become the poster city for what, if the necessary correctives are not applied, will be water-scarcity crises duplicated in other large cities worldwide.
The people who are most affected by water stresses are most often the ones who can solve the problem.
Melting glacier ice accounts for 30 percent of the water in the rivers.
This is particularly significant because those provinces provide 38 percent of the country’s agriculture.
That is 6,822 sources of clean, fresh drinking water.
Now, the Jesus Well project is one of the largest clean water initiatives in the world.
Jesus Wells are maintained in good repair by GFA-supported local pastors.
Still, more than 150 million people in South Asia alone have either no immediate access to clean water or drink from polluted sources.
===== Give Towards Clean Water Projects You can provide life-saving water to people in Asia suffering from the global clean water crisis through Jesus Wells and BioSand water filters, and help support ongoing maintenance of these clean water projects.

American orders 47 787s for fleet replacement As part of the deal, American has deferred indefinitely 40 Boeing 737 Max 8 deliveries due from 2020 to 2022, the airline says.
Shares of American were up 0.3% after hours, following a 3.6% fall to close Friday trading at $50.29.
Wall St slides as US-China trade spat intensifies The Dow at one point lost as more than 700 points while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 index were down 2.6 percent and 2.7 percent each.
(NYSE: STZ ).
Guinness Asset Management Ltd bought 43,310 shares as the company’s stock declined 19.10% with the market.
Israeli army shoot six journalists during Gaza protests Hamas’s leader in Gaza , Yahya Sinwar, hailed the protests and condemned Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The day of violence, which saw bigger Palestinian crowds than in recent days calmed down as night descended.
Commonwealth Games: Indian Weightlifter Sathish Sivalingam wins Gold medal He faced a stiff competition from England’s Jack Oliver who remained on the second position, after a hard clean-and-jerk round.
Satish, who hails from Tamil Nadu is the son of an ex-serviceman who won gold medals during his prime as an athlete for India.
Without further ado, here are my Arsenal player ratings vs CSKA Moscow .

Two new water filling stations have been installed in Vallejo and will be unveiled next week to promote better health, Solano County Public Health spokeswoman Robin Cox said.
St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School, where one of the new stations was installed, passed a Healthy Beverage Standard for students where more healthy beverage options like water, unsweetened sparkling water, unsweetened tea and unflavored/plain milk will be offered, Cox said.
Solano County Supervisor Erin Hannigan aided the efforts.
“I can’t wait to go and refill my bottle and celebrate with the kids.” The water station with bottle filler will provide improved access to water for all students as they and faculty welcome Earth Day 2018 (April 22) by promoting reducing plastic bottle waste to protect the environment by filling up their new special reusable bottles with water from the new water station, she said.
A ribbon cutting is planned for 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 11 for two new water stations at the Florence Douglas Senior Center, Cox said.
While funding for the equipment came from the same source, a Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation grant awarded to Solano County, Health Promotion, Community Wellness Bureau/VibeSolano funded the installation, Cox said.
Free water bottles from Solano Public Health will be distributed during the event to the participating seniors, she said.
The two new indoor water stations will increase water access for the seniors utilizing the center, she said.
Also, center executive director, Peter Wilson, has championed healthy choices and enthusiastically passed a Healthy Beverage Standard for the center, Cox said.
The goal is to improve healthy outcomes by increasing water consumption and decreasing consumption of sugary beverages, she said.

That’s why in 2013, Contribute Water was founded as Malta’s first charity water dedicated to help people get access to clean water and proper sanitation in Africa.
"Our basic belief is that it is possible to run a business whilst at the same time helping others.
The concept is really simple; for every bottle being purchased, part of the revenue will go to charity, it’s as easy as that!
When buying Contribute Water, you can quench your thirst and do something good for others at the same time," the group told Lovin Malta.
The group has donated over €15,000 to charity since 2013, and the number is rising every month.
In getting the word out, Contribute recently announced that Eurovision singer Christabelle Borg and chef and entrepreneur Daniel Grech are the latest ambassadors for Contribute Water.
Chef Daniel Grech, the man behind Shoreditch and Pit Stop, said that he just had to get involved as soon as he heard about the project.
"I was in a shop when I saw the bottle for the first time, and I wanted to be involved, I wanted to help get the word out.
I am now an ambassador for the company, and my aim is to make as many outlets as possible interested so people can buy from as many outlets as possible. "
Tag someone who will find this inspiring!