Many communities, even the urban ones are still faced with the challenge of accessing this basic right. It is a world-wide challenge. Communities are dependent on water whose quality is wanting. We are talking about streams and rivers which are occasionally shared with livestock. On whether the water is well treated is a guess for all of us. But the recurrent cases of water-borne illnesses are an indicator of water contamination. The sources of contamination are various, especially with faecal material. When you look around, at sanitation and hygiene practices, then you are tempted to conclude the thing about faecal substances being a big source of contaminant. This includes open human waste disposal and setting up latrines at locations which make contamination with water highly likely. Also, a good percentage of wastewater resulting from human and industrial activities is discharged into low-lying areas: rivers, swamps and lakes in its raw form, hence contamination of the waters. All these combined; increase the chances of falling sick. It is why water and sanitation-related diseases remain among the major causes of death. So as we commemorate WWD, we know that water scarcity continues to affect many populations globally. The bad news…

GUWAHATI: A research scholar from Tezpur University has found a low-cost and user-friendly way to detect the level of fluoride contamination of water by using just a smartphone.
BIRAC, or Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, is a government enterprise.
The ambient light sensor (ALS) and the LED flash in smartphones are used to detect fluoride contamination, Iftak said.
"The detection technology is based on fluoride’s reaction with zirconium dye, which forms a colourless complex anion (a negatively charged ion).
As the fluoride concentration increases, it tends to bleach the dye to make it progressively lighter in colour.
A specific wavelength from the LED flash is allowed to interact with the reagent-treated water sample.
"The interface is simple and easy to use.
This technology can be handled by anyone," he added.
The project, with which Kamal Uddin Ahmed of the department of civil engineering at Tezpur University is also associated, is extremely significant in the state, where the concentration of fluoride in ground water has been detected to be up to 6.88 mg per litre.
"The cost of the kit will further go down once it starts commercial production," he added.

One common abatement: Dig up old lead lines and replace a portion of them with another metal, such as copper.
However, this technique can dislodge lead particulates and release them into the water supply.
Furthermore, partially replacing the lead pipe connection instead of entirely exchanging it is problematic.
A team of engineers at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new way to model and track where lead particles might be transported during the partial-replacement process, in an effort to keep the water supply safer.
“We all know lead is not safe, it needs to go,” said assistant vice chancellor of international programs Pratim Biswas, the Lucy and Stanley Lopata Professor and the chair of energy, environmental, and chemical engineering at the School of Engineering & Applied Science.
“This is the first comprehensive model that works as a tool to help drinking-water utility companies and others to predict the outcome of an action.
If they have the necessary information of a potential action, they can run this model and it can advise them on how best to proceed with a pipe replacement to ensure there are no adverse effects.” In the research, recently accepted by the journal Environmental Science & Technology, Biswas and graduate research assistant Ahmed A. Abokifa present their approach, which predicts how far lead particles and dissolved species might travel after they’ve been disturbed.
Biswas said the companies can input their individual system’s information and receive recommendations so partial-pipe replacement can proceed without compromising water quality.
Abokifa and Biswas have developed several other drinking-water distribution system models to accurately predict disinfectant concentrations in the pipe network, especially dead-end systems.
“The predictions of the model will guide them on best practices to ensure the safety of the public at large.”

While lead pipes were banned decades ago, they still supply millions of American households daily with drinking water amid risks of corrosion and leaching that can cause developmental and neurological effects in young children. One common abatement: Dig up old lead lines and replace a portion of them with another metal, such as copper. However, this technique can dislodge lead particulates and release them into the water supply. Furthermore, partially replacing the lead pipe connection instead of entirely exchanging it is problematic. A team of engineers at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new way to model and track where lead particles might be transported during the partial-replacement process, in an effort to keep the water supply safer. “We all know lead is not safe, it needs to go,” said Assistant Vice Chancellor of International…

On 16 January, Governor Bruce Rauner of the state of Illinois signed into law legislation mandating testing water sources for lead at Illinois elementary schools and daycare centers. The plan requires only a one-time testing of schools with students up to fifth grade and facilities built before 2000. The cost of testing and notifying parents will be paid by schools and facilities which could run into hundreds to thousands of dollars. If the water sources tested show contamination above five parts per billion (ppb) the school is required to notify parents.There are no provisions in the law that require action be taken by the school if contamination is discovered. At present, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends schools shut off water facilities when results show 20 ppb or greater of lead. The law allows districts to use property tax dollars levied for school safety to cover testing and remediation costs. The impetus for this legislation was based on earlier testing that had been conducted in April-May of 2016 as a pilot project. Citing concerns after learning of tainted water in Flint, Michigan, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) hired private companies to test drinking water in elementary schools deemed at greatest risk because of their pre-K programs, or because kitchens and or other facilities were built before 1987. The use of lead pipes in construction was finally banned by an act of Congress in mid-1986. Other schools that did not fit the criteria paid for their testing. Thirty-two schools were tested, obtaining 236 samples. Twenty-five schools had no traces, six had levels below EPA standards and one school, and Henry O Tanner had elevated levels. CPS was prompted in May 2016 to order the testing of drinking water in all their districts, comprising 527 campuses, with 470 campuses built before 1987. As an initial measure, the three water fountains at Tanner were removed, and water coolers were brought in. Lead levels at these three fountains ranged from 19.8 to 47.5 ppb. The one fountain with the highest level had been turned off for some time. Standing water in lead pipes tends to leach the metals out of the piping. By June, 327 schools had completed testing. Of 6,167 fixtures tested, 184 fixtures (3 percent) from 113 different schools returned levels above the EPA’s action levels of 15 ppb. Scientific research shows that even the most minute amounts of lead, under five pbb, can cause significant…

The plan requires only a one-time testing of schools with students up to fifth grade and facilities built before 2000.
If the water sources tested show contamination above five parts per billion (ppb) the school is required to notify parents.There are no provisions in the law that require action be taken by the school if contamination is discovered.
The law allows districts to use property tax dollars levied for school safety to cover testing and remediation costs.
A group of environmental organizations, citing the results discovered in the Chicago Public schools, pushed for a law requiring schools throughout Illinois to test for high lead levels in drinking fountains, sinks, and other water sources.
There are more than 4,000 miles of water mains under the city and the 10-year plan will replace 900 miles of water pipes.
The process of replacing these water mains actually disturbs the lead service lines and increases the amount of lead in the city’s drinking water.
Children ages five and younger continue to be harmed at rates up to six times the city average in corners of impoverished, predominantly African-American neighborhoods, according to a Chicago Tribune analysis of city records.
Chicago has cut funding for their anti-lead programs by 50 percent to $4 million.
Congress went even further by slashing funds 94 percent.
After three years without funding, Chicago received $347,000 last year compared to $1.2 million yearly between 2005 and 2010.

California in 2014 enacted the nation’s first drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium, or chromium 6.
Now with Vacaville, in Solano County 55 miles northeast of San Francisco, plotting the final pieces of a multimillion-dollar chromium 6 removal plan, environmentalists are demanding that the city stop telling its 92,000 residents that their water is safe.
“The city’s transport of chromium 6 in this case creates an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health or the environment,” the complaint states.
River Watch’s attorney Jack Silver in Sebastopol did not respond to an interview request Tuesday.
Prolonged exposure to chromium 6 increases the risk of lung cancer and asthma, particularly when it’s inhaled.
Recent tests revealed that five of Vacaville’s 11 groundwater wells exceed the new state standard, two of which have been in operation since the 1970s.
The city says there are no known cases of chromium 6-related cancers due to Vacaville’s groundwater and that the carcinogen occurs naturally in its water supply.
To comply with the 2020 deadline Vacaville plans to install chromium 6 filters valued at more than $1 million per well to some of its wells.
“The city is taking steps to provide water with hexavalent chromium at or below the maximum contaminant level.
The data do not account for water supplies contaminated with chromium 6, such as Vacaville’s five wells.

Harrietsfield homeowners struggling for more than a decade to deal with contaminated water have won a victory. The former operators of a recycling site last week lost their Supreme Court appeal of a provincial order directing them to test residential wells monthly for contamination. The operators, including the now-closed RDM Recycling, were ordered by the court to follow the ministerial orders implemented by the province’s minister of environment after claims surfaced that they had contaminated residential wells in the area. Lawyer Kaitlyn Mitchell and a co-worker with Ecojustice represented community members Marlene Brown, Melissa King and Angela Zwicker, who were interveners in the case. “The interveners argued that the ministerial orders should be upheld. The orders require those responsible for the contamination to undertake monitoring, studies and planning for remediation of the site,” wrote Mitchell in an email to the Chronicle Herald this week. The first appeal was dismissed in November, as appellants Roy Brown and Michael Lawrence, now deceased, tried to have the orders dismissed. They were upheld by Justice Denise Boudreau. “The inclusion of the appellants in this order is a possible, acceptable outcome, given the definitions provided in the Act. As such, I uphold…

WESTFIELD, Mass. (The Westfield News) – For city resident Kristen Mello, the desire for knowledge exists because of concern. That’s why she started an online petition asking for blood testing for residents who may have been exposed to city water that had a possible contamination of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as perfluorinated carbons (PFCs), through the city’s public water supply wells. “The contaminated wells were taken offline but before that I drank this water for 30 years,” Mello said. “We deserve to know what our exposure is.” Over the summer, two of the city’s eight public drinking water wells were taken offline due to both having levels of PFAS or PFCs that was above a lifetime exposure limit advisory given by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). According to the EPA, who lowered the acceptable amount of Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)—types of PFAS—in drinking water from 600 parts per trillion to 70 parts per trillion in June of last year in a health advisory, the compound has a potential to be linked to health issues. According to the EPA’s advisory, studies on laboratory animals that were “informed by epidemiological studies of human populations” showed that certain levels of the substances may result in adverse health effects, including effects on children’s development, livers, kidneys, thyroids and immune systems, as well as risks of cancer. However, according to the ATSDR’s public health statement on perfluoroakyls: “It is difficult to interpret the results of these studies because they are not consistent; some studies have found associations, but others looking at the same…

That’s why she started an online petition asking for blood testing for residents who may have been exposed to city water that had a possible contamination of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as perfluorinated carbons (PFCs), through the city’s public water supply wells.
“The contaminated wells were taken offline but before that I drank this water for 30 years,” Mello said.
“We deserve to know what our exposure is.” Over the summer, two of the city’s eight public drinking water wells were taken offline due to both having levels of PFAS or PFCs that was above a lifetime exposure limit advisory given by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Even though some studies have found significant associations between serum perfluoroalkyl levels and adverse health effects, it does not mean that perfluoroalkyls caused these effects.
Mello believes that it is possible that exposure to the PFAS may have occurred to residents as early as the 1950s, when the online petition said the firefighting foam were first used on the airport.
“We are happy that they took the wells offline but prior to 2015 we didn’t know, so the only way to know is to get the blood testing done,” Mello said.
According to a New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (NH DHHS) press release, “a positive test result for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) from a well that serves the Pease Tradeport and the New Hampshire Air National Guard base at Pease” was found, and the well in question was taken offline—similar to the situation that occurred in Westfield.
The website reported that the NH DHHS eventually “responded to the community’s request to provide blood testing for the people at Pease exposed to contaminated well water (prior to May 2014) by offering two rounds of testing in 2015.” Also according to the website, the blood tests for Pease residents came back with a higher amount of PFCs than what was found in a 2011-2012 study that was done by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Mello said that the testing was also facilitated through the ATSDR, who she also reached out to regarding her concerns.
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