However, two drinking water wells in the base’s Hill system, which serves about 3,000 people on the Lakehurst portion, tested at 215 parts per trillion in December.
But a review of water pumping records by this news organization showed the two "backup" wells provided about 15 percent of water to the Hill system from 2007 to 2016.
From May 2014 to April 2015, records show the two contaminated wells supplied about three-quarters of the water in that system.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the arm of the CDC responsible for investigating potential toxic exposures at federal sites such as military bases, said in an email that it hasn’t looked at potential exposure to PFOA and PFOS “because we didn’t have the data to evaluate these contaminants.” After PFOA and PFOS contamination issues were found at a former military base in Warminster, Pennsylvania, the agency conducted a health assessment to determine that the perfluorinated chemicals posed a “public health hazard in the past.” Asked about doing a similar analysis at the joint base, the agency wrote that its “main role, currently, has been to provide health education related to (PFOS and PFOA) exposure.” On the state level, Health Department spokeswoman Nicole Kirgan said in an email: "The New Jersey Department of Health has not been involved with this site, as this is a federal Department of Defense site and falls under federal oversight."
Pumping records from the base showed the two contaminated wells were taken offline in November 2015 and not used again until they were tested for the chemicals in October 2016.
There is no indication why that happened.
David Kluesner, chief of public outreach for the EPA’s Region II office, wrote in an email: “At this time, it is unknown why the wells were taken out of service.” He also said the agency was working with the military, DEP and CDC to “evaluate all relevant information.” The base’s pumping records also showed the two contaminated wells were first sampled in October 2016, when they were pumping only a small amount of water.
Those tests showed no contamination.
Asked whether the DEP staff would review the pumping records to ensure proper testing, press officer Larry Hajna said in an email: “In general, any time a water system encounters an issue with elevated levels of contaminant for which there is no (legal limit), we recommend that the operator take steps to mitigate, such as using the well only if necessary and blending with other water.
Asked the same question about pumping records, the EPA’s Kluesner wrote, “Currently, the Air Force is investigating PFOA/PFOS contamination at the site, and all appropriate information, including the pumping records, will be considered in the evaluation.” When asked if it’s possible the chemicals may migrate from the closed wells to other area wells, he wrote, “The investigation of contamination at this site is in its early stages, and the focus is on determining if drinking water wells are impacted now.” Hajna did not answer that question for the DEP.

OSHaRE added to Walk for Water.
The event, which over the past nine years has helped to improve access to safe drinking water overseas, has added the local Owen Sound Hunger and Relief Effort to the causes it is raising money for.
"Next year will be the 10th anniversary and we will have OSHaRE on then as well," said Jeffrey Robins, owner of Aveda Mane Street Hair Salon, which puts on the event each year with Barry Kruisselbrink of Barry’s Construction.
"Barry gives money to them each year so he just wanted to help them out a little bit further."
Each year the funds raised from the event have gone to WaterAid Canada, which improves access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation.
"They are building wells for people who don’t have accessible, clean water," said Robins.
Robins said the event started locally after the salon took it on as it was Aveda’s national fundraiser.
"Each year it has just grown and gotten bigger and bigger."
Last year, the Owen Sound event raised close to $47,000, making it the top fundraising Aveda salon in Canada.
"I have a person in my chair for half an hour so I talk to them about what we are doing," said Robins.

Liquid Gold: Clean Water Funds Attract Interest.
Money is being poured into the clean water industry, but few on Wall Street seem to be talking about it, with larger concerns over oil, gold and other commodities.
Richardson says there’s an increasing gap between supply and demand in the water sector, along with "increasing climate disruptions and extreme weather events that require substantial investments in water treatment technologies and distribution infrastructure."
"Plus, domestically, President (Donald) Trump has labeled poor water quality as a major issue and a priority to be addressed, and so we’re seeing a lot of opportunity for investors both in the U.S. and abroad."
On a global basis, water demand is also surging due to population growth and changing diets, says Doug Morrow, associate director at Sustainalytics, an ESG research firm that tracks environmental and industrial water issues.
Against this backdrop, Morrows says his firm’s research found that more than 40 percent of researched companies in the food products, semiconductors and utility industries have a poor water management program, despite the large water requirements of these industries.
Currently, there are exchange-traded funds that will enable liquid-minded investors to do just that.
The fund tracks the price and yield of the ISE Water Index, a benchmark industry index.
Another, even larger water-themed fund is PowerShares Water Resource Portfolio ETF ( PHO), a fund with $750 million in assets under management which closely tracks the Nasdaq OMX US Water index.
The fund, which is trading at $27 per share, is also up 6 percent on a year-to-date basis, and is up almost 20 percent on a 12-month basis.

California’s drought is over, but water conservation remains a ‘way of life’.
Gov.
Brown’s executive order lifts the drought emergency in all California counties except Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Tuolumne, where emergency drinking water programs will remain in place to help communities that ran short of groundwater supplies.
The executive order keeps in place conservation measures that are designed to make California more resilient against future droughts and promote water conservation as a long-term practice.
They include bans on watering lawns within 48 hours of rain, washing cars without a shut-off nozzle on the hose or cities watering grass on road medians using potable water.
Brown declared the drought emergency in 2014, and a year later, officials later ordered mandatory conservation for the first time in state history.
The agencies involved include California Department of Water Resources (DWR), SWRCB, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and California Energy Commission (CEC).
The order has four primary objectives: use water more wisely, eliminate water waste, strengthen local drought resilience and improve agricultural water use efficiency and drought planning.
According to Marcus, the final report was released after Brown lifted the drought emergency.
“The report is about the next steps of that process.” The water action plan, Marcus said, aims to curb “truly wasteful practices” such as watering lawns to the extent that the water runs down the street.

Lemoore schools to test for lead in water.
LEMOORE — In January, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced public schools can receive free testing for lead in drinking water under a new state program.
The State Water Resources Control Board, in cooperation with the California Department of Education, recently required all community water systems to test school drinking water upon request by school officials if the public school is served by the community water system.
“Students need fresh water, nutritious meals, and appropriate physical activity to be ready to learn in class.” At the Lemoore City Council’s last regular meeting on April 18, Public Works Director Nathan Olson said Lemoore Union Elementary School District and the Lemoore Union High School District have already asked the department to test for lead in their schools’ water systems.
Julie Fagundes, chief business official for Lemoore Union Elementary School District, said the district decided to jump on this free opportunity and requested the testing in February, shortly after the state department of education’s announcement.
Fagundes said public works staff have already met with the district’s maintenance and operations director and will be collecting water samples from five locations at each of the district’s school sites from water fountains and water from the kitchen areas.
Lemoore Union High School District Superintendent Debbie Muro said the district decided to contact the public works department about three weeks ago after hearing what the California Department of Education was offering and to just be proactive in the process.
The public works department would have to test between eight to 12 faucets, sinks and water fountains as part of their sample collections.
Lead problems are infrequent in California, which has newer water infrastructure and less corrosive water than other parts of the nation, according to the state department of education.
Ben Stidman, maintenance, operations and transportation director at Hanford Joint Union High School District said all the district’s school sites use city water for all potable water use.

After three years of drought and failed harvests, Kenya is in the grip of a national crisis.
Kenya has allocated US$ 128 million towards the national drought response effort, expanded social safety nets, and is working with the international community to mitigate the impacts of the drought on the most vulnerable.
But the US$ 166 million appeal launched by the UN and partners in March 2017 has raised a mere 18 per cent of its funding target, US$ 10.3 million of which from the UN’s own Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
Governments that respond to humanitarian needs must be rewarded with support, not penalised by an international community that looks the other way.
The number of people facing severe food insecurity – 2.6 million – has tripled in less than a year.
Children are suffering from acute malnutrition and preventable diseases like diarrhoea, measles and cholera.
The situation would have been far worse had the Kenyan Government, the Kenyan Red Cross, the private sector, and the humanitarian community not stepped in earlier this year – declaring a national drought disaster and tapping into early warning and emergency preparedness systems, public-private partnerships and social safety nets.
Tensions will rise and diseases will spread.
With US$ 20 million we could stem the spread of cholera and diarrhoea by providing access to clean water and sanitation.
Let’s put our sticks in a bundle to make Kenya’s drought response – and its communities – unbreakable.

More DUBAI, United Arab Emirates–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland was awarded the second place in a global award that tackles the issue of water scarcity through finding innovative solutions.
The award, overseen by The UAE Water Aid Foundation (Suqia), includes three main categories: Innovative Projects Award (Small and Large projects), Innovative Research and Development Award (National and International institutions), and the Innovative Youth Award.
The Swiss university came second in the second category.
This Smart News Release features multimedia.
View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170428005121/en/ Valued at $1m, the award was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to encourage sustainable and innovative solutions to address water scarcity using solar power.
The UAE Water Aid Foundation (Suqia) oversees the award under the umbrella of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI).
Its efforts were recognised with an award for the second place.
In his speech, HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Suqia, noted that, according to UNICEF, hundreds of millions of children won’t have access to clean water in the future, and that girls now spend 200 million hours a day collecting water, which affects their education.
He stated that the United Nations agency has warned us that 600 million children will live in areas with severely limited water resources by 2040, putting them at risk of deadly diseases.
Dr. Endre HORVATH, Scientist from the university, said “This award would help us finalise the validation process of our water purifying solution and get endorsement from 3rd parties to market it in remote communities.

Finland Bags Third Place in Global Water Award.
More DUBAI, United Arab Emirates–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Solar Water Solutions company in Finland was awarded third place in a global award that tackles the issue of water scarcity through finding innovative solutions.
This Smart News Release features multimedia.
View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170428005128/en/ Valued at $1m, the award was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to encourage sustainable and innovative solutions to address water scarcity using solar power.
The UAE Water Aid Foundation (Suqia) oversees the award under the umbrella of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI).
Its efforts were recognised with an award for third place.
In his speech, HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Suqia, noted that, according to UNICEF, hundreds of millions of children won’t have access to clean water in the future, and that girls now spend 200 million hours a day collecting water, which affects their education.
He stated that the United Nations agency has warned us that 600 million children will live in areas with severely limited water resources by 2040, putting them at risk of deadly diseases.
HE Al Tayer said, "The Mohammed bin Rashid Global Water Award, which bears the name of a person whose generosity is not just for the people of the UAE, but also helps those in need anywhere in the world, is another significant milestone in the UAE’s humanitarian efforts.
It supports international efforts to provide drinking water to the needy by devising practical and sustainable solutions to water scarcity.”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Temak S.A in Greece was awarded the second prize in a global award that tackles the issue of water scarcity through finding innovative solutions.
The award, overseen by The UAE Water Aid Foundation (Suqia), includes three main categories: Innovative Projects Award (Small and Large projects), Innovative Research and Development Award (National and International institutions), and the Innovative Youth Award.
Valued at $1m, the award was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to encourage sustainable and innovative solutions to address water scarcity using solar power.
The UAE Water Aid Foundation (Suqia) oversees the award under the umbrella of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI).
The Greece based company participated in the award with a solar powered Reverse Osmosis plant to produce drinking water, a self-sustained project with an energy recovery device with 42% energy savings.
Its efforts were recognised with an award for a second place.
Our mission for over 40 years has been to develop and apply technologies for low cost production of fresh, potable water from sea or high salinity ground water, accessible for all people.
This award makes us proud and creates a strong commitment for us to keep on working with greater passion and enthusiasm, in order to offer the precious fresh potable water to even more people with the lowest possible cost.” The Mohammed bin Rashid Global Water Award is based on a rigorous assessment process in accordance with the highest international standards and best practices.
All of which are held to measure the feasibility of projects submitted to achieve Suqia’s objectives.
*Source: ME NewsWire Contacts Dubai Electricity and Water Authority Ribal Dayekh or Iman Saeed +971-4-307-2006 or +971-4-515-0512 ribal.dayekh@dewa.gov.ae, iman.saeed@dewa.gov.ae or Hattlan Media Nabil Khoury or Eman Hussein +971-56-114-1177 or +971-50-736-6990 nabil@hattlan.com, eman@hattlan.com

Deepening crisis: Water scarcity a threat to nation’s survival, says social sciences dean.
FAISALABAD: The issue of water scarcity, especially of quality water in Pakistan, is critical.
We have little water for agriculture, industries and human consumption.
These views were expressed by Dr Muhammad Iqbal Zafar, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Agriculture, while speaking to The Express Tribune on Thursday.
He added, “In rural areas, access to clean drinking water is a big issue.
“Other problems associated with rural people are lack of water resources and food,” he said.
Zafar said, “Non-availability or shortage of water affects food production and ultimately the sufferers are the rural women since they are malnourished and poverty-ridden.
“There is a strong need to study implication of global social change on water resources and ultimately its impacts on gender, food security and poverty from the global perspective,” he said.
The dean said, “Social change is the restructuring of institutions, culture, consciousness, technology, organisations etc.
He advised, “Now it is the time to think globally in every sphere of life, including government, business and academia.