MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Authority says there is no contamination to Memphis’ drinking water An investigation by the TVA shows the public water supply is not affected by high levels of arsenic and other toxins found in monitoring wells at the Allen Fossil Plant’s ash storage sites.
However, results of the investigation also show a connection between the shallow aquifer where toxins were found and the deeper Memphis sand aquifer that provides the city’s drinking water.
“Pumping the production wells did produce a discernible drawdown in the upper Alluvial Aquifer, indicating a hydraulic connection with the Memphis Aquifer,” the United States Geological Survey and University of Memphis Connectivity Testing report said.
The TVA had planned to use the deeper wells to cool a new natural gas plant that will replace the coal plant later this year, but it has decided it will not use the cooling wells at this time.
Instead, the agency said it will be buying water from Memphis Lights, Gas and Water and “provide for a reliable water supply through the building of water holding tanks and redundant water feed systems.”

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Water resources minister Mathew T. Thomas said that 18 ongoing drinking water projects would be commissioned on a war footing during the summer months of March, April and May.
“The state government has taken the severity of the impending summer very seriously,” the minister said while responding to a Calling Attention moved by CPI leader C. Divakaran in the Assembly on Wednesday on the need to take precautionary steps to solve the worsening drinking water scarcity in the state.
“So as a precautionary measure we have already completed 94 works worth Rs 2.32 crore to ensure the availability of water in such rivers,” Mr Thomas said.
Of these 35 works relate to the construction of temporary check dams in rivers.
“These dams will not only retain water, but will also prevent the intrusion of brackish water into these sources,” he said.
The minister, however, said that, compared to last year, the water level in dams was slightly better.
The water level in monitored wells, too, has also risen when compared to last year.
Still, he said that the level was lower than the average level for the last 10 years.
“The Department has also taken steps to make the distribution network more efficient by carrying out urgent maintenance works on pumps and motors, and by the timely repair of leaks on pipe lines,” the minister said.
Local bodies and the Revenue department will reach water using tanker lorries to places where the network did not adequately serve the needs of the people, the minister said.

Environmental experts confirm toxins in groundwater near a Memphis natural gas plant are not getting into the drinking water.
Tennessee Valley Authority received results from yet another investigation into the groundwater near its new Allen Fossil Plant.
TVA submitted those results to Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
The tests showed that the water with high levels of arsenic, lead, and fluoride are not contaminating the Memphis Aquifer.
Despite another test saying Memphis drinking water remains safe, TVA said it remains committed to not operating the wells around the contaminated water at this time.
Rather than using the wells, TVA is working on contingency plans to supply cooling water to the natural gas plant.
TVA expects to begin operations at the facility sometime this spring, as scheduled.
However, Southern Environmental Law Center said it still has concerns about the contaminated water: “TVA’s statement about the remedial investigation confirms our biggest fear–that there is a hydraulic connection between the arsenic-contaminated groundwater and the Memphis Sand Aquifer, the city’s drinking water source.
These threats to Memphis’s drinking water source could have been avoided if TVA had gone through the appropriate steps including conducting an in-depth environmental review, involving the public in the decision-making process and admitting its on-site contamination sooner.
All rights reserved.

Just a few weeks before my visit, tests discovered that the public drinking water in Blades was contaminated with chemicals known as perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs.
With PFCs present at nearly twice the federal health advisory level, the town alerted its 1,250 residents, as well as businesses and schools that use public water, to stop using that water for drinking and cooking.
It turns out that our state’s Division of Public Health offers water quality test kits for just $4 that can determine if bacteria and many chemicals in your water fall within safe parameters.
Should your test detect contamination, there are officials at DNREC and the DHSS Division of Public Health who can help homeowners determine what steps to take to ensure that their water is clean and safe.
To find a solution, we formed the Nutrient Management Commission, bringing together farmers and other Delawareans to develop best practices for addressing agricultural waste in order to reduce pollutants that move through our water system and eventually find their way to the Chesapeake Bay.
In Delaware, we have seen that smart investments can dramatically improve our water quality.
Our country’s outdated drinking water infrastructure systems continue to be strained by population growth and stagnant federal investments.
Unfortunately, the Trump Administration’s initial infrastructure proposal focuses more on cutting environmental protections – like those that address water pollution – rather than making the historic investments in our infrastructure that are badly needed in many parts of America after decades of underinvestment at the local, state and federal level.
President Trump’s proposal also makes drastic cuts to federal investments in local water and wastewater programs under the assumption that private investment will make up the difference.
Until we get serious about funding modern, safe drinking water systems across the country, small towns and the families who live there will continue to bear both the financial and public health burdens of our inaction.

Three Holliston residents — including Denehy and Cordon — are listed as contributors, and have been working with researchers for years.
"We’re concerned particularly about drinking water," Clark University researcher Timothy J. Downs said.
The Boston University and Clark University joint study also included photos by Holliston residents of brown water.
Discolored water is a regular problem in Holliston, Department of Public Works Director Sean Reese said.
Though this month’s study focuses on Holliston, manganese is a problem across New England, especially in shallow aquifers that are overworked.
Manganese, unlike most of the contaminants listed in the Boston University-Clark University study, is labeled a secondary contaminant by the state and federal government.
"I think it will be the next regulated contaminant," Reese said.
In Holliston, Reese said the town’s two treatment plants filter out manganese, but a third plant is needed.
She doesn’t know if manganese caused her daughter’s autism, epilepsy, and missing kidney.
She doesn’t even know if the health issues and birth defects she’s noticed locally throughout the years have anything to do with the drinking water.

Paradip: Authorities have rationed water supply to the port town following drying up of the Taladanda canal.
The drinking water supply system has been trimmed down once a day to meet with the emergent situation.
Earlier, the residents used to get supplied water twice a day.
The restricted supply in the daily consumption of water came into force from February 1.
"The port town is experiencing the water shortage.
We are trying our best to tackle the situation," said an official of the port’s public health engineering department (environment and civil).
There has been drastic fall in the water level both at the Taladanda canal and three water-carrying reservoirs in the port town.
Following the renovation, the water intake capacity has increased in the canal system, which is linked with the Mahanadi river.
However, the flow of water has thinned, and it has triggered the prevailing drinking water scarcity.
Land clash At least a dozen persons have been injured in a group clash at Baniapashi village in Taruaan gram panchayat of Keonjhar district.

Jacy Marmaduke/The Coloradoan Two small drinking water systems were the only Larimer County entities to report lead contamination above regulatory levels during the most recent sampling period, state officials told the Coloradoan.
The drinking water systems are Fox Acres Community Services Corporation, which serves a small area in Red Feather Lakes, and Spring Canyon Water and Sanitation District, which serves people in homes surrounding Horsetooth Reservoir.
Corrosion control additives can prevent lead from leaching from pipe soldering into drinking water.
Two of 10 samples collected in December 2017 had lead levels above the regulatory action level of 15 parts per billion, bringing the system’s 90th percentile value to 28 ppb.
The system will work with the two sites to ensure their lead levels meet regulations, whether that means facilitating the purchase of new faucets or enhancing pipe grounding, Carter said.
The lead levels were a result of corrosion from lead soldering on pipes in some older homes, operator Sean Dibble told the Coloradoan last week.
The filter plant reported a 2.8 ppb 90th percentile value during its July through December 2017 testing period, plant manager Rick Whittet said.
The system serves 2,750 people and exceeded the action level from 2011 to 2016 with 90th percentile values ranging from 16 to 34 ppb.
All are below the regulatory action level of 15 ppb.
City of Fort Collins: 3.7 ppb Fort Collins-Loveland: 3 ppb City of Loveland: 2.2 ppb Town of Berthoud: 9 ppb East Larimer County: 4 ppb Town of Windsor: 3.9 ppb Town of Wellington: 3 ppb To search for other water systems, visit colorado.gov/cdphe/ccr.

BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Monday lambasted the State Government for making tall claims of achievements when many parts of the State have already started experiencing drinking water scarcity.
Criticising Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for making the Panchayati Raj Divas a party programme, leader of the BJP Legislature Party KV Singhdeo dared the former to provide a correct picture on the drinking water supply position in rural areas to the people during his interaction with them and elected representatives of panchayats.
Claiming that only two per cent of rural population has been covered under piped water supply in the last 18 years, Singhdeo said drinking water scarcity is being felt in many parts of the State especially in areas which received scanty rainfall during last monsoon.
With rising temperature, the situation will be more acute in the coming days.
Disputing the State Government’s achievement in rural housing sector, the former minister said the ruling BJD is making a false propaganda.
While the State Government is claiming to have constructed 11.5 lakh housing since 2014-15, this is the cumulative achievement of the last 10 years.
As per the State Government’s progress report, 9,73,273 houses have been constructed under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), 2,31,467 houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural), 13,226 houses under Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana and 2,392 houses under Niraman Shramika Pucca Ghar.
Of the total houses constructed till January 2018, over 3.17 lakh houses were built during the current year.
Claiming that the State Government has not made any budgetary provision for Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana this fiscal, Singhdeo sought to know from the Chief Minister about his government’s achievement under the State-funded housing scheme in 2017-18.He further alleged that selection of beneficiaries under rural housing scheme is made on party lines.

Residents of a small Banks Peninsula village are calling on the Christchurch City Council to build a $2.6 million water scheme so they can safely drink the tap water.
About 100 Okains Bay residents and the council-owned camping ground source water from a private scheme administered by a committee of locals.
The supply does not meet the Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand and health officials are putting pressure on the Okains Bay Water Committee to make the water drinkable.
* Okains Bay residents want drinkable water * Christchurch drinking water to be chlorinated for a year as councillors approve plan to keep it safe * Water contaminated 125 times in four years * Cloudy water concerns local residents * Steady progress improving drinking water quality The water is drawn from the nearby Opara Stream and fed into homes without being treated.
The water would still be taken from the same stream, but from further upstream, about 50 metres above sea level.
This was the staff’s preferred option, but no money has been set aside in the council’s budget for the work.
Okains Bay Water Committee chairman Peter Moore said it would be good if the council funded the scheme, because the committee was not able to.
He said while $2.6m might seem like a lot of money for 40 households, the water would be used by thousands of campers who stay at the Okains Bay camp ground each year.
Canterbury medical officer of health Alistair Humphrey said he was concerned for public safety and hoped the council would fund the scheme.
Okains Bay School spends more than $1000 a year on a filtration system and water testing so children and staff can drink the water.

People who travel are necessarily exposed to the practices and lifestyles of the people in the areas they visit.
Filipinos having been to countries especially in the North (a term referring to economically developed nations) can’t help but observe the stark contrasts of lifestyles from ours, with their government clearly prioritizing the essential services that they provide to the constituents in improving the quality of their lives.
Take, for example, clean water for drinking.
Our sense of security and comfort now hinges on liters of water encased in plastic bottles, which have, of course, added to the growing plastic scourge haunting us, including our oceans.
Why do you think selling bottled waters has become a lucrative enterprise here and elsewhere in the past decades?
In the good old days when the Metropolitan Cebu Water District was inexistent, segments of one’s childhood experience involved fetching water from communal artesian wells.
Girls and boys carried pails of various sizes for the water to be used by households and for their storage in the big clay jars, an indispensable item then.
The place became the community center for fostering friendships and ingrained the bayanihan spirit that used to be part of our collective psyche.
Our government is duty-bound to ensure that each inhabitant has safe water to drink, and equally as important, has access to it.
The Human Right to Water and Sanitation was explicitly recognized by the United Nations in July 28, 2010 and it acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realization of all Human Rights.