By the DB Pirates Temperatures have definitely been on the rise recently with summer nearing its peak.
Food (or water) for thought!
Hong Kong water is safe to drink!
Opting for distilled water can strip your intake of minerals, which may cause electrolyte imbalances, tooth decay and mineral deficiencies.
Purified water can also be acidic and may contain microbes.
With all of this information to hand, the case for ditching plastic bottles is pretty clear to understand.
Refill it for free with filtered water when dining out (you may want to consider giving your server a tip as a kind gesture), and remember to bring it with you again the next day.
DB Pirates is a premier sporting club on Lantau offering professional coaching in rugby, hockey, netball and dragon boating.
Men, women and kids aged four and above are welcome to register for the new season starting in August.
Image: www.bloomberg.com Tags: hydrate, plastic bottles, reusable bottles, environmentally conscious, single use plastic

By the DB Pirates Temperatures have definitely been on the rise recently with summer nearing its peak.
Food (or water) for thought!
Hong Kong water is safe to drink!
Opting for distilled water can strip your intake of minerals, which may cause electrolyte imbalances, tooth decay and mineral deficiencies.
Purified water can also be acidic and may contain microbes.
With all of this information to hand, the case for ditching plastic bottles is pretty clear to understand.
Refill it for free with filtered water when dining out (you may want to consider giving your server a tip as a kind gesture), and remember to bring it with you again the next day.
DB Pirates is a premier sporting club on Lantau offering professional coaching in rugby, hockey, netball and dragon boating.
Men, women and kids aged four and above are welcome to register for the new season starting in August.
Image: www.bloomberg.com Tags: hydrate, plastic bottles, reusable bottles, environmentally conscious, single use plastic

For more than six months, despite recent rainfall, the Savannah River basin and counties on both sides of the river have struggled through drought status.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Department and the U.S. Drought Monitor currently list Richmond and Columbia counties in level 1 drought status, and counties up river have been listed in higher categories since earlier this year.
Birdwell said the current drought contingency plan has different thresholds to initiate water flow control from the dams at Lake Hartwell and Thurmond Lake.
Current lake levels are low enough that the Corps is in what they call trigger level two.
While tributaries below the dam help flow rates downstream, industry and municipalities depend on the water for production and clean drinking water.
The Corps studied several different contingencies, including a “no action” plan.
“The flow will change downstream as we reduce the water flow, which it does now anyway,” Birdwell said.
Birdwell noted two dams on the river, the hydroelectric dam at Steven’s Creek and the New Savannah River Bluff Lock and Dam, are pass through dams.
“The water flowing into those dams flows right back out.
Birdwell said the new plan to conserve water sooner than the current plan allows would be beneficial to residents and would maintain a steadier flow throughout times of drought.

Appointed by the No.4 Central Environmental Protection Inspection Team, Anhui province accepted 31 batches of 3,719 petition cases and concluded 100% of it, the Environmental Protection Department of Anhui Province said on June 20, 2017.
In Anhui province, 3,113 units were ordered immediate rectification.
52 cases were placed on file.
The No.4 Central Environmental Protection Inspection Team was stationed in Anhui for one month from Apr.27 to May.27.
The team focused on the environmental issues of greatest concern to people.
Allocated to provincial organs and key firms, provincial leaders rectified and reformed issues in related areas.
The Environmental Protection Department of Anhui Province opens basic information and work progress of petition cases on the official website.
Statistically, 3,178 cases were verified to be true while 514 ones were untrue.
Cases related to atmospheric pollution, water pollution and noise pollution accounted for 21%, 21% and 16% of all petition letters respectively.
(by Jiang Xueting) Editor:Rita

Environmental Protection Officer (Water Quality Modelling) (Waste and Water Stream).
Job Description Environmental Protection Officer (Water Quality Modelling) (Waste and Water Stream) Location: Appointments Section, Environmental Protection Department, 12/F Guardian House, 32 Oi Kwan Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong An Environmental Protection Officer (Water Quality Modelling) (Waste and Water Stream) is mainly deployed to – (a) develop, review, maintain and apply mathematical water quality and hydrodynamic models; (b) develop and manage geographic information system on hydrology, water quality and pollution inventory; (c) evaluate and apply mathematical methods and statistical techniques in water quality and hydrologic data analyses; (d) plan and implement water quality and hydrodynamic modelling studies, investigations and surveys; (e) give advice on waste management and land or water pollution issues, and provide professional input to project assessment with regard to water quality and hydrodynamic modelling; (f) manage departmental computer facilities; (g) assist in the preparation of policy and legislative proposals and in the development of codes of practice, guidelines, procedures, standards, objectives and strategies in relation to the control of land or water pollution, and waste management and disposal; (h) plan and implement land or water pollution studies, control schemes and projects, and investigations and surveys; and (i) assist through various means, such as the preparation and presentation of educational and publicity materials, in conveying waste management and water quality management policies and strategies to the public, and to various community representatives.
Entry Requirements Candidates should have – (a) (i) a Hong Kong First or Second Class honours degree, or equivalent, in a relevant science or engineering subject, and three years’ post-graduate experience at an appropriate level of responsibility relevant to waste management or water pollution, with at least one year relevant to water quality and hydrodynamic modelling; or (ii) Corporate Membership of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers of a relevant discipline (see Note (1)) elected after 5 December 1975, or equivalent, and three years’ training or experience at an appropriate level of responsibility relevant to waste management or water pollution, with at least one year relevant to water quality and hydrodynamic modelling (not necessarily obtained after Membership); (b) a pass result in the Aptitude Test (AT) in the Common Recruitment Examination (CRE); and (c) met the language proficiency requirements of Level 2 in the two language papers [Use of Chinese (UC) and Use of English (UE)] in the CRE, or equivalent (See Note (2)).
Enquiry Address Appointments Section, Environmental Protection Department, 12/F Guardian House, 32 Oi Kwan Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong Enquiry Telephone 3521 0875 Master Pay Scale Point 27 (HK$49,445 per month) to Master Pay Scale Point 44 (HK$99,205 per month) Advertising Date 26/05/2017 Closing Date(dd/mm/yyyy) 09/06/2017 23:59:00

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) received complaints last year that the flaring temperature of the landfill gas treatment facility of PPVRL had failed to reach the contractual requirement of 1 000 degrees Celsius, leading to the discharge of sub-standard leachate into the foul sewer and untreated leachate into a nearby stream.
A test conducted by the investigation team on-site in May 2016 found that the leachate treatment plant failed to handle leachate effectively, and was therefore required to suspend operation to conduct thorough repair works.
Regarding whether sub-standard effluent had been discharged from PPVRL, the investigation found that the leachate concentration was at relatively low levels as the landfill had been closed for many years and sometimes the leachate could meet the dry season discharge standard even without pre-treatment.
However, since the mixing of leachate could not meet the wet season discharge standard, the investigation team could not exclude the possibility that sub-standard discharge had happened given that the treatment plant could not handle the leachate effectively.
The follow-up actions taken by the EPD’s enforcement team found that the discharge of the leachate treatment plant during the period from May to mid-October 2016 repeatedly contravened the requirements of the licence issued under the Water Pollution Control Ordinance.
It was found that the total nitrogen level in the discharge exceeded the specified limit in the licence on eight occasions, the amount of discharge exceeded the discharge flow limit specified in the licence on 10 occasions, and the contractor also failed to notify the EPD immediately on two occasions when the amount of discharge exceeded the discharge flow limit.
The investigation team had referred the relevant information to the Police for follow-up on whether someone had deliberately provided inaccurate data or false statements to the EPD.
A spokesman for the EPD said that the department is gravely concerned about the management and monitoring by the contractors of its facilities.
As the leachate treatment plant has failed to meet the contractual requirements of treating leachate effectively, the EPD has deducted operation payments according to the contract provisions.
The investigation findings (English only) have been uploaded to the EPD’s website for public viewing (http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/studyrpts/waste_studyrpts.html" target="_blank">www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/studyrpts/waste_studyrpts.html).