Charles Stobie’s cows have figured out how to pump their own water (4 photos, video).
“Most people have never heard of them,” said Kensington Conservancy land stewardship coordinator Carter Dorscht.
Just up the creek along Highway 17 sits the farm of Charles Stobie, whose cows for years have been bathing and drinking out of the creek.
Stobie’s farm might be familiar to travellers — it’s the one with the large rock formation in front of it five minutes east past Desbarats.
Both of these issues were contributing to the degradation of the wetlands area less than a kilometer downstream.
They were able to fence the creek off but, the problem was, how would Stobie’s cows still get access to drinking water?
The solution came in the form of nose pumps, which they had heard of by way of conservation projects happening on Manitoulin Island.
Although the two they installed on Stobie’s farm are unheated seasonal pumps, it’s also possible to have solar powered heated ones that can withstand the winter.
They even come with a small-sized dish on the side so calves can access water.
Before the pump and fence, his cows would sometimes try and cross to the farmlands on the other side of the creek by walking through the mud.

Solar-powered water pumps are fostering peace by creating a steady supply of water in Sudan.
A report by Greenpeace finds that using sewage water to cool coal-based power plants in India will not resolve recent conflicts over the energy source.
The study concludes that utilizing wastewater would not resolve conflicts over water use between utilities, farmers, and urban communities.
India Today By The Numbers 750,000 Number of children at risk of losing access to water as fighting increases in eastern Ukraine.
The water supply of 400,000 people, including 104,000 children, was cut off last week after shelling damaged two filtration systems linked to the South Donbass Water pipeline.
UNICEF 58,000 Number of families who have been displaced from Marawi City amid fighting between Islamic State and the Filipino government.
The number of people leaving Marawi City is expected to rise as the conflict enters its fourth week.
Relief Web Science, Studies, And Reports Water scarcity has caused many conflicts among tribes in Sudan, but solar powered water pumps are beginning to foster reconciliation.
Relief Web On The Radar The American Red Cross has pledged $650,000 in funding to East Africa as drought persists throughout the region.
The funds will aid local Red Cross teams in Kenya and South Sudan, including in areas of South Sudan which are facing violent conflict.

New solar technology promises safe drinking water in a compact off-grid footprint.
Many desalination plants use distillation processes, which require heating water to boiling temperature and harvesting the purified water vapors, or reverse osmosis, in which strong pumps suck energy to pressurize the liquids.
A newer option, membrane distillation, reduces the energy inputs by using saltwater heated to lower temperatures flowing on one side of a membrane while cold freshwater flows on the other.
Enter the researchers of the Rice University-based multi-institutional Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT).
When a lens is used to concentrate the sunlight striking the membrane panels, up to 6 liters (over 1.5 gallons) of clean drinking water can be produced per hour per square meter of panel.
The technology can be applied as well to cleaning up waters with other contaminants, which might give the NESMD wide applicability in industrial situations, especially where power infrastructures are not readily available.
The only question remaining is: will the US still be committed to developing these leading edge technologies?
The press release on this breakthrough notes: "Established by the National Science Foundation in 2015, NEWT aims to develop compact, mobile, off-grid water-treatment systems that can provide clean water to millions of people who lack it and make U.S. energy production more sustainable and cost-effective.
NEWT, which is expected to leverage more than $40 million in federal and industrial support over the next decade, is the first NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) in Houston and only the third in Texas since NSF began the ERC program in 1985.
NEWT focuses on applications for humanitarian emergency response, rural water systems and wastewater treatment and reuse at remote sites, including both onshore and offshore drilling platforms for oil and gas exploration" The National Science Foundation wasn’t mentioned in Trump’s original ‘skinny budget’ in March but is tagged with an 11% cut in the more fleshed out version released in May, certainly less severe than the 31% cut to EPA or 18% redlined at the National Institutes of Health.

New solar technology promises safe drinking water in a compact off-grid footprint.
Many desalination plants use distillation processes, which require heating water to boiling temperature and harvesting the purified water vapors, or reverse osmosis, in which strong pumps suck energy to pressurize the liquids.
A newer option, membrane distillation, reduces the energy inputs by using saltwater heated to lower temperatures flowing on one side of a membrane while cold freshwater flows on the other.
Enter the researchers of the Rice University-based multi-institutional Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT).
When a lens is used to concentrate the sunlight striking the membrane panels, up to 6 liters (over 1.5 gallons) of clean drinking water can be produced per hour per square meter of panel.
The technology can be applied as well to cleaning up waters with other contaminants, which might give the NESMD wide applicability in industrial situations, especially where power infrastructures are not readily available.
The only question remaining is: will the US still be committed to developing these leading edge technologies?
The press release on this breakthrough notes: "Established by the National Science Foundation in 2015, NEWT aims to develop compact, mobile, off-grid water-treatment systems that can provide clean water to millions of people who lack it and make U.S. energy production more sustainable and cost-effective.
NEWT, which is expected to leverage more than $40 million in federal and industrial support over the next decade, is the first NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) in Houston and only the third in Texas since NSF began the ERC program in 1985.
NEWT focuses on applications for humanitarian emergency response, rural water systems and wastewater treatment and reuse at remote sites, including both onshore and offshore drilling platforms for oil and gas exploration" The National Science Foundation wasn’t mentioned in Trump’s original ‘skinny budget’ in March but is tagged with an 11% cut in the more fleshed out version released in May, certainly less severe than the 31% cut to EPA or 18% redlined at the National Institutes of Health.

New solar technology promises safe drinking water in a compact off-grid footprint.
Many desalination plants use distillation processes, which require heating water to boiling temperature and harvesting the purified water vapors, or reverse osmosis, in which strong pumps suck energy to pressurize the liquids.
A newer option, membrane distillation, reduces the energy inputs by using saltwater heated to lower temperatures flowing on one side of a membrane while cold freshwater flows on the other.
Enter the researchers of the Rice University-based multi-institutional Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT).
When a lens is used to concentrate the sunlight striking the membrane panels, up to 6 liters (over 1.5 gallons) of clean drinking water can be produced per hour per square meter of panel.
The technology can be applied as well to cleaning up waters with other contaminants, which might give the NESMD wide applicability in industrial situations, especially where power infrastructures are not readily available.
The only question remaining is: will the US still be committed to developing these leading edge technologies?
The press release on this breakthrough notes: "Established by the National Science Foundation in 2015, NEWT aims to develop compact, mobile, off-grid water-treatment systems that can provide clean water to millions of people who lack it and make U.S. energy production more sustainable and cost-effective.
NEWT, which is expected to leverage more than $40 million in federal and industrial support over the next decade, is the first NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) in Houston and only the third in Texas since NSF began the ERC program in 1985.
NEWT focuses on applications for humanitarian emergency response, rural water systems and wastewater treatment and reuse at remote sites, including both onshore and offshore drilling platforms for oil and gas exploration" The National Science Foundation wasn’t mentioned in Trump’s original ‘skinny budget’ in March but is tagged with an 11% cut in the more fleshed out version released in May, certainly less severe than the 31% cut to EPA or 18% redlined at the National Institutes of Health.

Scarcity of water in Sudan is known to cause conflict between and within communities.
In total, 200,000 people from 8 localities have benefited from a steady supply of water.
The benefits of solar water pumps Water scarcity and pressure on water resources have been highlighted as sources of conflict between tribes, pastoralists, communities and famers (UNDP and UNEP 2013).
Diesel pumps, which were used for water extraction before the installation of solar pumps, are a heavy polluter with large CO2 emissions.
In terms of efficiency, solar pumps provide 8,400 liters of water per hour in the five localities.
Many villages relied on hafeers for water collection.
In many cases humans and animals were sharing the water in hafeers, due to the lack of any other viable option.
Goal 6- Clean water and sanitation- water quality significantly increases as solar powered pumps extract from a deeper level.
Conclusion The application of solar water pumps in rural areas of Sudan has contributed to peace in communities.
Heshmati, A., S. Abolhosseini and J. Altmann (2015) ‘The Energy and Environment Relationship’, ‘The Energy and Environment Relationship’, The Development of Renewable Energy Sources and its Significance for the Environment, Singapore ;: Springer,.

through its sales partner AAG Electric Motors & Pumps Inc. for a project to expand their biological wastewater treatment plant located in the south Walton County resort community of Seacrest.
In 2016, Evoqua expanded Regional Utilities’ nearby Point Washington facility with an OMNIFLO® SBR system with Jet Tech technology increasing the treatment capacity from 2.0 million gallons per day (MGD) to 4.0 MGD.
The Seacrest project will also include the expansion of an existing OMNIFLO® SBR system from 2.0 MGD to 4.0 MGD allowing the plant to meet future effluent limits for suspended solids, nitrogen, and phosphorus.
The consulting engineering firm, Dewberry Preble-Rish, under the supervision of Philip Jones, will provide the process design, flow analysis, and permitting.
A chlorine contact basin will be reconfigured to accommodate a high-level disinfection system and a tertiary disc filtration system will be replaced.
The DAVCO team will also provide the equipment installation, field service and commissioning for this plant expansion.
Start-up is expected in early 2018.
For more information, visit www.evoqua.com/jettech.
About DAVCO™ Field-Erected Treatment Plants & Services Evoqua, through its DAVCO™ product line and field service team, is an industry leader in the manufacture and installation of water and wastewater treatment equipment and systems including field erected biological treatment plants, screw pumps, filtration equipment and clarifier rehabilitation.
Evoqua has a more than 100-year heritage of transforming water and wastewater through innovation and industry firsts, market-leading expertise, and unmatched customer service.

Access to clean water improves health in Tanzania.
The Canadians are members of a PWRDF delegation that has come to the diocese of Masasi to learn more about All Mothers and Children Count (AMCC), a larger project that builds off work done during CHIP.
“Now, because water is here, it is easier for us now to educate people about [medical] treatment.” But having accessible water isn’t just about having water that is safe to drink.
Girls whose time might otherwise have been spent carrying water can stay in school longer, and mothers have more time to take their children to the clinic for a checkup, he notes.
Setting up a borehole is no small task.
Once the Canadian and Tanzanian governments sign off on it, the drilling can begin.
Once the borehole has been drilled, water samples are sent to a laboratory in Mtwara for testing.
If the water is deemed safe, the pump can be installed.
“You may find that work is going to take place, maybe in July or in August, but the process started last year!” says Monjesa.
“Especially for a hungry person, for a thirsty person, waiting that long period is very difficult for them.” Fortunately, according to Monjesa, all 30 of the boreholes dug as part of the CHIP program hit safe drinking water on the first try.

Access to clean water improves health in Tanzania.
The Canadians are members of a PWRDF delegation that has come to the diocese of Masasi to learn more about All Mothers and Children Count (AMCC), a larger project that builds off work done during CHIP.
“Now, because water is here, it is easier for us now to educate people about [medical] treatment.” But having accessible water isn’t just about having water that is safe to drink.
Girls whose time might otherwise have been spent carrying water can stay in school longer, and mothers have more time to take their children to the clinic for a checkup, he notes.
Setting up a borehole is no small task.
Once the Canadian and Tanzanian governments sign off on it, the drilling can begin.
Once the borehole has been drilled, water samples are sent to a laboratory in Mtwara for testing.
If the water is deemed safe, the pump can be installed.
“You may find that work is going to take place, maybe in July or in August, but the process started last year!” says Monjesa.
“Especially for a hungry person, for a thirsty person, waiting that long period is very difficult for them.” Fortunately, according to Monjesa, all 30 of the boreholes dug as part of the CHIP program hit safe drinking water on the first try.

Access to clean water improves health in rural Tanzania.
Until the pump was installed at the end of January 2017, most of Ndomoni’s 1,321 residents walked up to eight km to the nearest village to get water, or relied on surface water from ponds, which required boiling.
The Canadians are members of a PWRDF delegation that has come to the diocese of Masasi to learn more about All Mothers and Children Count (AMCC), a larger project that builds off work done during CHIP.
“Now, because water is here, it is easier for us now to educate people about [medical] treatment.” But having accessible water isn’t just about having water that is safe to drink.
Girls whose time might otherwise have been spent carrying water can stay in school longer, and mothers have more time to take their children to the clinic for a checkup, he notes.
Setting up a borehole is no small task.
Once the Canadian and Tanzanian governments sign off on it, the drilling can begin.
Once the borehole has been drilled, water samples are sent to a laboratory in Mtwara for testing.
“You may find that work is going to take place, maybe in July or in August, but the process started last year!” says Monjesa.
“Especially for a hungry person, for a thirsty person, waiting that long period is very difficult for them.” Fortunately, according to Monjesa, all 30 of the boreholes dug as part of the CHIP program hit safe drinking water on the first try.