#water quality

[reasonsforhope]

"Despite a huge amount of political opposition from the chemical industry, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its first regulations aimed at limiting quantities of PFAs, or ‘forever chemicals,’ in American drinking water.

For decades, Polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAs have been used for coatings that resist fire, oil, stains, and water and are now found in a wide variety of products like waterproof clothing, stain-resistant furniture, food packaging, adhesives, firefighting spray foams, and non-stick cooking surfaces.

There are thousands of PFAS compounds with varying effects and toxicity levels, and the new EPA regulations will require water utilities to test for 6 different classes of them.

The new standards will reduce PFAS exposure—and thereby decrease the health risk—for 100 million people in the U.S.

A fund worth $1 billion for treatment and testing will be made available to water utilities nationwide—part of a $9 billion investment made possible by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to assist communities impacted by PFAS contamination.

“Drinking water contaminated with PFAS has plagued communities across this country for too long,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan in a statement Wednesday.

Under Regan’s leadership, the EPA began in 2021 to establish a roadmap for dealing with widespread PFAS contamination, and so far they’ve gathered much data, including monitoring drinking water, and begun requiring more reports from businesses about use of the unregulated substances.

The agency reported that current peer-reviewed scientific studies have shown that exposure to certain levels of PFAS may lead to a myriad of health issues that are difficult to specify because of the variety of compounds coming from different places.

Regardless, the 66,000 water utility operators will have five years to test for the PFAS pollution and install necessary technology to treat the contamination, which the EPA estimates that 6%–10% of facilities will need. [Note: Deeply curious where they got a number that low, but anyway.]

Records show that some of the manufacturers knew these chemicals posed health hazards. A few major lawsuits in recent years have been settled that sought to hold chemical companies, like 3M, accountable for the environment damage.""

-via Good News Network, April 13, 2024

[mapsontheweb]

Bathing water rated as excellent quality

[thedisablednaturalist]

"Our filter, unlike plastic filters, does not contribute to further pollution as it uses renewable and biodegradable materials: tannic acids from plants, bark, wood and leaves, and wood sawdust—a forestry byproduct that is both widely available and renewable."

"In their research, the team analyzed microparticles shed from widely-used tea bags made of polypropylene. They observed that their technique, termed “bioCap,” captured between 95.2 percent and a staggering 99.9 percent of plastic particles in water, depending on the plastic type. When tested in mouse models, the process was proven to prevent the accumulation of microplastics in the organs"

They said this solution can be scaled up in places like water treatment plants and scaled down for use in the home as well. This is amazing news considering microplastics are one of the biggest problems impacting health these days.

[hope-for-the-planet]

Another story about PFAS research. Scientists at Northwestern University are developing a method of breaking down PFAS at low temperatures using sodium hydroxide.

The hope is that this technique could be utilized at water treatment facilities as a relatively low cost method of removing PFAS.

Thanks to @thatsonemorbidcorvid and @welcometothewarren for sending this in!

[thefreethoughtprojectcom]

Studies have shown that prolonged exposure to PFAS in water may lead to cancer, decreased fertility, developmental delays in children, immune system suppression and other adverse health effects.

Read More: https://thefreethoughtproject.com/health/over-60-million-americans-exposed-to-toxic-drinking-water-as-epa-refuses-to-act

[lost-carcosa]

[copperbadge]

Hey Sam, not to be the guy that brings bad news, but the Guardian is reporting that there's a really high concentration of lead in Chicago's tap water. I think I remember you saying that you filter yours, but maybe time for a PSA?

It's an interesting article, although the high lead levels, especially disproportionately in communities of color in Chicago, have been known for some time. I'm glad they're getting attention again.

I do have a water filter though generally I drink unfiltered not because I'm a daredevil but because my building privately tests the water. In this building and my last building, we knew it was fine to drink. If you look on the map at the article, that "no lead here" area labeled "downtown"? That's where I live, at the southeastern edge of that area. It's likely that rather than having The Cleanest Overall Water they just didn't do much testing because relatively speaking very few people live in this area -- it's also why we had a super low case count during the height of COVID. We are a residential neighborhood, but not in the densely packed way that areas around us are.

To me, the lead levels in Chicago water are almost more alarming than the violence I talked about earlier, because this is a relatively easy fix -- an expensive fix, but unlike trying to ameliorate violence, it's got a straightforward solution, just replace the damn pipes. But Chicago doesn't want to spend the money and also lbr most of the city government doesn't actually give much of a shit about our communities of color.

I will say, on the one hand, like...I don't mind doing a PSA. But I think it's probably good to remember -- sometimes people do forget! -- that just because I live in Chicago doesn't mean the majority, or even a significant minority, of my readership does. Me doing localized PSAs of any kind, in Chicago or elsewhere, is not necessarily super effective -- the readership is too scattered for that. But it's interesting to chew over, and I'll throw it in the Chicago tag so people are aware.

[allmichigan]

All clear beneath Copper Harbor

For almost all my life, Lake Superior has been the cleanest & clearest of the five Great Lakes. Imagine my surprise to learn that in 2017, Lake Michigan & Lake Huron were found to be more clear than Lake Superior!

Lake Superior, Copper Harbor, MI by Michigan Nut Photography Let’s stay up on the Keweenaw Peninsula today with a look at the crystal clear waters of Lake Superior as seen from under the surface of Copper Harbor! For almost all my life, Lake Superior has been the cleanest & clearest of the five Great Lakes. Imagine my surprise to learn that in 2017, Lake Michigan & Lake Huron were found to be…

[bananarchy4ever]

"Chemical pollution from car tires is killing off salmon." - Nicolas Cage

[mountrainiernps]

Mountain lakes are unique ecosystems whose physical, chemical, and biological properties can vary year to year depending on spring snowpack and ice cover. Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascade National Parks contain over 1,200 mountain lakes and ponds at elevations over 3,200 feet (1000 m). Between 2007 and 2018, scientists monitored conditions in mountain lakes in both above average snow years (2011-2012) and in historical minimum snow years (2015). During years with less snow, lakes become ice-free earlier and have warmer summer water temperatures, giving rise to other ecosystem changes linked to temperature such as lower dissolved oxygen, higher total dissolved nitrogen, higher chlorophyll, and higher abundance of cladoceran zooplankton. Conversely, in years with higher snowpack and a shorter ice-free season, lakes were colder and clearer with more dilute ions as well as lower algal biomass and zooplankton abundance. By looking at a variety of snowpack values, scientists are able to address questions about how climate effects mountain lakes and foretell future conditions in Mount Rainier and other Pacific Northwest parks.

Learn more about this research in “Summer ecosystem structure in mountain lakes linked to interannual variability of lake ice, snowpack, and landscape attributes” published in Limnology and Oceanography, available online at https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/lno.12188.

Additional reports about Mount Rainier National Park water quality available at https://go.nps.gov/1tprha.

NPS/M. Schmitt photo of Upper Palisades Lake at Mount Rainier National Park. ~kl

[mapsontheweb]

Percentage of Bathing Waters with Excellent Quality in the European Union, by country.

Highest : 🇦🇹 Austria 97.7%

Lowest : 🇵🇱 Poland 44.5%

by @Maps_interlude

[thedisablednaturalist]

Hey everyone! Do you like macro invertebrates?? Do you like supporting clean water initiatives? Do you like stickers?

If you donate at least $20 USD to the Izaak Walton League of America, they will send you a bunch of stickers! Like the one I have on my wheelchair

The Izaak Walton League is awesome! They are the ones who trained me on doing macro surveys and how I became a water monitor (and eventually got my current job). They give FREE training to anyone interested in doing stream monitoring as well as reimbursements on equipment. They collect data submitted from stream monitors to support stream restoration efforts across the country!

You can donate here

[disableism]

Currently, in my county, there’s an Air Quality Warning* and a Boil Water Advisory**.

But yeah, the world is fine. We are all fine here now. How are you?

*my chest has been tight all day

**wish I’d known before I drank 20 ounces of water in an hour

[the-football-chick]

According to consumer advisory group, J.D. Power who used these factors in their rankings:

quality and reliability

price

conservation

billing and payment

communications

customer service

Source

[forestduck]