GET WET!

Heavy traffic is time and again linked with air pollution. However, a new study from the University of Toronto, Scarborough, states it is also a huge contributor to water pollution.

The research discovered that chemicals normally used in vehicle fluids, paints and tires were a lot higher in rivers adjacent to roads dealing with heavy traffic. 

For the research, a series of samples were taken from the watersheds fed by Mimico Creek (which flows via Brampton, Mississauga and Toronto) and Little Rouge Creek (which flows via Whitchurch-Stoufville, Markham and Scarborough). The samples procured from Mimico Creek, which is situated adjacent to roads with a lot of traffic, had higher levels for the majority of the identified pollutants.

Read more, at: https://www.azocleantech.com/news.aspx?newsID=31356

Harnessing the power of the sun to purify water. In southern France, an innovative system called Helio is doing that. The self-sufficient small sphere can distil dirty water or seawater. It also emits zero CO2, making it completely sustainable.

Read More, at: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/amp/2022/03/14/harnessing-the-power-of-the-sun-to-purify-water

MIT chemical engineers create affordable, sustainable soap-based system to eliminate emerging micropollutants in water.

Imagine millions of soapy sponges the size of human cells that can clean water by soaking up contaminants. This simplistic model is used to describe technology that MIT chemical engineers have recently developed to remove micropollutants from water — a concerning, worldwide problem.

Read more at: https://news.mit.edu/2022/using-soap-remove-micropollutants-from-water-0309

Increasing demand on rivers, lakes and streams, compounded by changing weather patterns, population growth and economic development, is leaving us in a world where many people are struggling to find enough fresh water to survive. (I’ll develop this topic below, to add to our previous essays on water stress globally, solutions to the world water crisis, and those that are dying of thirst.)

Read more at: https://missionsbox.org/essays/fresh-water-increasingly-scarce-resource-more-vital-oil-gold/

Around the world, 40 to 50 volcanoes are currently erupting or in states of unrest, putting hundreds of millions of people risk. Yet, reliable eruption forecasts have long eluded scientists, largely because they do not fully understand why magma starts or stops moving below the surface over weeks, months or years, before it finally erupts. The results of a new study may bring them one step closer.

The study finds that for the world’s most common type of volcano, it is the water content of magma that controls temporary storage depth; the more water, the greater the depth. The study challenges the prevailing theory that magma stops rising when its buoyancy equals that of surrounding rock. Deeper stalling might sound like good news, but that does not seem to reduce the chances of an eruption, scientists believe. And, water is the main driver behind explosive eruptions, so when something does finally let loose in a so-called “wet” magma, the results can be extremely violent.

Read more at: https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2022/03/10/water-content-far-below-surface-may-be-key-to-volcano-forecasting-study-finds/

A peculiar factoid tucked into an old official highway map of Minnesota has stuck with Mike LaFave for many years: water only flows out of Minnesota, but not into it.

LaFave spent 20 years on the road working for a labor union, often driving between Minnesota and Washington, D.C. The more time he spent behind the wheel, the more unusual it seemed that no rivers flowed into his home state.

“In all these other states, water is flowing in from every which way,” said LaFave, who is now retired. “And it just stayed with me, that we were kind of the center of the water universe for North America.”

He asked the Star Tribune to explore the oddity as part of its Curious Minnesota project, a community-driven series fueled by inquisitive readers.

Read more at: https://www.startribune.com/laurentian-st-lawrence-continental-divide-river-direction/600147069/

PORT EVERGLADES, FLA. (WSVN) – Crews are currently working to contain a waste water spill at Port Everglades.

Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue units responded to the scene at along berth 25 and 26 at the port at around 11:30 a.m., Monday.

Port Everglades officials said a truck driver hauling oily water waste from a Celebrity Silhouette cruise ship crashed into the exterior of a loading bridge and punctured the tank of the truck, which leaked onto the dock and into a storm drain.

About 700 gallons of the liquid — believed to be a mixture of urinal wastewater and kitchen waste — went down the storm drain.

For more information, visit: https://wsvn.com/news/local/crews-work-to-clean-up-waste-water-spill-at-port-everglades/

For Utah lawmakers, it was the year of the Great Salt Lake. After being accused of years of neglect from environmental groups, lawmakers answered a call from Gov. Spencer Cox who in December stood on the shores of Antelope Island to recommend $50 million for conservation efforts aimed at the lake.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Cox said of the efforts this session. “I am so grateful for Speaker Brad Wilson, who has really taken this on in the policy changes as well as the funding. It’s a great start and I think he would tell you that it’s just a start. We still have a lot to do but this is a very important first step.”

In February, lawmakers got a unique view of the lake as they piled into Utah Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopters. There, hundreds of feet above the Great Salt Lake — which in some areas is not really a lake anymore — they saw firsthand the devastating impacts of drought, coupled with a growing population sucking water out of the Weber, Bear and Jordan rivers.

For more information, visit: https://www.deseret.com/utah/2022/3/6/22947594/what-did-utah-legislature-politicians-do-for-water-in-utah-great-salt-lake-water-rights-drought

About half of Montana schools that had tested their water by mid-February under a new state rule had high levels of lead, according to state data. But the full picture isn’t clear because less than half of the state’s school buildings had provided water samples six weeks after the deadline.

For many schools with high lead levels, finding the money to fix the problem will be a challenge. The options aren’t great. They can compete for a dwindling pool of state money, seek federal aid passed last year, or add the repairs to their long lists of capital improvement projects and pay for the work themselves.

For more information, visit: https://khn.org/news/article/montana-schools-dangerous-lead-water-test/

Research by Ian Wright discovered that flood waters are a concern for drinking water supplies. 

Wright analyzed part of south east Queensland, Australia and northern NSW, which are experiencing heavy rain falls, reported The Conversation. 

Despite this, south eastern Queenslanders in Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton Bay and the Lockyer Valley have been asked to conserve drinking water by SEQ. This ask was made after heavy rain impacted the Mt Crosby and North Pine Water Treatment Plants, which both went offline in the early hours of Feb. 27. Since then, North Pine has restarted and the Gold Coast Desalination plant is supplementing supply.

Research by Ian Wright discovered that flood waters are a concern for drinking water supplies. 

For more information, visit: https://www.wqpmag.com/drinking-water/study-analyzes-flooding-impacts-drinking-water