DailyDirt: Potent Potable Water

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Water that's safe to drink is a necessity for civilization that most Americans take for granted. When drought or natural disasters cut off safe drinking supplies, that's when we suddenly realize how precious potable water really is. Water is almost everywhere on our little planet, but it's not always safe to drink -- and the supplies of safe drinking water may be at risk of contamination from a variety of industrial processes. Here are just a few more links on our drinking water supplies. After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.
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Filed Under: bacteria, contamination, drinking water, health, moringa oleifera, potable water, shade balls, water


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  • identicon
    That One Other Not So Random Guy, 14 Aug 2015 @ 5:31pm

    Shade Balls

    Does it make sense that they are black? Shouldn't they be something that reflects light? Won't they just heat up in the hot sun?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      JoeCool (profile), 14 Aug 2015 @ 5:47pm

      Re: Shade Balls

      Black is very good at blocking light, hence the black color. Plastic is also a poor conductor of heat, so much of the heat is only on the surface of the ball exposed to the sun, and not in the water. And if it makes the water a little hotter, who cares as long as it's not boiling. It's not like anyone will be swimming/fishing/drinking this water directly.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 14 Aug 2015 @ 6:31pm

        Re: Re: Shade Balls

        Another concern is that the better UV resistant plastics are black. Clear and translucent plastics tend to have a shorter lifespan and those balls would be less effective cracked in half and piled up on the bottom of the reservoir.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 Aug 2015 @ 7:21pm

    Re: Pharmaceutical content

    May I make a request for some Xanax?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Coyne Tibbets (profile), 14 Aug 2015 @ 9:54pm

    EPA drinking water standards

    Those people calling for updates to the EPA drinking water standards are out of luck: our prevailing party wants those rules to be 500 years out of date.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 Aug 2015 @ 11:31pm

    In one of the most extreme examples of "water safety" overkill, Oregon state officials drained an entire lake (tens of milllions of gallons worth of water) just because some drunk guy was seen taking a piss on the bank -- an act that's apparently only acceptable when done by non-human creatures of the watershed, from fish to birds to bears.

    http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/17/304128931/one-mans-pee-pushes-portland-to-fl ush-38m-gallons-of-water

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2015 @ 4:00am

    About these plastic balls. Plastic is notorious for leaching toxins as it slowly degrades. Wonder if that has been taken into consideration as millions of these things are introduced to the drinking water supply.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Michael Ho (profile), 18 Aug 2015 @ 3:07pm

      Re:

      Yes. These plastic balls are made from HDPE - high density polyethylene. That's the same plastic used to make 1gal milk bottles, and they don't leak toxins because they don't contain any BPA or other additives.

      link to this | view in chronology ]


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