DailyDirt: Potent Potable Water

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Fri, Aug 14th 2015 5:00pm — Michael Ho

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.

Los Angeles has deployed millions of 'shade balls' to protect reservoir water from evaporating. These 4-in black plastic balls float on the water and block UV light -- and cost 36 cents each. LA is saving millions by using this method instead of more expensive tarps or other floating covers. [url]
The crushed seeds of the Moringa oleifera tree were used in ancient Egypt to purify water, and scientists have figured out how the seeds work. Proteins from the seeds make bacteria clump together and die. Presumably, these proteins can be grown and used as a natural disinfecting agent for drinking water, but more research on its effectiveness will likely need to be done. [url]
The EPA's drinking water standards are about 50 years old, so some folks are calling for some updates. Chemical spills and pharmaceutical content in drinking water sources are concerns that should be addressed at a national level, but it might take significant effort to create new water standards. [url]

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Filed Under: bacteria, contamination, drinking water, health, moringa oleifera, potable water, shade balls, water

9 Comments

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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?
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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.
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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.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Aug 2015 @ 7:21pm

Re: Pharmaceutical content

May I make a request for some Xanax?
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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.
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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
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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.
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Klaus, 17 Aug 2015 @ 4:05am

Re:
Astounding - there's no further treatment between reservoir and tap.

All of the UK's open reservoirs are for retention only, all potable water reservoirs are underground and classed as secure infrastructure.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13874089
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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.
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