USA Water Filter Blog

The challenge of providing enough water safe for human consumption has grown drastically over the past two decades. Back in 1992, the Rio Earth Summit and the International Conference on Water and Environment in Dublin brought to the world’s attention the scarcity of clean water and its vital link to environmental degradation. Countries responded mainly by building more infrastructure. Meanwhile, they continued to overlook the deteriorating state of the world’s aquatic resources.

As a result, the nations of the world, including the United States, face a common menace that drives home the link between water and the environment. In December 2009, headlines reported that — in violation of existing legislation — some 50 million Americans had been provided with unsafe drinking water in the previous five years. Mundane as it might sound, improved data collection, better monitoring and public disclosure are what it takes to trigger action. Citizens are less willing to put up with water pollution if they can find out what toxins are making it through treatment plants into their water pipes.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-06-01/news/bs-ed-water-shortage-20100601_1_clean-water-drinking-water-waste-water

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With the rising costs of groceries, we’d all love to save a few bucks at the checkout line. Now you can easily slash your bill with some clever shopping moves and DIY recipes. Manufacturers would like to make you think you’re getting a good deal in exchange for convenience, but it’s really just eating away at your food budget. Don’t be fooled any longer. Cross these items off your list for good!

1. Bottled water.
Bottled water is a bad investment for so many reasons. It’s expensive compared to what’s coming out of the tap, its cost to the environment is high (it takes a lot of fossil fuel to produce and ship all those bottles), and it’s not even better for your health than the stuff running down your drain!

Even taking into account the cost of filters, water from home is still much cheaper than bottled water, which can run up to $1 to $3 a pop.

If you have well water and it really does not taste good (even with help from a filter), or if you have a baby at home who is bottle-fed and needs to drink safe water, buy jugs of distilled or “nursery” water at big discount stores. They usually cost between 79 cents and 99 cents for 1 gallon (as opposed to $1.50 for 8 ounces of “designer” water). And you can reuse the jugs to store homemade iced tea, flavored waters, or, when their tops are cut off, all sorts of household odds and ends.

2. “Gourmet” frozen vegetables.
Sure, you can buy an 8-ounce packet of peas in an herbed butter sauce, but why do so when you can make your own? Just cook the peas, add a pat of butter and sprinkle on some herbs that you already have on hand. The same thing goes for carrots with dill sauce and other gourmet veggies.

3. Premium frozen fruit bars.
At nearly $2 per bar, frozen “all fruit” or “fruit and juice” bars may not be rich in calories, but they are certainly rich in price. Make your own at home — and get the flavors you want. The only equipment you need is a blender, a plastic reusable ice-pop mold (on sale at discount stores for about 99 cents each), or small paper cups and pop sticks or wooden skewers.
To make four pops, just throw 2 cups cut-up fruit, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice into a blender. Cover and blend until smooth. You might wish to add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water so the final mix is a thick slush. Pour into 4-ounce pop molds or paper cups, insert sticks, and freeze until solid.

http://www2.wjtv.com/jtv/business/local/article/are_you_being_dollar_savvy/150934/

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It’s virtually impossible to go a day without coming into contact with plastic. It’s everywhere, including in baby bottles and children’s sippy cups. Do all those plastic products — specifically those containing Bisphenol A, or BPA — pose a danger to our health?

The Massachusetts public health department has proposed a ban on all children’s products containing BPA, effective July 2011. Some health activists say the measure does not go far enough. The plastic industry argues there is a lack of conclusive science on the effects of BPA on humans.

Jerome Groopman, a Harvard Medical School professor, writes about BPA and other everyday chemicals in this week’s New Yorker. He joins us to talk about what hazards those chemicals might pose — and whether the hysteria is just that.

http://www.wbur.org/2010/05/27/groopman-plastic

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Americans use an inordinate amount of energy to fuel their lifestyles.

Just in the month of April, we learned all too clearly the repercussions. The devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a nightmarish demonstration of the hazards of offshore drilling. The recent West Virginia coal disaster, killing 29 coal miners, is a reminder of the dangers of coal mining, not to mention the mountaintop removal mining that devastates a landscape and ecosystem. During this same time period, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved the Cape Wind Energy Project, praising it as the future of sustainable energy. Others look at wind turbines in the Nantucket Sound as a desecration of a scenic natural resource. Whether you are a “drill baby drill” fan or a green energy advocate, there are problems with almost every form of energy production.

The Gulf oil spill seems like a distant problem unrelated to our daily lives, but we need to take ownership and realize our actions using energy each day help to cause such disasters. We could try to live more consciously and make the connection between our energy use and the effects on the planet.

Eat well for you and the environment. Read labels and buy organically and locally grown foods. Visit the farmers’ markets. The agriculture and food-processing sectors are one of the highest consumers of fossil fuels through the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and transportation. Eat less meat; it is an extremely inefficient source of calories. According to Michael Pollan, best-selling author of books such as the “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” feedlot raised beef takes 55 calories of fossil fuel energy to produce only 1 calorie of meat.

An easy switch is to not use disposable plastic water bottles, bags or flatware and plates. The manufacturing of these throwaway items consumes millions of barrels of oil per year. Use a glass or metal water bottle and fill it up with filtered tap water. Bring your own bags to the store, reducing oil use and litter. Instead of disposables, use dishes and flatware. Wash the dishes with your kids to set a good example, instead of having them think the norm is to use a plastic spoon once and then throw it away without a thought of the consequences.

http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/lifestyle/home_and_garden/x644095435/Down-to-Earth-Oil-wind-and-self-reflection

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Millions of gallons of oil have been spilled into the waters off our southern coast, and more is still flowing. I have experienced the tragedy, as my family’s small fishing operation has been shut down due to the threat of polluted seafood, among other concerns.

I write to raise awareness that this tragedy and future ones could be avoided by reducing our nation’s dependence on oil, especially oil acquired through offshore drilling.

It’s time Americans realized that cheapgas prices and petroleum by-products do not come without a hefty price to our environment, our wildlife, the global economy, and especially individuals living in the affected areas, some of whom live in areas already affected by economic distress.

Leo Ridge, Ann Arbor

Gas pump connection

Just ending a holiday weekend, it has been several big days at the pump for millions of Americans. While they were standing there, nozzle in hand, how many made the connection?

Joellen Gilchrist

Beverly Hills

People created demand

While some blame is due to British Petroleum, we need to take some responsibility for the disaster in the gulf.

BP may be responsible for the lack of safety equipment on its rig, but we are responsible for them putting it there in the first place. We created a demand for oil so great that it now requires producers to drill in places that are high risk and dangerous.

Maybe we should focus on ourselves and what we can do to prevent these things from happening. The problem is not our dependence on foreign oil; the problem is our dependence on oil — period.

Small changes can have a big impact on the environment and have no impact on your life. Switching from regular cleaning products to natural or biodegradable ones is a great way to lessen our dependence on oil. Most standard cleaners are petroleum based. If everyone switched just one product, we would save a lot of oil.

Another way is to stop buying bottled water. Plastic comes from petroleum, and most bottles end up in landfills. If you used a refillable bottle, you would save money and the environment.

http://www.freep.com/article/20100601/OPINION04/6010314/1322/Oil-demand-hurts-more-than-gulf

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We nonchalantly take tap water for granted – its cleanliness and its availability are the reasons why.

America’s supply is safer than most, courtesy of the Safe Drinking Water Act signed by President Gerald Ford in 1974 and strengthened by subsequent amendments.

Contrast our good fortune to that of one billion people across the globe who lack access to clean water, as reported by a faith-based world charity that provides drilling services to third world countries, and another 2.6 billion – two-fifths of the world’s population – who lack basic sanitation to safely dispose of body wastes, leading to contamination of water sources.

We’re lucky, really lucky. Twist the tap, there it is, water that, with few exceptions, is clear and cool and refreshing. Except when it’s not.

The greater Attleboro area missed by a drizzle the drinking water emergency that has left some two million Boston area residents high and dry since Saturday when a feeder pipe west of Boston broke and began spewing millions of gallons into the Charles River. Officials then warned against using tap water until contamination testing could be completed; President Barack Obama has declared this catastrophe a federal emergency. One month after rains gave us a surfeit of water, travails of the Boston area’s labyrinthine piping stoppered drinking supplies that on a normal day help us to wake up with coffee, mix baby formula, shower, brush our teeth, rinse off plates, feed our pets.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2010/05/06/opinion/7343397.txt

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Imagine a world with no fresh water. The idea may seem impossible to some. I, however, feel that this is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Fresh water is taken for granted in our society. The thought of it eventually running out doesn’t occur to a lot of people. Congress is allowing the bottled water company, Nestle, to pump 300 million gallons of water per day from Lake Michigan to sell back to Michigan residents.

Water not only is being stolen from us, but communities in India around Coca-Cola’s water bottling plants are experiencing extreme water shortages directly resulting from Coca-Cola pumping their groundwater. Their wells have run dry and their hand pumps do not work anymore. Most of the people in these areas cannot even afford to buy Coca-Cola’s water.

Not only is Coca-Cola stealing water from people in India, but it also is polluting its groundwater and soil by dumping its wastewater into fields around its plants. Serious action needs to be taken to stop these companies before it’s too late.

http://record-eagle.com/features/x433576664/Its-simple-Dont-drink-water-in-bottles

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