USA Water Filter Blog

“The fact of the matter is that our cities in the world are under threat. Johannesburg is one of those cities,” said UN Habitat spokesman Piers Cross.

Regardless of Johannesburg’s water problems, it was probably one of the easiest to solve when compared to some other countries, he said.

Cross was speaking in Rosebank, at the announcement of World Water Day celebrations in Cape Town from March 20 to 22 by the water affairs department, UN Habitat and the African Ministers Council of Water.

“The water quality issue is not just an isolated thing, most cities around the world are facing huge environmental problems in their water development and their management of waste,” he said.

He used the example of the cholera outbreak in Harare in 2009 where 100,000 people were infected “because there wasn’t sufficient investment and management in sanitation services.”

http://www.timeslive.co.za/scitech/article931411.ece/Water—its-an-international-problem

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Unknown to most Americans, a surprising number of U.S. cities have drinking water with unhealthy levels of chemicals and contaminants.

In fact, some organizations and state environmental agencies that collect and analyze water data say the level of chemicals in some Americans’ drinking water not only exceeds recommended health guideline but the pollutants even exceed the limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the national legal authority in these matters.

The website 24/7 Wall St examined the quality of water supplies in most major America cities, using data collected from multiple sources for five years (ending in 2009) by Environmental Working Group (EWG), based in Washington, D.C. The fact that the data covered a half-decade is important because it shows that the presence of certain chemicals is persistent.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41354370/ns/business-oil_and_energy/

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Bottled water has been a big-selling commercial beverage around the world since the late 1980s. According to the Worldwatch Institute, global bottled water consumption has more than quadrupled since 1990. Today Americans consume over 30 billion liters of water out of some 50 billion (mostly plastic) bottles every year. The Beverage Marketing Association reports that in 2008 bottled water comprised over 28 percent of the U.S. liquid refreshment beverage market. The only bottled drinks Americans consume more of are carbonated sodas like Coke and Pepsi.

And frankly, yes, it is a ridiculous waste that we obtain so much of our drinking water this way when it is free flowing and just as good if not better for you right out of the tap. According to the Earth Policy Institute (EPI), some 2.7 million tons of petroleum-derived plastic are used to bottle water around the world every year. “Making bottles to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year,” says EPI researcher Emily Arnold. And just because we can recycle these bottles does not mean that we do: The Container Recycling Institute reports that 86 percent of plastic water bottles in the U.S. end up as garbage or litter.

http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazine/technology/earth/bottled-water-is-an-utter-waste/

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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Bottled water has been a big-selling commercial beverage around the world since the late 1980s. According to the Worldwatch Institute, global bottled water consumption has more than quadrupled since 1990. Today Americans consume over 30 billion liters of water out of some 50 billion (mostly plastic) bottles every year. The Beverage Marketing Association reports that in 2008 bottled water comprised over 28 percent of the U.S. liquid refreshment beverage market. The only bottled drinks Americans consume more of are carbonated sodas like Coke and Pepsi.

And frankly, yes, it is a ridiculous waste that we obtain so much of our drinking water this way when it is free flowing and just as good if not better for you right out of the tap. According to the Earth Policy Institute (EPI), some 2.7 million tons of petroleum-derived plastic are used to bottle water around the world every year. “Making bottles to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year,” says EPI researcher Emily Arnold. And just because we can recycle these bottles does not mean that we do: The Container Recycling Institute reports that 86 percent of plastic water bottles in the U.S. end up as garbage or litter.

The financial costs to consumers are high, too: According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), bottled water costs up to 1,900 times more than tap water. And the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reports that 90 percent or more of the money consumers shell out for it pays for everything but the water itself: bottling, packaging, shipping, marketing, other expenses—and, of course, profits.

http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Environment_380/Bottled_Water_a_Ridiculous_Waste.shtml

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It tanked at Winnipeg city council, garnered so-so support elsewhere in the province, but found fans at a trio of local universities.

And with the province now considering changes to its own policies, there may be some fizz left in Manitoba’s bottled water debate.

A few years have passed since the bottled water discussion heated up, focused mainly on the environmental waste of used-and-tossed bottles. Communities like Toronto, Vancouver and Charlottetown have taken steps to ban single-use bottles in some city buildings and Winnipeg briefly weighed the pros and cons of a ban in 2008.

Winnipeg’s proposal was ultimately scrapped, but in 2009 the University of Winnipeg became Canada’s first university to ban bottled water on campus. Two other local universities — Brandon University and the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface — followed suit. The Winnipeg School Division entered the fray earlier this year when trustee Mike Babinsky proposed a ban on all plastic drink containers, a pitch that was sent off for consultation.

But bottle ban take-up has been limited elsewhere in Manitoba, with only a few communities pledging to eliminate the bottle in favour of tap water.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/getting-off-the-bottle-116972283.html

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n August 2008, London city council passed a significant resolution restricting the sale and purchase of bottled water where access to London tap water was readily available.

London was among the first municipalities in Canada to pass such a resolution. Since then, dozens of municipalities, universities, colleges, school boards across the country have passed similar legislation.

The 2008 vote wasn’t even close with 15 councillors in favour of the resolution and only three against.

The rapid spread of this movement to take back the tap has become a thorn in the side of the beverage industry, which is being led in Canada by the Swiss multinational Nestle. Indeed, Neslte’s Canadian subsidiary, Nestle Waters Canada, has gone to great lengths to oppose any action that restricts or eliminates the sale of bottled water.

One recent attempt at influencing public officials was to send a letter to London Mayor Joe Fontana in the days after his election urging him to rescind the city’s 2008 bottled water resolution.

As a result of the company’s pressure on Feb. 15, city council’s community and neighbourhoods committee, in a tied vote, refused to repeal the decision. The final vote takes place at the next council meeting on Monday.

The London 2008 resolution can only be seen as good for the health and environment of the community.

http://www.lfpress.com/comment/2011/02/25/17412801.html

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Americans spend about $4 billion a year on bottled water.

A third of bottled water tested in a recent study found contaminates in the bottled water.

One fourth of the bottled water looked at by the National Resource Defense Council was simply tap water.

As NEWS9 has found out, the belief that bottled water is cleaner than tap water, may be leading to nothing more than less money in your pocket.

When you turn on the faucet, you have access to the most abundant resource on the planet. Yet every year, Americans spend up to 10,000 times more per gallon on bottled water than they do for tap.

But tests NEWS9 conducted show that bottled water may be no more pristine that what comes out of your spout.

http://www.wtov9.com/news/26974695/detail.html

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On Tuesday, Feb. 22, Dr. Daniel M. Miller, a registered geologist and head of the Rockland County Department of Health Water Supply Bureau, hosted a discussion debunking the myths and dangers between bottled and tap water

Dr. Miller discussed with students and faculty the ways of which our county delivers us water. Through his brief 45-minute power-point presentation, he addressed the bright questions of multiple RCC students and teachers mostly based on water testing and water purification on a county level.

“I’d say that tap water is just as clean to drink as bottled water, in our county that is,” said Dr. Miller.

He addressed issues regarding the truth behind exposure of water bottles to the sun, suggesting that if plastic bottled water is left out in the sun for long periods of time or in warm places with direct contact from the sun, bacteria can begin to grow.

Dr. Miller agreed that bottled water maintains its tastefulness for longer but warned that if left in the sun for too long the organic compounds of BPA can be released into ‘purified water.’ If this occurs, the water may be contaminated with plastics, which is unsafe for consuming.

http://www.outlookpress.org/tap-vs-bottle-myths-and-ideas-explored-1.2016931

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Throughout Canada, citizens are asking for bans on bottled water, which is costly, environmentally damaging, and less regulated for safety and water quality than public water supplies.

March 10 will mark the second annual Bottled Water Free Day encouraging citizens to request bottled water bans within municipalities, schools, and workplaces.

Another initiative challenges municipalities to become Blue Communities. Two criteria are to promote publicly financed, owned, and operated water services and ban the sale of bottled water in public facilities and at municipal events.

“Canada has one of the best drinking water systems in the world,” says the Council of Canadians, but according to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, “it’s increasingly difficult to access […]. Public fountains aren’t being maintained or installed in new buildings.”

Michelle Lalonde writes in the Montreal Gazette, “In Montreal, taxpayers are coughing up $250 million each year to ensure clean high-quality water runs from the taps. Then thousands of people buy plastic bottles of water and pay again to recycle them.”

http://www.publicvalues.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00885

NSA Water Filters

On Tuesday, Feb. 22, Dr. Daniel M. Miller, a registered geologist and head of the Rockland County Department of Health Water Supply Bureau, hosted a discussion debunking the myths and dangers between bottled and tap water

Dr. Miller discussed with students and faculty the ways of which our county delivers us water. Through his brief 45-minute power-point presentation, he addressed the bright questions of multiple RCC students and teachers mostly based on water testing and water purification on a county level.

“I’d say that tap water is just as clean to drink as bottled water, in our county that is,” said Dr. Miller.

He addressed issues regarding the truth behind exposure of water bottles to the sun, suggesting that if plastic bottled water is left out in the sun for long periods of time or in warm places with direct contact from the sun, bacteria can begin to grow.

Dr. Miller agreed that bottled water maintains its tastefulness for longer but warned that if left in the sun for too long the organic compounds of BPA can be released into ‘purified water.’ If this occurs, the water may be contaminated with plastics, which is unsafe for consuming.

http://www.outlookpress.org/tap-vs-bottle-myths-and-ideas-explored-1.2016931

NSA Water Filters